Luton cat eats pen in finger-biting bath protest

It could have ended "very badly" for Bella, who swallowed a pen, vets said

A cat swallowed a ballpoint pen during a bath-time struggle with her owner.

Long-haired cat Bella bit her owner's finger as she tried to avoid getting wet at her home in Luton.

The owner used the pen in an attempt to prise open the cat's jaws, but Bella ran off with it in her mouth and swallowed it.

Vets who operated to remove the pen were "amazed" it caused no damage. Bella recovered fully, as Luton Today reported - and the pen still worked.

"I don't think Bella wanted to be bathed - like most cats," Agnes Szabo, practice manager at Easipetcare in Luton, said.

"They tried to open her mouth with a pen so she would let go of the finger, but Bella just ran off and the pen disappeared."

Bella recovered fully after having the pen removed by surgeons

When the cat began vomiting, the owners suspected she may have swallowed the ballpoint, and took her to the surgery.

"It was a shock for the whole team when we saw the X-ray," Ms Szabo said.

"No-one has ever seen anything like a whole pen inside a cat before."

Surgeons operated for about 30 minutes.

Out of curiosity the team checked the pen and it worked perfectly, Ms Szabo said.

"It could have ended very badly for Bella," she said.

"She was a very lucky cat indeed."