GARRY the tabby cat should perhaps be renamed “Lucky” after he used up one of his nine lives to survive poisoning.

The 10-year-old cat was on the brink of death after eating slug pellets and collapsing outside his Hexham home.

But with the help of the team from Orchard House vets, Garry made a miraculous recovery just in time to enjoy Christmas.

On the evening of Sunday December 4, owner, Helen-Ruth Westlake had let Garry out of their home on Priestlands Drive as usual.

The domestic cat often spent the night outside, returning in time for his breakfast. However the next morning, there was no sign of Garry.

He was found shortly before 8am by Helen-Ruth’s partner, Lea Stephenson, propped up against their neighbour’s car tyre.

Mum-of-two, Helen-Ruth, said: “He brought him inside and I knew there was something badly wrong.

“He couldn’t move, he was having fits and was frozen cold.”

Garry was rushed to Hexham’s Orchard House vets and within 20 minutes he had been administered medication to stop the seizures and was undergoing tests. He had just 20 per cent chance of surviving what vets suspected was slug pellet poisoning.

Helen-Ruth was given the option of having Garry put down but, unable to bear the thought of losing him, she asked to see how he progressed.

Orchard House vet, Tim Pearson called the following morning to say that though Garry now had a 50/50 chance, things were not looking good.

Helen-Ruth, who works for Fentimans, prepared herself for bad news and went in to see Garry later that day.

She said: “I had prepared myself for the worst, I had one of Lea’s jackets with me so Garry would have a familiar smell. I didn’t know if I would ever bring him home.

“I went in to see him and it was like someone had flicked a switch, he was up and about and we brought him home that day. We brought him in for a check up the next day and Tim called him a miracle cat. You would never know he had been so ill, the team at Orchard House did a fantastic job and I can’t thank them enough.”

Now restored to purrfect health, Garry is back at home with Helen-Ruth, Lea and children Rosie (7) and Harry (9).

Helen-Ruth, who was given Garry as a kitten for her 30th birthday, is now keen to raise awareness of the dangers of poisonous slug pellets.

She said: “The vets think it was slug pellets and the cat over the road from us was poisoned on the same night and also survived.

“It makes me wonder whether someone is using the pellets innocently or isn’t very fond of cats and is putting them down to keep them away.

“I’m concerned that people don’t realise slug pellets are dangerous, not just to cats but other pets and even children.

“And if you annoyed by someone’s cat there are harmless deterrents available rather than taking extreme measures.”