Hotplate not cool for Gizmo the cat

Two-year-old ginger tabby Gizmo used up one of his nine lives after growing impatient while waiting on his dinner and pouncing on to a hot cooker ring for a piece of fish.

He suffered major burns to the pads on his paws at his home in Wester Hailes and was raced to the vet by owner Teresa Rushford.

“Whenever Gizmo sniffs a fish, he always gets very excited,” she said.

The 33-year-old witnessed her impatient moggie, who has a fondness for trout, jumping onto the cooker before bounding off to hide in his cat box and nurse his wounds.

The mother-of-two said: “My partner John had been fishing and caught Gizmo and my other cat Shadow a trout. I’d already cooked the fish and had turned the ring off, but Gizmo was so hungry and impatient that he jumped straight onto the cooker instead of waiting for me to put it out for him.”

After eventually managing to coax Gizmo out from his cat box, Teresa rushed him to the PDSA’s PetAid hospital at Hutchison Crossway where he was given emergency treatment for his blistered paws.

Veterinary surgeon, Graeme Eckford, said Gizmo’s case was rare.

“It’s pretty unusual, I think I’ve had one or two like this in the last five years, so happily it’s not something we see every day,” he said.

“Usually cats are pretty wary of hot surfaces, but I think the smell of tasty fish clouded his senses so he just jumped straight onto the cooker.

“Gizmo’s back paws were the worst affected. We prescribed antibiotics and painkillers, plus creams which Teresa and her family applied at home. The main thing was to keep the wounds clean to prevent infection.”

Teresa said her children Stephen, 14, and Natasha, 11, and partner John, 28, were extremely grateful to vets for nursing Gizmo back to health in time for Christmas following the incident in October.

She said: “Natasha was very traumatised by it. She doesn’t like to see animals suffering – she’s very emotional and soft-hearted when it comes to her cat.”

Gizmo has fully recovered, but now seems to keep a wide berth of the cooker.

Teresa, who is a full-time carer for her disabled son, added: “Gizmo was only on the cooker for a second and then he jumped off. He’s never done it before, and I don’t think he will again. If he sees the cooker switched on now, he won’t even go in the kitchen, so he’s learned a valuable lesson.”

Teresa is also extra- vigilant when using the cooker to ensure Gizmo and two-year-old Shadow are a safe distance away.

She said: “It’s taught me that cats can be very quick and if they’re hungry, they will jump.”