Staff at the Aldergrove Animal Hospital found the unusual...

By Alice Gibbs

Senior Life and Trends Reporter

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Veterinary staff at a British Columbia clinic were met with an unexpected surprise when a cat arrived for a routine neuter surgery—carrying not just himself, but an entire bottle of wine tucked inside his carrier.

Aldergrove Animal Hospital said the patient, whose name was withheld for privacy reasons, was brought in by his owners on November 24.

But when staff opened the carrier to begin the pre-surgery intake, they were met with an unusual sight.

“Our staff were very confused when they opened his carrier to take his vitals prior to his procedure,” Amanda, a Veterinary Assistant and the hospital’s Social Media Coordinator told Newsweek. “We sometimes do receive small gifts from clients, but the owners did not mention a bottle of wine during his admittance.”

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The clinic didn’t keep the bottle, but did mention the mysterious discovery when the cat was discharged later that day.

“Turns out a family member sent it home with them when they left their house with their cat and they forgot it in his carrier,” Amanda said. “They did not see the bottle still in there that morning when they put him in his carrier to bring him to our clinic.”

While the clinic regularly finds familiar comforts—such as pieces of an owner’s clothing—placed inside carriers to help ease a pet’s anxiety, a full bottle of wine was a first.

“We usually just find treats, blankets, or toys,” Amanda said.

The unusual moment sparked enough laughter among staff that the hospital decided to share it on social media. The post quickly took off with more than 170,000 views on TikTok.

“It's his emotional support wine,” joked one commenter on TikTok. While another said: “I should do that for my vet tech since my cat is a terrorist when I take him there.”

“We shared it because we were confused as to why there was an entire bottle of wine in the carrier, but we found it funny and lighthearted as well,” Amanda said. “The staff at our clinic are very witty and humorous, so we wanted to share something funny with our followers. We had no idea it would receive the amount of views and likes that it did.”

The cat successfully underwent surgery and returned home. The wine, the clinic confirmed, also made it back to its rightful humans.

This is not the first time a cat owner has arrived at the vet and had a surprise by the carrier’s contents. Earlier this year one pet owner took her cat Charlie to the vet—only to arrive and find her other cat, Mabel, had come along for the ride.

While other pet owners seem to be struggling with getting their pet into the carrier in the first place. Like Mozz’s owner who was forced to cancel their vet appointment when the cat would not cooperate—only for him to go and sit inside just hours later.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

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