Discovery of a female cat with testicles among weirdest pet claims

Cameo the female cat recovers from surgery after two cancerous testicles were found near her stomach. Photo / Supplied

A North Shore pet owner got the shock of her life to learn her female cat also had testicles.

Along with the discovery of a hermaphrodite cat, other owners have been left perplexed after discovering their pets had consumed anything from a roll of dental floss, compact mirror, blanket, sewing needle to a chicken skewer.

These discoveries were among the weirdest PetCare claims received by Southern Cross last year.

Lisa Newlands adopted her domestic long haired cat Cameo in 2014 with the reassurance she had been spayed.

But at the end of last year, Newlands became suspicious about whether it the standard neutering had worked when her usually feisty cat started befriending a stray male.

After Cameo became really sick with a high temperature and stopped eating for the second time in two months, an ultrasound revealed she had a large mass in her stomach area.

The ginger cat underwent surgery and for the first time in her vet's 13 year career, she discovered two cancerous testicles in the female feline.

Cancerous testicles emit oestrogen, which was why the tom cat was hanging around.

"The vet was just bamboozled. She had never seen anything like this in her entire career," Newlands said.

Cameo's total vet bill was $2531, but Newlands said fortunately $2013 was covered by pet insurance.

Newlands estimated Cameo had racked up almost $10,000 in vet bills since she had owned her because she was notorious for getting in fights with other cats and was grateful most of it had been covered by her pet insurance.

Another pet owner also claimed on a hefty $8000 vet bill after their german shepherd cut its leg on a metal shoe rack as it tried to escape from two cats. The traumatic incident resulted in the dog having to undergo two surgeries and receive post operative care.

In another case, a labrador retriever went under the knife to remove pieces of a blanket it had eaten from its stomach at a cost of $6000.

Another owner commented that they were amazed that the chicken skewer eaten by their miniature poodle came out whole after being endoscopically removed.

And a hungry beagle's desire to snaffle up a tasty fruit cake also backfired on it after the raisins caused it to have renal failure. The wee beagle had it's kidneys flushed at the vet.

But the list of weird claims gets crazier after a french bulldog ate a whole roll dental floss it had found in a visitor's bag and a Shetland sheepdog had to be treated for munching on dish cloths on two separate occasions.

The mischievous mutt managed to escape surgery and was given drugs to help it either poo or vomit the rags out.

And it wasn't just playful pooches causing their owners angst, a domestic long haired cat also required surgery to remove a sewing needle it had swallowed and devon rex cat had 46 hair ties surgically removed from its stomach. Both treatments cost their owners more than $2000 each.

Southern Cross Pet Insurance general manager Anthony McPhail said everyday, unexpected accidents could end up costing pet owners a lot of money at the veterinary clinic.

McPhail said while most of the claims processed were for typical illnesses and routine checks, the ones where pets had managed to eat something they shouldn't have still surprised them.

He said the stories could be amusing, but still caused quite a lot of stress to the pet and both its owner and their wallet.

"We recommend owners prepare for those unexpected veterinary visits by either setting some money aside or considering pet insurance," McPhail said.