A FAMILY has thanked the public for raising thousands of pounds to save the life of their beloved kitten - but he's not out of the woods yet.

Baby Carrot - who was given his unusual name by his two-year-old owner, Theo - has been diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis, a potentially fatal condition.

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A course of treatment costing £6,500 could save his life but Baby Carrot's condition detiorated so alarmingly in recent weeks that he was put on the medication early in a bid to keep him alive.

The kitten, who lost a lot of weight and was left unable to walk before he received the tablets, has responded well to the treatment which has been secured until March.

Darlington and Stockton Times:

Baby Carrot and Theo

And his family, from York, has thanked everybody who helped raise over £4,600 so far as they strive to reach the full amount to complete his course of tablets.

Family friend Helen Leigh, who set up the online fundraising campaign, said: "Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of everyone who donated and shared our story, Baby Carrot has started his treatment and is responding incredibly well.

"We were able to afford his first batch of tablets within days of being featured in The Northern Echo and it’s good that we did; he had lost a worrying amount of weight and could no longer walk.

"Thankfully, he began to respond quickly and has regained his weight and ability to walk and jump about.

Darlington and Stockton Times:

Baby Carrot has responded well to early treatment

"Donations and his story being shared literally saved his life; if the response hadn’t been so swift and we hadn’t been able to buy all the tablets we have so far, he would have definitely passed away.

Read more: Race against time to save Baby Carrot the kitten's life with £6,500 treatment

"We would love to be able to publicly thank The Northern Echo and the public for making this possible, as well as providing an update to those who have been touched by his story.

"Also, we still have a little way to go to reach our target; if we can’t raise the remaining few thousand then we won’t be able to complete the treatment and it will all be in vain."

If anybody would like to donate to the campaign, visit the Go Fund Me page here.