Story By:Sergey Panashchuk, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:Central European News

This is the X-ray taken of a cat which has been rescued after swallowing a crucifix.

The incident happened as the cat was at home in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk, in Kemerovo Oblast in south-western Siberia.

The male pet cat was brought to the Vetsovet vet’s clinic by its concerned owners after becoming visibly unwell.

As it was not clear what was wrong with the cat the vets decided to run an X-ray.

They were shocked to find out there was a crucifix inside his stomach, with a photo of the X-ray showing the cross clearly visible in between the cat’s ribs.

The cat was urgently taken into surgery and the crucifix was retrieved from its stomach.

The incident happened as locals were celebrating the Orthodox Christmas which takes place on the sixth and seventh of January every year.

A representative of the Vetsovet surgery that treated the pet said: “On Christmas eve one of our patients was this rusty-white cat. After the X-ray our specialist saw the crucifix inside his stomach. We were very surprised! The owners do not know when or how he ate the crucifix as it is pretty big.

“After the surgery, the crucifix was given back to the owners and the cat came to its senses in our clinic. We will do everything we can to let him live and be the continued delight of his owners!”

The cat is reportedly recovering well after the operation.

Netizen ‘len_babicheva’ said: “Wow, Christmas miracles really coming true! The cat is lucky he found himself in the hands of professionals.”

And ‘mosina_elizaveta’ said: “This is the cat’s way of saying ‘merry Christmas’. He is very creative.”

While ‘handsomactors’ added: ‘Oh poor cat, I hope he’s well, kiss him for me.”