Last week I wrote about the high number of young cats we are seeing that have been hit by cars; I wrote about the possible reasons for this sudden increase and the importance of getting your cat microchipped so that they can be identified if bought to the vets after an accident.

Cats that are hit by cars can present with a huge array of injuries; very often it is their back ends that are hit, and this often leads to pelvis and tail damage.

When we see a cat that has been in a car accident, we firstly stabilise them and treat them for shock and pain, once they are stabilised, we can start to find out what is broken.

The most common back-end injury we see in these cats is a fractured pelvis, this is something that we diagnose with x-ray and the severity varies with every case.

Some pelvic fractures need surgery to repair however many will heal themselves with what we call “cage rest” – literally the cat is kept in a cage big enough for bed, food and litter tray – they can move around but not jump at all. We make sure they have lots of pain killers to keep them comfortable, using this method many simple pelvic fractures will heal in about six weeks.

With pelvic injuries the biggest worry is not always the fracture itself, it is whether the cat has suffered nerve damage which limits their ability to pass urine.

It is sometimes hard to know initially whether these patients will regain the ability to pass urine and faeces themselves and it can be a stressful time for owners as all we can do is wait and see if normal function returns.

Alice Moore is a vet at Castle Veterinary Clinic, Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083