Shrewsbury cat survives coma to win a top prize in show
A cat from Shrewsbury that survived an accident that left him in a coma has claimed a top prize in the feline equivalent of Crufts.
Bengal cat Boo Boo, a UK Imperial Grand Premier Tobysden Balou, triumphed at the Supreme Cat Show at the Birmingham NEC winning in the Best of Variety foreign neuter category.
Proud owner Alex Crutchley, from Mossbank Way, Shrewsbury, said her six-year-old cat's victory was a triumph against the odds. Shortly before his first birthday, Boo Boo went missing for eight days and finally came home badly injured and needing an operation to pin his hip back together.
Alex said: "He went missing for eight days and he came back with a broken hip. It is quite miraculous that he has done what he has done. The vet thought he had been hit by a car and been in a coma. He is a bit of a bionic cat!"
She said Boo Boo had been a regular at cat shows since his recovery, but his victory at the weekend was his biggest achievement to date.
"It is the cat equivalent of Crufts. This is the big one on the cat show calendar," said Alex, who was given Boo Boo as a kitten by her friend Sue Moreland, a breeder of Bengal cats at her Tobysden site in the Market Drayton area.
Sue said she was thrilled Boo Boo managed to win in his category, beating competitors including his own sister Fantasia.
"I'm so pleased he managed to win. He is a beautifully marked cat, with a beautiful colour and lovely expressive eyes," she said.
"He has a very smug look as though he knows he is special."
