A pet cat which was found to have the largest brain tumour vets had ever seen has made a miracle recovery following a rare emergency operation.

Owner David Nilsson, who lives in Princetown, took 17-year-old Mozzarella to the vets after he kept collapsing and seemed generally unsteady on his feet.

An MRI scan later revealed a giant brain tumour which was around a third of the size of Mozzarella’s brain.

But following a three hour operation specialist vets managed to remove the huge mass, called a falcine meningioma, in order to save the cat’s life.

Mozzarella has since made a full recovery and is now back home.

David said: “We were extremely worried when the MRI scan revealed a very large brain tumour, which one of the vets said was the largest brain tumour he’d ever seen in a cat.

“Our first reaction was to ask whether it was operable and when we were assured it potentially was, we said to go ahead with the surgery.

“Everything’s gone far better than we expected. He’s now running around with great enthusiasm, chasing his laser pointer and chasing other cats out of the garden.

“His appetite has returned, and you’d probably not guess how elderly he was unless you were told.

"Mozzarella was cared for very well throughout and the vets were very good at explaining all the procedures and risks.”

Neurology specialist Simon Bertram, from the Linnaeus-owned Cave Veterinary Referrals, near Wellington in Somerset, performed the tricky operation.

He said: “Mozzarella arrived at Cave with a two-week history of unsteadiness and compulsive circling to the left.

“An MRI scan revealed a very large mass between the forebrain hemispheres which we suspected was a large falcine meningioma and we offered to operate.

“Mozzarella underwent a modified bilateral transfrontal craniectomy to remove the meningioma and it was a challenging surgery as the tumour did not want to come out without a fight.”