Tipsy the cat saved by vodka

A cat that was poisoned by antifreeze, later renamed ‘Tipsy’ after its ordeal, was saved by Australian vets who just so happened to have a bottle of vodka lying around.

(Photo: Facebook RSPCA Queensland)

A black tomcat has used up one of its nine lives when it was brought into the RSPCA animal hospital in Wacol in Queensland, Australia with acute renal failure. As reported by ABC News, the cat was rushed to the vets after being found near a tyre store in Lowood, west of Brisbane, suffering from the effects of antifreeze consumption.

According to vet Sarah Kanther, Tipsy had less than an hour to live. Fortunately for the feline, one of the nurses happened to have a bottle of vodka lying around and both Kanther and vet nurse Dylan Gerard were able to quickly administer it in a diluted form via in IV drip.

The enzyme in the body that breaks down the antifreeze also metabolises alcohol, and as Kanther explains, “once you put the alcohol into his blood it metabolises that instead, and gives the antifreeze time to pass in a less toxic form”.

The vets have been unable to contact Tipsy’s owners and it remains unclear as to whether the cat was intentionally baited.

Tipsy is not the only fortuitous feline to be rescued from an encounter with antifreeze. In October 2014, Missy the moggie from Middlesborough was also saved by vodka after being doused with the toxic liquid by thugs outside her home. Despite ending up “blind drunk” after being fed half a litre of the spirit over two days, she made a full recovery.