Frank the Cat

News and Frank's Story

Latest messages at the top

Friday 28th Well it looks like this is the end of Cat Hospital as we know it. We are moving house next week and will no longer have a broadband internet connection so the webcams will not be reinstalled. Of course you can all petition British Telecom to pull their fingers out and roll ADSL out properly instead of the half arsed efforts we've seen so far! This is of course good news for Frank who has made a more or less complete recovery, even his fur has grown back! He does still find it hard to jump up onto the kitchen worktops but in time he will return to full strength. A move to the country away from the very busy main road means we can let him out again which he'll be very happy about! We would like to thank everyone who has watched the site, sent messages or gifts I'm sure you have made a difference and the coverage we have received has been nothing short of amazing. Also a big thanks to the team here at Igentics who have all helped keep things running (things got a bit hectic the day we were on the BBC news homepage). The site will remain online for the time being, and we may put the cameras back on at some time if we can. Thanks David

Tuesday 28th May Blimey it's been a while, sorry things have been quiet, but as they say 'no news is good news'. As you can probably see from the images Frank is more or less back to normal, he still cannot jump as well as before the accident but apart from that and his lack of fur (still) he is the cat he used to be. He is confined to the house which frankly (sorry) is a complete pain for us and him, he spends his time looking longingly at closed doors and windows plotting his escape. He has managed it a couple of times but we've managed to get him back inside without losing too much skin, the sooner we move out to the country the better! Lastly I'll be taking the third camera offline later today or tomorrow as I need some of the hardware for another project.

Friday 26th April Oh well no news is good news! Sorry we have not posted anything recently, we have been really busy and there is no Frank news. He continues to mend and is spending more time out of his room chasing around the house. Alex and David who found Frank came round and were reunited with him last night, and I must say he was very pleased to see them, covering them both in large amounts of hair and purring alot.

One thing I meant to mention was that Eli has set up a yahoo group for Frank. Click here For more details

Monday 8th April As you can see from the cage Frank is free! I will move the webcams later this week to point into the room so you stand a chance of seeing him, in the meantime the subscriber cam is pointing to his bed. We have a back log of messages to go on, I'll try to catch up with these in the next couple of days

Friday 5th April Good news from the Vet, Frank is free from full time cage life from Sunday evening. He will be confined to one room for a couple of weeks and then house bound for another couple of week. If all is well then he is allowed into the garden! He will still spend some time in the cage to enforce rest!

Thursday 4th April Hmmmm looks like this is becoming a weekly update!. Sorry we've been a little off the ball, we are trying to move house (one aspect of which would mean we can keep Frank as we'll move away from the road) and have therefore been very busy. The good news is that Frank and Ben are both back at the Vet tonight, hopeflly to get the all clear. If that does happen then Frank will be released from the Cage on Sunday night. We've had a ton of stuff through the post, all of which is fantastic, Frank is enjoying all of it (although we are rationing the catnip!). I'll post an update tomorrow.

Thursday 27th Well Ben is back after an overnight stay at the Vets, he had torn one of his front stopper pads which needed stitching back on (the word you are looking for is ouch). He is now sporting a rather dashing red bandage on his leg and limping about a lot. When I went to pick Ben up last night the Vet did say that they'd have Frank back next week, and expect he should be released from the cage. Frank is fine, he seems to be a little more settled in the cage now and less prone to running about trashing the place! I think it might be the calming blanket he was sent last week which is doing the trick as he certianly seems to like it! (Thanks Kaz).

Tuesday 26th Blimey is it Tuesday already? Sorry it’s been a while but we got involved with some emergency decorating over the weekend and when covered from head to toe in paint the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a PC (I do that all day at work), a cold beer seemed a much nicer alternative.

Frank does not care about what is happening in the rest of the house, although I do think he’d like to have a bit more of an explore, he is let out of his cage two or three times a day now for five to ten minutes at a time. He is definitely walking a little better now which is great, and running about chasing things when he is out of the cage. I’m pretty sure that when he goes back to the vet next week they will pronounce him fit enough to come out of the cage. Yipee! Not quite sure how we are going to confine him to a room though??

