A woman who had to have her leg amputated after being scratched by a cat said she does not blame the stray animal. Pictured: Stock image of surgery (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Woman loses leg after she's scratched by stray cat - but still feeds it

by · Birmingham Live

A woman had her leg amputated after she was scratched by a cat. Fran Oborski's wound turned into cellulitis and became ulcerous before a previously-unidentified allergy to a dressing left her leg "erupting" in ulcers.

Told she would probably lose the leg within two years, she opted for an immediate amputation. Fran, a district councillor for Wyre Forest in Worcestershire, said the cat, Jaffa, was a stray that lived in her conservatory in Kidderminster.

But she said she did not blame the animal and admitted she should have sought medical help sooner after she was scratched in 2022. Fran, who has four other cats, told the BBC: ""He wasn't deliberately trying to hurt me. It's not the cat's fault."

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Councillor Fran Oborski had to have her leg amputated after a wound from a cat scratch developed. Pictured: Cllr Oborski previously pictured for the Birmingham Mail

"But we are very, very careful not to touch him." After her cut turned into cellulitis, Fran underwent two years of hospital and GP appointments. In September, her bandages were replaced with adhesive dressings.

"What neither she [the nurse] nor I realised was that I was actually allergic to those dressings, which made the whole of my leg just erupt in a mass of ulcers," she said.

A consultant at Worcestershire Royal Hospital told her she would likely lose the leg within two years. "So I said, 'In that case, take it off now.

"I made the decision quickly because I was sick and tired of having to go to the doctor's every day. If I was going to lose the leg anyway, I might as well lose it now."

Fran is due to have a prosthetic leg fitted soon and said if she had known what she now knows she would have sought medical attention within 24 hours. Fran continues to feed Jaffa when he turns up to her conservatory, even if stroking him is off the table.