THE puppy that fell off a cliff; the shot cat; the dog that ate Homer Simpson: it's all in a day's work for vets at pet charity, PDSA. Now they have rounded up some of the most amazing and eye-watering cases in an end-of-year Top of the Ops compilation.

THE puppy that fell off a cliff; the shot cat; the dog that ate Homer Simpson: it's all in a day's work for vets at pet charity, PDSA. Now they have rounded up some of the most amazing and eye-watering cases in an end-of-year Top of the Ops compilation.

PDSA, the charity that cares for the pets of people in need, has broken its own record for pet operations this year, completing over 100,000, a 5pc increase on last year.

Its varied surgical casebook includes emergency operations to remove clothes, balls and toys from pets' stomachs, repairing broken limbs, together with neutering operations, tumour removal and skin grafts plus other procedures such as fitting full body casts to injured pets - to name but a few.

Counting down from 10, here's PDSA's Top of the Ops list:

10. This time last year Labrador, Jack, (then six-months-old) from Plymouth, ate an entire alphabet of fridge magnets as a midnight snack, and had to be rushed to PDSA's Plymouth hospital to have them removed from his stomach.

9. Mischievous six-month-old Labrador puppy, Rolo, from Gillingham, became the 'catch of the day' for PDSA vets in Gillingham in October after she swallowed a one inch catfish hook - complete with line still attached. PDSA vets performed an emergency endoscopy to locate and remove the hook. Luckily it hadn't gone into Rolo's stomach, so the vets were able to get the hook out in a matter of minutes. If it had travelled any further inside it could have punctured her internal organs which could have proved fatal. As it was, she was back on all fours and wagging her tail again in no time at all

8. In October, Luna, a curious cat from Sunderland, underwent a rather eye-watering procedure following a near fatal encounter with a two-and-a half inch stick which had become mysteriously embedded deep inside her tiny nose. The stick was literally millimetres away from fatally wounding her. Vets who treated Luna had never seen such a strange sight before.

7. In April, Derby PDSA vets operated on four-month-old Yorkshire Terrier, Tia, after she had accidentally swallowed a plastic toy seahorse. Considering Tia's petite proportions, it was amazing that she had actually managed to swallow the sizeable toy!

6.Ten-year-old dog Dixie, from Aberdeen, needed emergency surgery from PDSA vets to remove a plastic Homer Simpson figure from her intestines in March. The figurine goes down in history as one of the most bizarre items removed from a pet's stomach!

5. 13-year-old Croydon cat, Smudge, needed emergency surgery after being shot with an air gun in September. PDSA vets had to remove the pellet, which had become stuck in its bladder and was acting as a plug, preventing him from urinating.

4. Staffordshire bull terrier puppy, Betty, was in surgery for over an hour after eating a full-length plastic arrow, measuring 10.5 inches! She had emergency surgery at Thamesmead PetAid hospital to remove the arrow which spanned from her oesophagus right through to the small intestine.

3. Vets at Huyton PDSA PetAid hospital had to act quickly when Harvey, a six-month old Shar-pei, was rushed in after swallowing a cocktail stick in May. The stick was poking out of his intestine and without surgery, he could have died from peritonitis.

2. Tinsel the cat from Staffordshire, was another victim of an airgun attack, which could have killed her. During a two-hour operation, PDSA vets found two airgun pellets that had perforated her intestine in five places. The charity's vets had to navigate through six loops of the intestine to remove damaged tissue and then sew everything back together. PDSA vets described it as 'the worst airgun injury they had ever seen'.

1. In at number one is the dramatic story of Patterdale terrier puppy, Darcy, from Sunderland, who defied death after plunging 45ft off a cliff, leaving her with broken bones in three of her legs. PDSA staff spent hours operating on her broken bones to help the unlucky pooch walk again. She's now back on all fours and living life to the full.

This Christmas PDSA launched a �600,000 emergency appeal to help it provide vital care for the record-breaking numbers of poorly pets it is seeing. Annually, the delivery of PDSA services costs around �50m. PDSA relies entirely on charitable donations and voluntary contributions, as it receives no Government or lottery funding for its PetAid services.

For further information about PDSA PetAid services or for details of how you can make a donation please call 0800 731 2502 or visit www.pdsa.org.uk/xmas.