Other news, I had a call from Hilary the dog walker, it seems Ben the collie has hurt his paw. By the time we got home he was charging up and down the garden like the mad thing he is and it did not seem to be bothering him at all. However later on he got up (leaving a patch of blood on the carpet) limped over to me and on closer inspection he has torn his dew claw, so as soon as the Vet opens I’ll be booking him in, poor thing. Still at least he won’t have to be confined to a cage!

Finally thanks for all the fantastic gifts and pictures, I’ll try and scan all the pictures in but I’m quickly losing track of all the presents. Needless to say he loves them all.

Thursday 21st Come on then who saw Frank running about last night?? In response to all the people who have asked I'm going to put our address on the site, it will be on the feedback page. I think we have sorted out pictures, so most of the backlog is now cleared, all we have to do now is put on all the Readers pets and we'll be up to date. Frank is getting back to normal, it is now impossible to open the cage door without a very determined bid for freedom, so we have taken to closing the outer door and letting him have more time outside the cage.

Tuesday 19th Sorry the site was down for a little while last night, we were updating some bits of the Igentics Network, of course Frank did not care as he was busy with his new Toy! Thanks to everyone at Petplanet for that and the other bits, he was overjoyed. Also check out the new wallpaper which was sent in, thanks very much. Frank had a little run about out of his cage twice last night (one planned by me, one engineered by Frank) and being the good boy he is he did not try to jump onto anything, this might be bad as it might be because it hurts, I'll call the vet later and ask. However he did have a good run about which was nice to see.

Monday 18th I seems that Frank is getting more energetic everyday, and it is proving to be increasingly tricky to get him back into his cage! He delights in digging his claws into my jumper and refusing to let go, I've had to resort to food a couple of times to get him to let go. Hopefully another couple of weeks and he'll be out of the cage. He got another present today, unfortunately the nice people (or cats) who sent it did not enclose a message so we don't know who to thank, if it was you plase get in touch, describe the present so we thank the right people.

Friday 15th Well we can finally reveal a little more about Franks saviours. They are Alex and David a couple who live in Sawston which is just down the road from us.

Cat lovers themselves they have two of their own, Guinness and Holly, here is Alex’s description of them. ‘Holly is a tortoise shell cat who likes sleeping in odd places. She is very sweet natured. Guinness has a grumpy personality so it is especially nice when he takes pity on his humans and decides to be affectionate.’

Here is their version of the events…
‘We were driving along when I spotted something grey and white in the road. As we got closer I realised it was not an escaped pet rabbit (that is what I at first thought) but a badly injured cat (Frank). We pulled up and as I put the hazard lights on, David got out to look at the cat. When I got out of the car, I realised that the cat was very badly injured. There was some gunk on the road and I at first thought that this was part of the cat. We did not want to risk picking him up. I stayed with Frank in the road and David went to investigate at the nearest house with a light on. The cat then began to haul himself to the side of the road and I stayed with him. As he managed to haul himself onto the verge, a bus came along so I was glad we were now out of the road. The cat was totally exhausted by his efforts and semi-collapsed in a hole in the ground. Amazingly David had found the owner's house (the first one he had tried!). When I realised we had found Frank's owners, I risked picking him up and took him inside. As you know, we then put him down somewhere quiet. I asked for something to cover him and he was covered up in a blanket to try to immobilise him and stop him going into too much of a state of shock. The vet was then called...I remember that you and your wife were very shocked and upset. We then left as Frank was to be rushed to the vet and we didn't want to get in the way. We then kept our fingers crossed as I thought he probably had a broken pelvis and might have internal injuries. I just hoped that I had not done any harm when I picked him up. We thought about the cat many times but totally failed to hear about his new found fame until weeks later.’

So you see it was even worse than we had first though as I doubt the bus would have stopped, and David coming to the right house straight away was a huge stroke of luck.

The prompt action of passing strangers saved our cat, which makes me think the world is maybe not such a bad place after all. Thankyou Alex and David.

Hopefully there will be a little reunion next week as I’ve spoken to Alex and from what she said I know they are keen, we’ll let you know and I’ll post some pictures.

Additionally Frank got a nice present yesterday from our friend Gabrielle, it is fantastic with a mouse, some catnip a ball a book and a feather, Frank was over the moon.

