Kitty cat has broken jaw in two places

I am so worried.  TomTom is in the hospital on IV's and getting medicine to get the swelling down....jaw fractured in two places..  We don't know for sure what happened but think perhaps the horse stepped on him.  His tongue is very swollen, could not move tongue and has had trouble breathing.  When I found him a couple days ago he was bleeding at the nose and mouth.  Vet says he is not able for surgery right now.  But he did move his tongue a little yesterday.  Hopefully he will be better today.  BUT they found that he has feline AIDS.  Blood count was 19 and should have been in the 30's but prior to the fx's he seemed fine, even caught a bird the day before (that I hate  I wonder if the anemia could possibly be from blood loss from the lick on his jaw??? )I'm so afraid I will have to euthanize him. I just don't think I will be strong enough to do it if it comes to that.   I am a 71 y/o retired nurse, live alone and these animals are my babies.  Can anyone give me any hope? 

What a shock to find your little cat the way you did.  You managed to get TomTom to a vet and he is now getting the best care available for him so he has the best chance of recovery.  

They are taking their time, supporting him, so that he can get stronger and be more able to cope with the surgery he needs and the vets would not do that if they believed he would not improve enough to go through treatment.  Please see what they are doing as a positive thing although it must be extremely hard to be seperated from him.  With the vets finding his anaemia and diagnosing FAIDS; now this is known  about your cat has the oportunity to have treatment.  He was well enough to be hunting successfully before so imagine what he could do if he was in better health.

Try to imagine TomTom healthy, recovered and well, and have hope as your vets do, otherwise they would not be giving him this treatment.  TomTom must feel your love and that will give him strength.  I know this is hard when  it is your furfamily that is sick, but I will be joining you, sending positive vibes for him to have strength to overcome this and I am sure everyone else reading your post will be doing this too.

I am very sorry to hear about your kitty's injuries. Poor little baby. It must have been horrifying to find your kitty in this way but so very fortunate that you were able to get him to a vet. 

MServant has offered some really good and kind advice. I wish you strength and courage in the days ahead .. Blessings that he will make a full recovery.

My sister had a dog who was having bloody noses, he was anemic because of it.  Did they run a FIV (Feline Aids) test or are they just assuming since he is anemic?  He will have a difficult recovery ahead of him but I have seen cats recover with broken jaws pretty well, just takes some time.

Thank you all for the replies.  I feel encouraged today by your words and also the vet said TomTom's swelling in the tongue is down a tiny bit more today and he even swallowed a little water.  He is going to take the IV out tomorrow and try to feed him soft food with liquid added and will also evaluate his condition for wiring his jaw.  He said he felt sure some of the anemia was due to the blood loss from the injury but I'm thinking he actually did a feline Aids test because at one point he was searching to see if they had done one.  He did say a leukemia test was done in the past and it was negative.  I suppose we would not know about the Aids if he had not gotten the jaw injury.  He said feline aids was common but I just never knew anything about it.  If it is common shouldn't they do regular tests for I?.  Or do they?  And what do you all know about the feline aids vaccine...vet said it wasn't very good.  Just trying to learn all I can about this.  THANK YOU again!    Your replies made my heart a little lighter. 

It sounds like positive news from your vet and I hope you are able to relax a little and take care of your self knowing TomTom is getting stronger.  I'll be here, waiting for news on how he is doing and what the vet says about wiring his jaw.  

I'm afraid I don't know much about feline AIDS other than that maintenance has come a very long way since I lived with a young cat who had it back in the mid '80s.

.      for your lttle guy.

Thank goodness you found TomTom when you did! I cannot imagine how scary it must have been to find him with such horrible injuries, the poor guy. The news from the vet sounds encouraging.

I don't know much about feline AIDS, but I have two cats who have both had broken jaws (dog attack). I just wanted to let you know that full recovery with a normal, happy life is possible! Today, both my girls can eat hard food and are pain-free and content. One had metal plates inserted and the other got wired back together. With the girl who was wired, we had to use a feeding tube for about two weeks until her jaw healed a bit. It was easy to do, even though I was super nervous at first. The vet gave us a demonstration and information on how to keep everything clean. Her jaw was partially shattered, so they were being extra careful. If TomTom has clean breaks, the feeding tube might not be necessary, just soft food mixed with water. All in all, I was amazed at how quickly they both bounced back to full health and happiness.

