A beloved family cat has received life-changing treatment after a leading team of vets performed emergency surgery to rebuild his shattered pelvis and reattach it to his spine in a complex and difficult operation.
Grumpy, a beautiful one-year-old male tabby cat, had been found unable to walk and in distress outside his home by owner Jack Rudkin after a likely road traffic accident.
Jack, who lives in Rochdale, immediately rushed Grumpy to his local veterinary practice, where Grumpy received emergency assessment and care, including intra-venous fluids to treat shock and pain-relief. Here the vet informed Jack that Grumpy had suffered his significant injuries following the blunt force trauma.
It was recommended that Grumpy be transferred to nearby animal hospital Manchester Veterinary Specialists. Here Grumpy was immediately assessed by Anna Condon, one of their specialist veterinary orthopaedic surgeons.
Grumpy was initially stabilised then underwent CT and X-ray imaging of his chest and pelvis to determine the severity of his injuries. This imaging revealed that the right side of his pelvis had been shattered into several pieces. It also showed he had a traumatic dislocation and fracture of the left side of his pelvis, leaving this left side unattached to the spine.
Both injuries meant that his pelvis was unable to bear any weight, meaning Grumpy was unable to walk. In addition, the left-side fracture was very close to his vital nerves which provide movement and sensation to his limbs.
Anna and the team had to stabilise Grumpy’s pelvic injuries to give him the best chance of a full recovery. To treat Grumpy, they performed surgery to stabilise his pelvic fractures and to restore their function.
Surgery took over three hours, involved two Orthopaedic consultants, a veterinary anaesthetist, and several specialist referral nurses for continuous anaesthetic monitoring and surgical assistance. A screw was used to reduce and re-attach the left side of the pelvis, and on the right-side the fractures (broken into several pieces) were carefully and precisely reconstructed using bone plates and multiple screws.
Amazingly, only 48 hours later, Grumpy began to support his body-weight on his pelvic limbs and was taking tentative steps. He required strict bed rest over a period of 6-8 weeks, to allow his bones and soft tissues to heal for normal function to return.
Grumpy’s recovery went very well and he returned to full function within three months. Jack was delighted to have Grumpy back to his usual – and not-so-grumpy – self.
Owner Jack Rudkin said: “After Grumpy was involved in a suspected road traffic accident I was worried his quality of life going forward was going to be poor.
“I was initially nervous to receive the call from my local vet that Grumpy would need to be referred for specialist treatment. But when we got to MVS and spoke to Anna, who performed the surgery on Grumpy, I was immediately reassured by her expertise, the explanation of Grumpy’s injuries and the operational procedure required.
“Anna admitted afterwards she was a perfectionist and spent time getting Grumpy’s reconstructive surgery as close to perfect as possible. And I can say that the way he is now, she absolutely succeeded.
“Grumpy has recovered amazingly well. There was an abundance of post-operation support by the team at MVS and nothing was too much trouble for them. They gave us an easy-to-follow medication schedule, detailed documentation on post operation recovery and things to keep an eye on. The level of care and attention he received was exceptional.
“Grumpy is now a very happy, very mobile, indoor cat and I am extremely grateful to all of the staff at MVS for taking care of him and giving him this second chance at life.”
