A cat who fell from an upstairs window is back on all paws thanks to a major hip operation at our referral Hospital. Seven-year-old Polly was referred to us after her freak accident, with her grateful owners vowing to make sure all windows are firmly shut from now onwards.
Polly’s owner Louise Newton, from Tamworth, said: “Polly, one of my indoor cats, decided to jump from an upstairs window onto the patio in the back garden but she didn’t land well and injured her back leg.”
Following her fall from height, Polly’s owners rushed her to their local vets, where X-rays showed she had dislocated her hip joint.
The vets tried to move the joint back under anaesthetic, however, it kept moving back out of the socket, so they referred Polly to WMR, where preparations were made to perform a femoral head and neck excision (FHNE) to treat the injury.
Surgery involved cutting off and permanently removing the head and neck of the femur, essentially removing the ball from the ball and socket.
Following the successful operation, Polly then required tailored physiotherapy to restore her hip movement and get her walking again.
Louise added: “Any procedure comes with concerns, so we were worried about how she would respond to the operation. However, when we saw the Vet at WMR, he was so caring and went through every step of the procedure with me and gave me plenty of assurance. Polly’s mobility is now back to normal following the operation. She can climb, jump and get around, and we give her lots of fuss while making sure the windows are firmly shut.”
WMR Managing Director and Specialist in Small Animal Surgery Toby Gemmill said: “Polly had quite a scare falling from such a height out of a window. Surgery went as planned and the prognosis is often very good for these cases with appropriate physiotherapy, so it’s great to hear Polly is moving around like she did before.”
