Sheffield cat loses one of his nine lives after horrific car accident

30 July 2019

A cat who suffered life-threatening injuries when hit by a car has made a miraculous recovery, thanks to vet charity PDSA.

Three-year-old Loopie was run over when trying to cross the road near his Killamarsh home. His owner, James Rowney (32) realised something was wrong when he noticed blood on the cat flap.

“I thought Loopie had killed a mouse,” said James. “But when I couldn’t find him I started to worry.  James eventually found Loopie hiding in a bedroom later that day.

“I was devastated when I found him,” said James. “His injuries were so horrific that I could barely look at him.”

James rushed Loopie to the out-of-hours service based at Sheffield PDSA Pet Hospital where he was given immediate medical attention and pain relief in an attempt to stabilise his condition and save his life.

“Poor Loopie was in a critical condition when he came into the Pet Hospital,” said PDSA Vet Jane Sedgewick. “He was suffering from severe head trauma and had a swelling that changed the shape of the top of his head. He also had a heavy nose bleed and the road had ripped away the skin from his lower jaw, which was also clearly broken through the middle. X-rays later revealed he had broken his jaw in several places.”

Loopie was put on a fluid drip, given painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics to try to stabilise him. His injuries were so severe that it was touch-and-go whether he would be able to survive the night, let alone make a full recovery. James was prepared that Loopie might need to be put to sleep.

Vet Jane added: “We performed surgery to wire his jaw back together, re-attached the skin over his chin and placed a feeding tube into his throat. Despite his injuries, he did amazingly well and, after twelve days of intensive, round-the-clock nursing care he was able to finally go home.

“He has since been back to PDSA for regular check-ups. He needed another operation to remove an infected dead tooth and piece of jaw bone, a complication of his accident. We've closely monitored his progress as he recovers.”

Thankfully, four months on, Loopie has made a full recovery, thanks to the dedicated PDSA team and loving care from owner James.

“I want to thank everyone at PDSA for saving Loopie’s life,” said James. “They were brilliant. They gave me back my great friend and I didn’t think that would be possible. I’ve given what I can towards Loopie’s treatment, but I could never have paid for it all myself, so what they have done has been priceless.”

PDSA doesn't receive any Government funding, so Loopie’s life-saving treatment is only possible thanks to public support and kind donations. As well as his initial hospital stay, his treatment required 11 visits to the Pet Hospital and, in total, cost the charity a total of £2,600.

Every year, the dedicated teams at PDSA’s 48 Pet Hospitals work tirelessly to provide 2.7 million veterinary treatments. This includes emergency operations like Loopie’s, as well as routine preventive care such as neutering and vaccinations.