I hope TomTom's surgery goes well and he is feeling better soon. I will say a prayer for you both. Please keep us updated on his condition and also on how you are doing.

How is TomTom doing today?  I have my fingers crossed for you and hoping you have had some positive news of his recovery and possible surgery.

Dr. is not going to give TomTom anything by mouth in the morning and may wire his jaw tomorrow afternoon.  He said it will heal without it but would be crooked making it hard for him to eat.  He is swallowing some now but spits some back at them.  He is a finicky eater anyway, will only eat certain kinds of cat food.  His tongue swelling is going down.  The IV is out and they are giving him fluids subcutaneous (I didn't even know you could do that for a cat).  Hasn't said much about aids but I read that if they had ever been vaccinated for aids, they would always test positive.  I don't know what he had before I got him.  Wouldn't it be a miracle if it was a false positive.  I know....but I can hope.  Thank you for asking about him.

Said TomTom's jaw was broken two places LONGWAYS.

I had a cat years ago (1970s) that had a broken jaw in two places. The vet said it looked like someone hit him with a 2x4. It took a couple of days for the swelling to go down, then the vet operated and wired his jaw back together. We had to feed him an almost liquid diet with a syringe while his jaw healed. Cat was good as new and lived happily for years. I can't offer much knowledge. Just thought you'd like to know that it can be done, and it can be done successfully -- it will just take some time.

Thank you.  Your words give me hope.

Your TomTom must have lots of strength and determination, and spitting his food at the staff sounds like it's a sign of him sticking to his guns, sick or not!  Stay positive; I have no doubt there will be a gang of us sending positive vibes for the surgery,  and waiting to hear how  the surgery has gone. Stay strong and look after yourself;  it is hard waiting for surgery to happen and waiting to know your cat is OK, but remember TomTom should need you looking after him and pampering him very soon and you need to have the energy for it.  Don't use all your energy up on worry.  

Horizontal fracture pinned.  Unable to fix vertical fracture but vet said horizontal pin would help align vertical fracture.  Has to stay in hospital over week end until eating better.  Getting subq fluids (IV out) and getting meds.

Out of surgery and planning for return home.  That is wonderful progress.  Thank you for letting us know how he's doing.  

It's good news that your vet is talking optimistic. Is your cat wearing an elizabethan collar? It might help keeping the the vertical fracture bones in the proper place by preventing accidental bumping of the jaw.

Haven't heard anything about it.  I will ask the vet before I bring TomTom home.  Have lots of questions for him.

TomTom is still not eating on his own.  His injury was on January 10th.  He seems to be doing well on syringe feeding and I believe his appetite is good (He is getting a pill for that although I don't think appetite is his problem).  He tries to eat on his own but something stops him??  He moves his jaws and makes chewing like motions with the syringe feeding.  I know he can eat on his own because a couple of times the small amount of food I left was gone.  What do you all think?

Hi, it is good to have an update for TomTom; I was just wondering about him yesterday!  Sorry to hear he still isn't eating independently, but has taken to the syringe feeding and eating some small amounts of food left for him.  I hope he is in good health other than this and overall made a good recovery.

Has TomTom had any follow up with his vet, or have you called them at all to see what they would expect?  It could be that he is still experiencing some discomfort and is anxious / or finds that eating from the bowl causes pain or discomfort.  Cats do not usually chew their food to any great degree as far as I understand but use their teeth more to bite off, or sheer meat away from bone or skin.  It could be that TomTom feels some allignment issues with his teeth or jaw?  The other thing is TomTom may like the attention and contact with the feeding which I think is quite unusual but I know Mouse likes this and will take food from my hand and drink from a syringe if he can; he likes to play food games so it is an interaction rather than taking from his bowl.   I wonder if @cocheezie has any recal of how long it took their cat to settle?

Definitely worth calling your vet to see what they would expect.

Personally, I would be encouraged by the fact that he makes those chewing motions and has an appetite. He probably just still needs more healing time. That was a big injury and it's only been 3 weeks!