Marley the cat dragged himself home despite suffering from a cracked pelvis, fractured leg and dislocated hip. Photo / Bevan Conley
Marley the cat dragged himself home despite suffering from a cracked pelvis, fractured leg and dislocated hip. Photo / Bevan Conley
WARNING: Includes image of animal surgery.
A Whanganui cat dragged itself home despite suffering from a cracked pelvis, fractured leg and dislocated hip, with a vet later saving his leg from amputation.
Owner Julie Thompson said she received a shocked phone call from her children saying Marley had arrived through the cat door “covered in blood”.
“He is a bit of a roamer so the neighbourhood kids know him, but he always comes home; he’s usually back by about 6-7pm.”
It would have been a painful journey for the 1-year-old ragdoll cat.
Owner Julie Thompson said Marley was the baby of their family: "He's a sweetheart." Photo / Bevan Conley
Veterinarian Dr Hein Stoop said it was most likely Marley had been hit by a car due to the extent of his injuries and a lack of bite marks.
“At the time of injury, his thigh bone must have been sticking out of his leg like in a horrible movie scene, and that’s when he dragged himself home.
“He lost a significant part of his bone that was never found because it’s probably somewhere on the street, and he raked whatever surface he was on with his bone.”
There was fur and sand buried in the bone and it was “really dirty”.
“When I got home I started cleaning him up, and when I lifted his leg he yelled out in pain,” Thompson said.
An X-ray at the after-hours clinic at Wanganui Veterinary Services revealed Marley had a cracked pelvis, dislocated hip and fractured thigh bone which was partially sticking out of his leg.
The wound was badly infected.
Surgery to fix Marley’s leg would cost the family more than $4000 - a price which meant pet owners often opted for a cheaper $1000 amputation.
Thompson said although she did think it was a lot of money, her husband was determined to pay it: “He said, ‘No, let’s just save it’. I said it was a lot of money, but he said: ‘No, I don’t care, let’s just do it’.”
Marley was the baby of their family, Thompson said.
“He’s a sweetheart. He’s a real character, he really is.”
Stoop performed surgery on Marley that involved relocating his hip, repairing the femur with a pin to provide stability and attaching an external fixator to be removed once the leg has healed.
Marley's thigh bone was repaired with a pin to provide stability and an external fixator that will be removed once the bone has healed.
Bone marrow was harvested from Marley’s pelvis and inserted into the chunk of missing bone in his femur to stimulate bone growth.
Marley was reunited with his family after a short recovery stay at the clinic.
Veterinarian nurse Heather Rodgers said it was important owners microchipped their animals and put them on the New Zealand animal register in case they got lost or were injured by a vehicle.
“We do get quite a few animals come in and they’re not microchipped or registered with the council.
“Also, there are animals that have been missing for a couple of years and someone brings them in after finding them on the street - the owners are so happy when we call them.”
Cats were pretty amazing when it comes to walking with spinal trauma and broken legs, Stoop said.
“Seriously, they can get hit at 50-80km/h, and when you look at X-rays, you just can’t imagine that cat walked home - and yet they did.”