Thankyou

Wednesday 13th Well what a busy day Frank has had. We had a visit from a Sunday paper today, and as I was tidying his cage before they got here he made the best bid for freedom yet. Out of his cage, across the room, out to the top of the stairs...Phew I thought he was going to run down stairs..oh no he did go downstairs, over the banisters, between the dogs legs and under the kitchen cupboard. Well the dogs were very pleased to see him as they have not since his accident.
Anyway I managed to coax him out with some food (no surprises there then) and carried him back up to his cage. So we know he can certainly still run and jump! The photographer then came and took his photo with his laptop, Frank was sulking now after his taste of freedom but eventually (more treats) he joined in. We will let you all know which one he is in when it is all finalised. I've just checked in on him and he seems to be suffering no ill effects after his mad scamper so hopefully it will not affect his recovery.

Tuesday 12th Blimey what a day, Frank 'Pet Idol' The Cat is now a media star, with 97,000 hits yesterday and a stack of messages. As we had well over 400 messages yesterday we are a little bit behind, none of the pictures or readers pets we received yesterday ore on the site yet. Give us time they will get there! We told Frank all about this, he responded by leaving us a little present....

Monday 11th Well our frank has had a rather busy weekend, what with jumping from his bed on to my shoulder (we’ve been told not to let him jump anywhere), making a break for the door every time it was opened and completely trashing his cage this morning, we can see he is definitely on the mend. In general he is very happy, purring his head off and lapping up all the attention. His pain killer dosage is slowly being reduced which does not seem to bother him very much and although one of his back legs is still a bit wonky (Wonky Fronky) it does not seem to affect his ability to leap from his cage! We are still trying to get some more information on the nice people who found him, hopefully an update will be forthcoming in the next day or so (I gave them the wrong number, blame me).

Friday 8th Sorry I was sure I posted news yesterday..No wonder I got so many mails yesterday..ooops. Anyway Frank is back, the x-rays look ok but he has another 4 weeks in the cage! The Vets are very pleased with his progress as are we. Frank is if course pretty bored now but we are letting him out of the cage everyday for a little run about although he must not jump as that will cause more damage. Take a look at the x-ray page for more info.

Wednesday 6th We've had contact from Franks rescuers! More info soon...

Tuesday 5th I have spoken to Sarah the Vet today and Frank will be going in on Thursday (7th) for his next x-rays. Hopefully after which he'll be able to roam free in his room and we can get rid of his cage. He will be there for the whole day so maybe I'll point the cameras at the dogs to give you all something to look at. I think he is making good progress, everyday he is more active (although you might not think so) so we are keeping our fingers crossed for a good result on Thursday.

Monday 4th Frank is in the dog house (so to speak) he has decided he is some sort of Rock star and started to trash his cage. At least three times a day we go into his room to find his rug all rucked up, litter everywhere and his water bowl upside down. Frank then waits until we start to clean it all up and makes a rush for the door! Still thats all good as it shows his pelvis is not bothering him much. He is now very very chatty, meowing and purring constantly when we go and see him.

Saturday 2nd March Sorry about all the problems we had yesterday, hopefully these have now been resolved and a backup plan is in place. As you can see (now the cameras are back up) Frank seems pretty happy at the moment, he is eating well, he can now walk without falling over and this is all on a much reduced level of pain relief. Even the big bald patch on his head is starting to grow back! No word yes on when he is due back at the vets, I suppose it will be early next week, we've had the bill and they've knocked a load off as they decided the operation failed! What nice people!

Thursday 28th Frank has a new webcam, however it's Newsletter subscribers only at the moment, sign up here.

Thursday 28th I noticed last night that Frank looks really clean, I think thats a good indication that he is feeling much better (not that he every looked dirty, but somehow last night he was extra clean). Also we are amazed at the response we have had from Belgium, this must indicate that more people with cats in Belgium are connected to the Internet or something, anyway thankyou.

Tuesday 26th Frank is now on medication to ease his pain, and I must say that getting him to take it was a trial to say the least! Anyway he does seem a happier cat so that is no bad thing, we'll be giving it to him in the evening so if you see somone holding his mouth open please don't worry!

Wednesday 27th It seems that Frank is much happier, he is still having some trouble moving about, but then as he has a badly broken pelvis that is to be expected. We also changed his food last night and tried him on Whiskas, it had gone in a flash, I don't think we've ever seen him move so fast! So it's Whiskas all the way....

