Blog

Posted By: Martin - Vet

What happened to Ollie?

When you’ve finished that hard working week on a Friday afternoon most just look forward to getting home and relaxing.  For some that relaxing would involve taking the dog for a walk or even sitting with the cat on the sofa and watching a bit of T.V.. That was how Ollie’s owners may have wanted to spend Friday evening but they soon found Ollie in a state that meant their Friday evening looked very different.

Ollie the 2 year cat was seemingly fine on Friday morning.  He was happy to be offered breakfast and then keen to take to the outdoors and do his usual thing.  His owners went to work not realising that the next time they would see him he would have a very different demeanour.

On Friday evening when his owners returned Ollie was very depressed.  He wouldn’t stand and just wanted to lay collapsed on the floor.  This was anything but normal for the usually lively Ollie, and his owners were immediately on the phone to the duty vet.

Before too long Ollie was at the practice to be examined.  He was incredibly depressed and non-responsive but the exact cause with difficult to establish.  He was admitted for intravenous fluids and stabilisation and further tests were run to establish the possible causes for his condition.

The good news was that his blood tests and blood pressure were all normal but the bad news was we still hadn’t got a clear idea of what the cause of his condition was.  Thankfully Ollie’s vital parameters were stable and he appeared happy to just curl up and rest in the cattery on the pain relieving medication he had been given.

The following morning Ollie was brighter and stronger and it was obvious that a nights rest, intravenous fluids and pain relief had been of benefit.  He was still unwilling to stand and so with him stronger we discussed with his owners about giving him some sedation and taking X-rays.  This was to ultimately give us and Ollie our answers.

The majority of Ollie’s X-rays were unremarkable but the view of his pelvis showed some small fractures and indicated he had been in a traumatic incident of some kind.  This was a surprise as otherwise he had no signs of this, not even scuffed nails!

The fractures to his pelvis were obviously the cause of his current condition but the good news was that the overall structure of the pelvis hadn’t been affected too much.  Fractures in the pelvis can lead to pelvic narrowing, difficulty passing faeces and also severe long term lameness.   However, the type of fractures sustained for Ollie meant that these long term side effects were unlikely and that rest alone could see Ollie heal, and hopefully avoid him going under the knife! 

Ollie was started on combination pain relief that appeared to keep him comfortable.  Later on that day he was discharged to go home with cage rest, pain relief and TLC.  Over the coming weeks Ollie was initially allowed to come out of his cage to sit on his owners lap and then gradually he was given more time out of the cage to explore ever increasing areas of the house.  Six weeks on Ollie was finally examined and decided that he has made such good progress that he will shortly be allowed out once again to do his usual exploring, something his owners will allow with a slight sense of nervousness no doubt. 

Other Articles

Archives

Search through our previous blog posts by month.

View All

Feel free to contact us for any advice you may need

Shepton Veterinary Group Limited
Allyn Saxon Drive
Shepton Mallet BA4 5QH

©2024 Shepton Veterinary Group Ltd., All rights reserved.
Privacy PolicyTerms & ConditionsCookie Policy