Derek Hough Spent $8,000 on His Cat During Christmas Day Health Scare

Derek Hough spent Christmas with family and friends — and his cat’s veterinarian.

“Look what I got for Christmas 🎄” Hough, 39, captioned an Instagram post on Wednesday, December 25. “A plastic bag filled with stuff Otis ate and had to be removed from his stomach costing $8000 ! Yay! Glad he’s ok.”

Hough shared a photo of himself in festive Christmas-themed pajamas holding Otis the cat — and a bag full of the contents of his pet’s stomach. The professional dancer wrote “$8000” over the photo and added an animated arrow pointing to the plastic bag.

“Noooooo!!!! Glad he’s ok!!” fellow dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy commented. Dancing With the Stars pro Sasha Farber added, “S—” in the comments section as well.

Hough, however, seemed to be in high spirits despite the health emergency. The DWTS judge continued to share a glimpse at his Christmas via Instagram Stories.

He and longtime friend Mark Ballas completed a “Christmas build,” according to one photo. (The pair were putting together a toy car.) Ballas, 38, also showed off his “latte art” in another video.

Hough’s holiday also included his wife, Hayley Erbert.

“We’re literally stuck together now,” Hough captioned a second video on Wednesday. The clip showed himself and Erbert, 30, wearing Christmas onesies that were connected, meaning they had to move as one.

This year’s holiday season marked the second for Hough and Erbert as a married couple. They tied the knot in August 2023 and experienced a series of trials during their first year of marriage as Erbert faced a major health scare.

The professional dancer underwent emergency brain surgery for a cranial hematoma in December 2023 after passing out backstage at one of her and Hough’s live shows. (She danced with Hough for the first time during an episode of DWTS in October.)

“It was one of the most difficult times of my life,” Erbert told Us Weekly exclusively in a cover story last month. The dancer explained that she is “relearning how to live” after the surgery.

“I could [have sat there] and just been ‘poor me’ all day long, every single day. But I was like, no — there’s so much beauty in this life still. And I want to live for it,” she explained. “We are truly gonna be so present and appreciate life so much more.”

Erbert told Us that she’s “98 to 99 percent back to what I was” before the surgeries.

“There’s some things here and there, but minor things. Nothing that will hinder me from just doing what I do in everyday life and my career,” she added. “It truly is a miracle. And I’m so grateful to be able to do what I love still.”