Abu Dhabi vets perform Dh35,000 brain surgery to save life of family's beloved cat

Pet diagnosed with tumour after owner noticed it was unable to walk in a straight line

Elsa the cat during the operation. Photo: German Vet

Doctors say the procedure took two hours. Photo: German Vet

From left, Nora Shackleford, clinical manager, Katrin Jahn, owner and head veterinarian, Sergio Soda Zaragoza, clinical lead and veterinary doctor, Leo Angelo Gran, veterinary nurse and Carl Buendia, veterinary nurse at German Veterinary Clinic in Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

'Just because we’ve diagnosed the condition doesn’t mean the animal’s automatically going to go into surgery,' Ms Jahn said. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

'We performed the surgery by drilling a little hole in her brain and removing the tumour,' said Dr Zaragoza. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Charan Ravi, brother of the pet's owner Suganya Jothilingam, with Elsa the cat. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Elsa is recovering well after surgery. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Elsa and her friend Pinto, 13. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

A family in Abu Dhabi are breathing sighs of relief after life-saving brain surgery was performed on their beloved cat.

Suganya Jothilingam, 36, a freelance HR consultant from India, thought something was awry when Elsa, her cat, started to show signs of stress and strange behaviour.

She would soon learn that the Arabian Mau had developed a brain tumour that required surgery.

“Elsa was acting stressed but at first we thought nothing of it and that she was just looking for attention,” said Ms Jothilingam.

“We noticed a lot of changes in her behaviour as she kept meowing and then the big red flag for us was she was kept walking around in circles.

“She wasn’t walking in a straight line at all so I called the vet. After they examined her, they immediately told me this was much more serious than stress.”

Ms Jothilingam was given a choice between a craniotomy or euthanasia.

She said there was no decision to be made.

“I’ve had her for seven years and she is part of the family,” she said.

“The doctor told me she would need brain surgery or the only alternative would be to put her to sleep.

“I didn’t want the regret of not giving her at least a chance of surviving.”

The surgery took two hours, with Elsa being anaesthetised for three hours and then taking another two to recover.

Ms Jothilingham said the surgery cost her a total of Dh35,000 ($9,529).

Road to recovery

“Elsa is recovering day by day, there is still a long way to go, however, none of the signs she was showing of having a brain tumour are there any more,” Ms Jothilingham said.

The surgery was performed by the team at German Veterinary Clinic in Abu Dhabi.

“We did physical and neurological exams on the cat and realised there was something wrong with her brain,” said Dr Sergio Soda Zaragoza, clinical lead and veterinary doctor at the surgery.

“We sent her for an MRI and the scan showed there was a pretty big tumour.

“We then performed the surgery by drilling a little hole in her skull and removing the tumour.”

Among the biggest risks, apart from the obvious fear she would not survive the surgery, was that Elsa’s condition would remain as before or major changes would be made to her neurological patterns.

Thankfully that was not the case and she continues to recover from the surgery, which was done last month.

Rare procedure

The operation was a first for the Abu Dhabi-based vets, who said conversations with colleagues elsewhere suggested it was also a rarity in the region.

“While brain tumours are not super common in cats or dogs, it does happen,” said Dr Zaragoza.

“I would say it happens about the same (ratio) as in humans.”

There were other factors to consider once the diagnosis was delivered, however.

“Just because we’ve diagnosed the condition doesn’t mean the animal’s automatically going to go into surgery,” said Dr Katrin Jahn, owner and head veterinary doctor at the clinic.

“It depends on a lot of things such as whether the owner’s got the commitment for it and if the animal is a good candidate and how it is likely to do afterwards.

“There are a lot of conversations that need to take place first.”

Tell tale signs

So how might cat owners know that their pet is suffering from such a condition?

“There can be a mental dullness that a cat is not as bright, playful or active as they usually are,” said Dr Jahn.

“The fact she couldn’t walk in a straight line is associated with something going on in the front part of the brain.

“That in itself could be assigned to other illnesses but a big red flag in this case was the constant circling to one side."