Naples ‘Iron cat’ up for bizarre pet insurance claim prize

Oct. 01--Sheena and Chris Villarraga wanted to sleep in on their day off, but their cat had other ideas.

Stark, the smart and indefatigable cat appropriately named after the main character of the "Iron Man" movie series, ran around his room, played with his toys and climbed his cat condo.

Seemed innocent enough.

Shortly after, the Golden Gate Estates couple heard a crash.

The furball decided to take flight and ended up tangled in a set of window blinds, hanging by his tail.

"The cord wrapped a knot around his tail, and it was so tight that it pulled out a chunk of his hair," said Sheena Villarraga, Stark's human.

The cat's "Iron Man" flight landed him as one of 11 furry finalists of the 2016 Hambone Award, presented annually by Nationwide Insurance to the pet with the most bizarre insurance claim. Stark, who was adopted at 6 weeks old, was hurt last summer.

The award is named after a dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate a Thanksgiving ham while waiting for someone to find him. All that was left of the main course was the hambone. The dog was treated for a mild case of hypothermia.

After his humans saved Stark from dangling, they rushed him to see his veterinarian at Animal Oasis Veterinary Hospital in North Naples. His tail looked odd and the couple, who both work in healthcare, noticed he felt lethargic.

Chris and Sheena Villarraga were anxious to know he would be okay. Veterinary staff sedated the cat to perform X-rays.

"Nurses are awful patients," Sheena Villarraga said. "I assumed the worst. I thought he was going to have his tail amputated. His big, beautiful tail. Thankfully he only had soft tissue damage."

After a few weeks, Stark was back to being his energetic and capricious self -- getting into places he's not supposed to and chewing through cell phone chargers.

"It's his house, we just live in it," Sheena Villarraga said.

Voting for this year's Hambone Award winner is open until Monday. To read about other strange pet insurance claims and vote, visit hamboneaward.com.

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