It was one of those moments that aren’t supposed to happen, but they do happen. In the Woodward family’s home in Bristol, England, one day the window was opened a little. It was ajar, but the apartment cat, Oreo, a tiny black-and-white kitty barely a year old, managed to open the gap wider so she could climb out onto the ledge. But the animal was neither used to the concept of “outside” nor to the height. It crashed and fell more than 15 meters from the fourth floor.
At first the family could not explain where the cat was. The Evening Standard newspaper reports that the mother, Melanie Woodward, missed Oreo first, as the animal used to come into the bedroom in the morning and wake up the parents. Melanie searched the whole apartment, the family helped her. But nowhere a trace of Oreo. Then someone noticed that the window wasn’t closed properly – and downstairs lay the poor cat in the garden.
As Melanie and her husband rushed downstairs, it quickly became clear that Oreo needed urgent veterinary attention because he had been badly injured. The problem: The Woodward family was not doing well financially. Mother Melanie was seriously ill and her husband had to look after her all day. Ever since inflation and the energy crisis drove up everyday expenses, parents would have skipped meals time and time again so that the children could be well taken care of and Oreo the cat could be fed. And even now it was clear: the animal must be helped, no matter what the cost.
The family took the injured cat to a nearby animal hospital. And there they got wonderful news: In cases like this, the association PDSA (“People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals”, in German roughly: Volksapotheke für icke Animals) would cover the costs for the treatment, since the Woodwards simply didn’t have the money for it . So Oreo could get the treatment she needed.
And that was urgently needed, because the little animal had been badly injured. Several bones in his legs were broken. And a cast didn’t seem to be enough: “After two weeks of observation, we decided to operate on her because her fractures would not heal as we had hoped. We performed a very complex operation to restore her legs and stabilized her bones with metal plates.” The effort was worth it: Oreo was soon able to move well again. The doctors are certain: With loving care from the family, she will make a full recovery.
Sources: “Evening Standard”, PDSA
