Cat left with serious burns after collar MELTS onto its neck during UK heatwave

A cat was left with serious burns neck after the UK heatwave caused its collar to melt onto its neck.

Six-year-old moggie Megatron was wearing the newly-bought £3.19 reflective collar when it fused to its fur in soaring temperatures.

The red band, which had a plastic clip, was bought by his owner Kim Mills, 28, from a pet store in Milton Keynes, Bucks.

Days after putting it on her Megatron, she noticed her pet seemed uncomfortable.

Kim said: ‘When we took the collar off there was fur and skin fused to it, and a horrible burn wound on my cat’s neck.

‘At first I thought somebody had tampered with it.

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‘We’re careful about Megatron but obviously all cats like lying in the sun. We never dreamt this could happen.’

Kim took her cat to the vet, where the burnt skin was cleaned and antibiotics were prescribed, but the total bill for the trip reached more than £78.

The vet flagged up the possibility that the burn on Megatron’s neck could be to do with a chemical reaction between flea treatment ingredients and the collar.

Kim said: ‘The vet asked me when the flea treatment was applied, but it was in the middle of June – so I think that reason is ridiculous.’

She contacted the collar’s manufacturers Ancol to complain, but was also told that a Spot On flea treatment she applied to the cat’s neck had reacted with their product – rather than melted because of the hot weather.

Their website warns: ‘Please remove the collar when using liquid flea treatments to prevent reactions between the treatment and the materials of the collar.’

But Kim added: ‘I find it hard to believe that the reaction would be so strong, after all that time to physically melt the plastic and cause it to fuse to my cat’s fur and skin.’

Kim is convinced the plastic clip had melted due to the heatwave and believes there should be a manufacturer’s warning about the dangerous of hot weather.

A director of the family-run firm Ancol confirmed that they had seen the photo and were waiting for the collar to be sent back to them for testing, but could not comment until it arrived.