advice for injured cat (broken pelvis)

One of our three cats has been badly injured over xmas. It is suspected that he has been run over by a car's wheel. After being kept in with pdsa and having xrays examined it appears his pelvis has been broken in two places. They have said that they would not usually operate on broken pelvis and it would be left to heal itself. However the potential complication is that it could heal in the wrong position and close up his colon making it very hard to poo. They did say there may be orthopedic specialists that could operate but if they could it would be better sooner than later and would be expensive. They are also unsure if they could rebreak and set the pelvis if it did heal in the wrong position.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice or experiences with this? We dont know what is best right now. We are having to keep him in a cage and only feed wet food with medicine to help him poo. He hadnt been at all while kept in but has been once now since home today thankfully.

The other advice is related to one of the other cats. We believe the two of them are brothers and were abandoned as kittens in the street here. There was an old man who took them in and cared for them and also had them neutured. He has since passed and they survived after by getting food put out from a number of different houses. Since we moved here 6 months ago we gradually took them on as our own as their trust grew. More recently we were also given a kitten but kept her away and havent been able to slowly introduce them to her yet. Whenever we had tested a meeting the boys would only growl or hiss at her. Anyway the problem now has been the two boys. His brothers behaviour had changed over xmas when we hadnt seen him and I think his brother was trying to tell us something. When I did go out on boxing day to try and find him he was hiding in the neighbours garden and wouldnt move so I picked him up and carried him in before discovering his injury. As soon as we did get him back his brothers behaviour changed again as I presume we had found him. Once he was kept away at the pdsa his brothers behaviour altered once more but it is now once he is back again that theres a problem. I thought his brother would be glad to see him but his brother kept hissin when he saw him in the cage on two occasions. We thought maybe his brother didnt know it was him so when I got home from work and his brother came in a little later we picked one of them up each and brought them close enough to sniff each other. But as soon as his brother had sniffed he started hissing yet again, jumped free, ran and hid under a table having a continual hissing fit. His brother only stoppes this once I took him away and put him back in the cage.... Any ideas what this is all about? Sorry for rambling but I wanted to give the full background.

Hmmm... as far as the broken pelvis. Follow the advice given to you by the vet. To the letter if possible. The pelvis will have to heal on it's own without a lot of help from you, except pain mediations etc.

As far as the hissing etc. The other cat may sense something is wrong or perhaps "smell" the vet's office on your other kitty. Try reintroducing them gradually. Don't force the issue. Bring the kitty and cage into the room you're in the most and let them sniff each other etc. Brush them both with the same brush giving them the scent of the other.

Also, you can use the Feliway diffuser. I love the stuff. It emits phermones into the room and calms the cats down. I was skeptical when I first bought one when I was having BAD problems with Ramsey. Now I'll never again be without one. You can find them at a lot of places but I usually buy mine at Petsmart. I think they are less expensive on Amazon but haven't checked there lately with all the great holiday sales that have been going on. Best of luck. Keep us updated if you can!

Yes, I agree that the injured brother doesn't smell right, so the uninjured cat doesn't recognize him.  Can the injured cat lick himself ok.  If so, once he has been able to clean off the smells of the vet hospital, things should be ok again, presumably.  ( This used to happen at our house just when one cat went to be groomed )

If the injured cat cannot groom himself, then perhaps you can wipe him down with a soft towel, then wipe that towel onto his brother, and vice versa, to get their smells on each other, and do that a few times to see if that helps. (same info Mike gave) 

Now having a new kitten in the house with the injured cat is going to complicate matters still, so if those introductions can wait until the injured cat heals,that may be best.  Otherwise the injured cat may freak out, simply because where there is a kitten, a male cat will "assume" there is a mother cat who is willing to fight for her kitten.  That's why so far they have growled and hissed at her...to keep her away.

that the injured baby heals correctly (and quickly) and that his brother recognized him sooner than later

Thanks for the replies. My biggeat concern was with the pelvis not healing right. If he cant poo properly after they said he cant stay on meds and there is nothing they can do at pdsa meaning recommending putting him down, and the fact that if we were to seek an orphopedic specialist it should be sooner rather than later....

I just want to know what his odds are, and if or how kuch they would be improved if an operation is possible...

He has pood again once more this morning. He seemed really down yesterday but has perked up today.

So it sounds like maybe things are improving then, since he HAS pooped.  And, naturally he would be depressed.  He's probably hurting quite a bit, plus he's being kept in a cage to keep from re-injuring himself (for quite some time, I'd imagine)

Yes it seems hopeful in that respect, but he has medicine to help him go. Once hes off the meds......?

Really good news today! We took Gravy for his check-up and they are really pleased with his progress. The head vet said that the fact he has pooped on several occasions, on at least 5 days over the past 11 days is a good sign, as well as the fact that he stands up in the cage when eating or when we give him attention. She also said that in all the years she has worked, and seen these kinds of injuries many times, only 2 times has she ever known it to result in major complications. They now don't need to see him for 3 weeks, and we are no longer to give him the stool softener he was having twice a day, and only give the painkiller he was having once a day, and see how it goes. When he was put on the floor in the vet to see how he walked he initially fell onto his side as he does when the back left leg gives way, but after a second he got up and shot off and the vet had to run after him to get him! It's looking really positive now, and we are very relieved. At the initial visit after he'd been kept in the vets and had the x-rays, it was upsetting not knowing what his chances of a decent recovery were and hearing of the possibility of complications and even putting him down, even though they were very hopeful for him... My partner was almost in tears. This time, we feel a lot more positive and now I do think he will make a good recovery. The only other thing the vet did say was that he could have complications a long time down the line, in 10 years for example, but even that is not definite...

There seems to be some progress with his brother Jelly. He wouldn't come near this part of the room before where Gravy is in the cage, but now he has come over to us, passing it and there was no hissing. He's also been looking at Gravy, and did walk up to the cage on his own tonight, but then on the down side did hiss at him twice when he was that close, and then just kept looking at him. I think it will just take time. Moreso because of Jelly. I'm pretty sure Gravy knows it is him as Jelly doesn't smell any different and hasn't been anywhere. Also, Gravy meows and I think is calling for him when Jelly's in the house...

Great news on Gravy's recovery.  Jelly should come around sooner or later.  Every time you take Gravy to the Vet, he gets "Vet" smells on him, so it's a good thing he won't have to go back for 3 weeks .  That's give him time to get back to smelling like his old self.  Did you try rubbing each one down with a cloth and them rubbing the other with it.  You could even switch out the bedding from the cage to give to Jelly and vice versa to get them used to each other's smell again.  And maybe feed Jelly close (ish) to Gravy's cage, but not too close is he seems anxious. 

So glad to hear about Gravy This is good news! Sounds like everything is on the right track here. Patience and Perseverence will be your best friends during this time. That and taking the vet's advice :lol3: Thank you for the update!