Monday 25th We've had a few messages from people worried that Frank is not moving much. This is good, although not very interesting viewing as he will heal faster if he relaxes and takes it easy, also if you look at his x-rays you will see just how badly broken his pelvis is so it is not that surprising he does not want to move much. We are very concerned and I have spoke to Sarah the Vet this morning who has suggested some medication to give him some pain relief. We shall start giving him this tonight and see how he progresses, if he does not seem to get any better he'll have to go for another x-ray to see if something has moved! Please don't worry, a sleepy Frank is ideal!

Saturday 23rd How exciting, lots of Media Coverage, Frank has been a very busy little cat (well if you consider having your picture take hard work). He does seem very quiet today and he's right back leg does not look correct, it might just be that his other side is healing faster but I'll call Sarah the vet on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that everything is ok. Apart from that he is on pretty good form. Thanks so much for all the fantastic messages he's had, the site had over 10,000 hits yesterday ! Please keep them coming and tell your friends. Thanks again D,H&F.

Friday 22nd Alas no other news yesterday, although Frank did get a huge postbag which is very happy about. He really seems to be getting his appetite back, he managed two lots of dinner yesterday which is much like the Frank of old, which is good as he was getting very skinny. Also I noticed him limping round his cage the other night, we did not post it as we thought people would worry, we checked on him again last night and he seemed much better

Thursday 21st Thanks Pop-pickers, the site went straight in at number three and is currently on the top spot...(see the vote link at the bottom of the page for more details). More news later.

Wednesday 20th

Frank would like to dedicate the site to Murkin

Sunday 17th Frank seems very happy today, which is a little worrying as he keeps trying to walk about, this means he staggers then falls over. Still he seems happy enough. In an attempt to keep him entertained we have given him his toy mouse, he took one look at it, picked it up in his mouth and dropped it into his food bowl!

Saturday 16th What a happy cat Frank is today, maybe it's because we now have the radio on in his room. He is listening to Jonathan Ross at the moment. If you want to suggest a station for him to listen to please send details via the feedback page.

Friday 15th Good News, Frank had a midnight snack, his plate was clean this morning. He does seem a bit sad though and we are wondering what we can do to cheers him up a bit. I've just spoken to his vet (Sarah Catlin, hello if you are reading) who is very pleased with his progress! He will be going for a checkup in a week or so.

Thursday 14th Frank gets 62 messages! Including a number of very nice Valentines. He is somewhat overcome and has to have a lie down. Also he is off his food which is a little worrying.

Wednesday 13 We get interviewed live on Local Radio (BBC radio Cambs) Frank listened in then we read him the kind messages he has been sent.

Tuesday 12th When we went in to see him he had eaten all of his food, this is excellent news, unless of course you are the mug who has to clean his litter tray!

Monday 11th Well he can certainly go to the toilet!

Sunday 10th Seems a lot happier today, we even managed to get a Mieow out of him, which is the first time he's said anything since he came home.

Saturday 9th We go and get him, whilst at the Vet they show us the pin, which is no longer in Frank! Looking a bit sorry for himself and with less fur we took him home. He soon settled down in his cage.

Friday 8th and a call from the Vet, she thinks he'll be ok at home with cage rest, his bladder seems to be working and he's taking 'Katalax' to make sure he is not in pain when he does finally go to the toliet. We'd been lent a huge cage to keep him in so we set that up with bedding and his tray.

Thursday 7th and a call from a worried Vet, Frank was so happy with his new pin that he'd moved it, they were concerned that he would not heal.......all we could do was wait (tense eh?).

It was decided that he should be 'pinned' back together this operation was carried out on Monday 4th Feb.

Wednesday the 30th and Frank had some x-rays. They showed that his pelvis was very badly broken but everything else looked ok. However the Vet did express concern that due to nerve damage he may have trouble going to the toilet.

If you are the kind people who stopped please let us know (via feedback), in our rush to get him to the Vet's we did not take your contact details.

Frank was hit by a car on the evening of Tuesday 29th Jan 2002, the driver did not stop and Frank was in a right old state by the time someone spotted him dragging himself towards our house. As soon as we saw him we took him straight to the Vet (Davey in Whittlesford) who calmed me down and treated Frank for shock. The initial thought was that he had broken his pelvis.