Nicholai the Bengal cat just can’t be kept in. No matter what his owner’s try to do to blockade him in he manages to escape.

His escapades have already got him into trouble – he was hit by a car in March and sustained permanent damage to his left front leg. So now his leg is permanently paralysed.

Fearing that if anyone saw him outdoors he would get whisked off to a vet for unnecessary treatment, his owners searched for a way to stop him getting out.

His vet in Stockwell, South London, came up with a better idea, a clever little device called Docu-pet, as small as a camera battery, which Nicholai wears on his collar, and means he can roam free again.

If he inadvertently gets taken to a vet his whole medical history is available, electronically, from his Docu-pet tag, so any vet who is asked to treat him will know exactly what has happened to him, and what, if any, treatment is appropriate, saving his owners unnecessary expense, and Nicholai from any unnecessary treatment.

Nicholai is the first pet in Britain to be given the Docu-pet tag which the maker’s say is designed for pets seen as emergencies or while on holiday with their owners. They carry their medical histories with them at all times. The device is simply updated by the vet each time the pet visits the surgery. So there is no chance they will get unnecessary or conflicting treatment.

Peter Callaway of Docu-pet said, “When we were contacted by Nicholai’s vet we had no hesitation in fitting Nicholai with the device. It means he is safe to play outdoors again without anyone mistakenly thinking he is injured”.

And Nicholai’s verdict:
He doesn’t mind wearing his Docu-pet tag – after all what would have been the alternative – an ASBO perhaps?

STOP PRESS : We are offering the Docu-Pet software and read/writer devices FREE to all UK vets - contact Peter Callaway for details at info@docu-pet.co.uk or visit [www.docu-pet.co.uk]