Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Cat hit by car

42 replies

liviadrusilla · 12/09/2019 13:24

My beautiful cat was hit by a car on Tuesday. She came to our garden and we took her to the emergency vets, we didn’t think she was too badly hurt at first (we didn’t even realise it was a car, thought a cat fight but took her in as a precaution) but she has a very bad tail pull injury and has dislocated and fractured her tail. Apparently this damages lots of nerves and can lead to cats being totally incontinent. She’s staying at the vets and has just started eating and seems comfortable but isn’t showing any sign of going to the loo on her own - I’m so worried she’s not going to recover her functions and they’ll recommend she is pts. We have to give it time at the moment but I’m pretty much in bits. She’s gone from being totally fine one minute to suddenly having a not great prognosis, but in most respects still seems like herself (just grumpy not being at home) - I just can’t believe it. She is the sweetest, most affectionate and playful girl, and so cautious around cars. Not really sure why I’m posting, I guess hoping someone has had a similar experience with a good outcome.

OP posts:
Mia184 · 12/09/2019 14:09

I’m sorry for your cat and hope she will get better soon. There is a woman in Austria who looks after handicapped cats - including those that cannot poop or pee on their own (she massages them so that it comes out). She has an Instagram account instagram.com/paradise_for_handicats?igshid=sp8h57fnux71 . It is in German but if it turns out that your cat cannot go to the
Iitter box on her own, maybe you can contact her for advice.

I wish your cat a speedy and full recovery!

gingerpurrfect · 12/09/2019 14:24

Like you say, give it time. My cat suffered a similar incident 6 years ago and, with time, made an almost complete recovery including full control of both bladder and sphincter. For the first week he passed small amounts of bloody urine with seemingly little control, but then gradually started to improve. It took almost 6 days for him to make his first poo post accident, but again, this slowly got back to normal.

I imagine your girl is still really swollen around the nerves and muscles that control toileting. Hopefully you and the vet will be able to assess what control she has once the swelling has gone down. Fingers crossed it's good news.

My situation was slightly different as I was actually living in Egypt at the time with limited access to good veterinary care. PTS was never even discussed as a possible option - anti-inflammatories, pain killers, syringe feeding, crate rest and time (fortunately) resulted in a happy outcome for me.

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 12/09/2019 16:11

Thank you so much for your replies. The waiting is so hard but it’s so good to hear your cat had a positive outcome gingerpurrfect. Thank you Mia, I will look up the Instagram. Keeping everything crossed for my girl, going to visit her soon.

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 12/09/2019 17:34

It may be worth asking if you could bring her home for a few hours to see if she will see at home. My pair absolutely refused to see at the vets!

Fluffycloudland77 · 12/09/2019 18:08

Fingers crossed for you & your cat.

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 12/09/2019 20:54

Thank you everyone for your kind words. She seemed so much better in herself today, still no progress on the pee/poo front but I suppose it’s only been 2 days so trying to be patient. Thanks toddlertea, I think we’ll give her the weekend at the vets as they can palpate her bladder more regularly and observe her but then we hope she can come back next week.

OP posts:
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 12/09/2019 21:26

Let us know how u get on x

EL8888 · 12/09/2019 22:10

Lots of vibes for her. My partners ex’s cat got ran over and had toileting issues. She would massage it over a toilet and it would go apparently

Wolfiefan · 12/09/2019 22:13

Hoping for good news soon. I believe that trauma like this can cause swelling and so some problems can be temporary. Really hope so OP.

HappyHammy · 12/09/2019 22:17

this happened to a neighbours cat, he also had a fractured pelvis. he had to have most of his tail amputated but got full function of his wee and poo back and now wanders around all over the place visiting all his neighbours (the cat that is). give it time and I hope he makes a full recovery

Vinorosso74 · 12/09/2019 22:46

Fingers and paws crossed for her recovery here.

FairyDust92 · 12/09/2019 22:51

My mums cat had his tail damaged and it bent at the end. The poor old boy is a fighter. He made a good recovery. He hates his tail being touched now as I could imagine it's not comfortable for him. Good luck hope your cat gets good results x

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 13/09/2019 16:54

Thanks so much everyone, about to go and see her again and will let you know any news. Her tail is totally floppy as the dislocation was right at the top unfortunately, I will be so happy if we get out of this with a tail less but otherwise happy and healthy cat!

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 13/09/2019 20:22

I’m hoping the visit went well.

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 14/09/2019 14:01

In the end we couldn't go yesterday because they had too many emergency cases, but we went this morning. Spoke to a really helpful vet. No progress on the continence, we're now 4 days post accident and normally progress is seen within two weeks, a month tops - at the moment the vet thinks the chance of improvement is 50/50. However, depending on how a couple of things go for the first time we discussed the possibility of trying to manage her condition long term and the vet said we can give her as much time as possible to see how she gets on. Was so nice to spend a bit of time with her, aside from the tail and a bit of wee leaking she was almost back to normal. Still feeling very worried and tearful (I'm also seven months pregnant which doesn't help) but at least there is potential hope.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 14/09/2019 14:10

Is she in pain?

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 14/09/2019 14:15

No, no pain thankfully, she seems so normal - she's eating well and I think is off medication now (although they will start trying to find a way to manage constipation this weekend so she will take some stool softener).

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 14/09/2019 16:19

I’d hang on in there, see what happens and if it comes to it you know you gave her a good shot at it.

Wolfiefan · 14/09/2019 16:21

It’s only 4 days. If they’re saying they expect to see improvement within a month then that’s very soon. You’re giving her the best chance. Hope you get to visit soon.

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 14/09/2019 16:21

Thank you, that's what we're thinking - we love her so much and want to give her every chance and know we've tried all we can.

OP posts:
Original poster
liviadrusilla · 14/09/2019 16:22

Thank you Wolfiefan, trying to be patient and hoping for the best

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 14/09/2019 16:23

And if she’s perfectly comfortable and could possibly improve then it’s absolutely the right thing to do. Keeping everything crossed for her.

Original poster
liviadrusilla · 15/09/2019 15:54

Some tentative good news today, she did some pooing on her own before they even gave her stool softener! It doesn't mean there has been any recovery on her bowel nerve but apparently cats can have some control of when they release through another part of their colon (or something). Hoping that this is indicative of healing but trying not to celebrate prematurely because still lots of potential problems. She's coming home tomorrow for monitoring with us. We visited again this morning and she was exploring the cat room like her normal self.

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 15/09/2019 16:01

Oh I really hope so. We will keep all our paws and fingers crossed.

Vinorosso74 · 15/09/2019 16:55

That sounds good. Here's hoping she improves at home.