Curious Arizona cat named Prickly Pete is rescued after getting stuck in a prickly pear cactus
Veterinarians plucked individual cactus spines from Prickly Pete’s face and body, one by one, which took about two hours.
Curiosity almost killed this cat.
An orange and white house cat, since dubbed “Prickly Pete,” got stuck in a cactus in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Arizona Humane Society’s Emergency Animal Medical Technicians arrived on the scene after someone spotted Pete in a prickly pear cactus. But Pete was nowhere to be found.
“He was able to free himself and had gone running,” Bretta Nelson, spokesperson for the society, told the Daily News.
Then someone spotted a trail of cactus pods that led to a fence where they found Prickly Pete stuck yet again.
“Initially he didn’t want to be caught by the EAMT, but from the moment she had him, he was very sweet to her. I think he knew we were there to help him,” she said. They immediately rushed the domestic cat to the society’s Second Chance Animal Hospital.
Veterinarians plucked cactus spines from the unlucky but lovable feline’s muzzle, face, eyelids, mouth and body, one by one, for about two hours.
“Whenever an animal is stuck in a cactus, you have to be really careful,” she said. “Some of them can be poisonous. Fortunately, in this case it was not. And you also have to be careful that you don’t cause more damage, especially when it’s near the eyes or mouth.”
Pete, who is about one year old, is currently recovering at the animal hospital while taking pain medication and antibiotics.
“Twenty-four hours later Prickly Pete was doing just amazing. He’s got a very sweet demeanor,” Nelson said.
The Arizona Humane Society will most likely put the cat up for adoption next Wednesday, a week after the incident, because no one has come forward to claim him.
