WHEN FRANCINE, 44, LOST HER DIAMOND NECKLACE THE LAST PLACE SHE IMAGINED IT WOULD END UP WAS HER CAT’S STOMACH!

BUT HUNGRY MOGGY, OLIVER, HAD POLISHED OFF HER TREASURED PIECE OF JEWELLERY AS IT LAY ON THE COFFEE TABLE NEXT TO HIS FAVOURITE TREATS.

AFTER A LONG AND UNSUCCESSFUL WAIT FOR NATURE TO RUN IT’S COURSE VETS HAD NO OPTION BUT TO OPERATE TO REMOVE THE 24-INCH LONG CHAIN AND PENDANT.

NOW OLIVER HAS RETURNED HOME AND IS BACK TO HIS USUAL MISCHIEVOUS SELF, FRANCINE IS SURE TO KEEP HER JEWELLERY OUT OF HER FELINE’S REACH.

– As Francine unwrapped a birthday present from her fiance, Steve, 51, she gasped.

– ‘Oh wow, it’s beautiful,’ she gushed, gazing at the diamond necklace infront of her.

– She lifted her hair as Steve draped it around her neck and fastened the clasp.

– Francine now wears the silver chain with a cluster of diamonds and opals everyday.

– But each night before she climbs upstairs and gets into bed, she removes her jewellery and leaves it on the coffee table in the lounge.

– She takes off her beloved necklace and slips her engagement ring off her finger, placing them in a neat pile.

– Then in the morning when she wakes up she puts them back on when she goes downstairs.

– But one morning when Francine was feeding her five cats their favourite treats, she quickly dashed to the toilet, leaving Oliver’s treat on the coffee table beside her jewellery.

– And before she emerged from the bathroom, the peckish moggy had polished off the treasured necklace.

– Frantic Francine thought the pendant and chain was lost for good after a thorough search proved unsuccessful.

– But just when she thought she would never see it again, she turned her suspicions on five-year-old tabby cat Oliver.

– She rushed her pet to the vets, where they told her it was highly unlikely that the cat had eaten her jewellery.

– But Francine was convinced and wouldn’t give up, she took Oliver to an RSPCA centre for an x-ray – which revealled the 24-inch long chain and pendant in his stomach!

– As they waited to see if nature would run it’s course and hoped the necklace would pass naturally, it got stuck and they were forced to remove it surgically in a major operation.

– Fortunately it was a success and Oliver is now recovering at home with his owners and their four other rescue cats.

– Francine said: “You don’t want to get in the way of Oliver when he’s eating. He’s quite a large cat, and very ferocious when he gobbles the treat sticks.

– “Now he’s had the operation he’s off his food, but he’s a big boy so it won’t do him any harm to lose a bit of weight.

– “We literally turned the house upside down searching high and low but couldn’t find my necklace.

– “In the end we came to the conclusion the cat must have eaten it. It seemed mad, but there was no other explanation.

– “I Googled it to see if it happened a lot, but it seems it’s quite an unusual thing.

– “When I first called the vets I could hear them sniggering, it was obvious no one believed what had happened. But we’ve got the x-ray to prove it.

– “After the operation the vet handed me the necklace in a plastic bag, but I really didn’t want to open it and get a whiff of how it smelt.

– “I’ve worn it in the shower a few times to make sure it’s thoroughly clean. I’m just relieved Oliver is still in one piece!”

This story appeared in Real People Magazine, Jan 2013