Eric the cat knows all about paralytic shellfish poisoning after being sick for a couple of days this week. He was unable to walk properly after eating a meal of his beloved tua tua, collected from Papamoa Beach.

Veronica Edwards holds a reluctant-to-be-photographed Eric.

Eric's owner, John Edwards, says the whole family ate the tua tua, but Eric was the only one to get really sick.
'He's come right now, but he was pretty bad,” says John.
'He would have had a good 12 or more, they were cooked.
'We ate them and we seemed to be alright, but the vet says because Eric's got a smaller stomach the poison would have been more toxic.”
The Edwards had collected their shellfish and eaten them before reading about the paralytic shellfish warning in place on the Bay of Plenty coastline.
A few hours after eating the shellfish, Eric was unable to walk properly.
'He sicked up a few,” says John. 'He wouldn't drink or eat. The next morning he was still the same, walking like he was drunk as a skunk.”
'I was a bit worried he was going to die,” says John.
Medical officer of health Dr Phil Shoemack says Toi Te Ora Public Health staff are following up reports of a Rotorua person who is believed to have gotten ill after eating shellfish from the beach.
Tests done on Monday show shellfish in the Bay remain contaminated with paralytic shellfish poisoning, and the warning will remain in place for at least another week.
'It hasn't gotten any worse or extended any further towards the eastern Bay,” says Phil. 'But the existing warning is still in force. Even if it gets clear next week we will still wait another week to make sure.”