u/arcadiandeath

Pumpkin (female, nearly 6 years old) was hit by a car three weeks ago. Her tail was severely degloved and broken at the very base (a really bad tail pull injury). Her pelvis was also broken. I made a post that I updated over the course of two days.

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After a while of touch and go, and even a few days where our wonderful vet was not sure she would make it, Pumpkin is now able to get around well, is peeing and pooping by herself, and generally seems to be doing as great as before! She is a bit more shy and more tired than before but that is to be expected. She has a bit of a wobbly walk but we will see if that continues to improve or if we need to get her started with a bit of physical therapy. She is happy and healthy and I can't thank our wonderful vet enough, and I can't even fathom her strength!!

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Just wanted to share the good news. Sometimes the worst happens, and if it had at least she would have been home and surrounded by her family. But she pulled through and we have gained many more incredible and beautiful years with our orange baby!!

just thought id share here too! was trying to make a set of iconic cameron winter outfit arts for a little sticker set but they got overcomplicated for stickers......

Yesterday night, my (25f) cat Pumpkin (nearly 6 years, neutered female) was hit by a car. I am temporarily living with my parents so, in essence, "my cats" are my parents' (they took them in as stray kittens due to a variety of reasons, mostly abandoned by their mothers or sick and on their deathbed). I did what I could to try and convince my parents to keep them indoors and 3 of the 4 are mostly indoors with occasional romps in our large, fenced off garden. However, it is possible for them to reach a street (a small road mainly for farming equipment) through our front gate.

Last night we came home and one of our cats was lying on her side inside our garden, watching us from afar and only responding to our calls with her ears. When we got closer, it turned out her lower half had been injured. We called every emergency vet in the area until we managed to sort out an emergency appointment. All in all, it probably took an hour from finding her to get her to the vet. Her tail was degloved and fractured at the highest point (I was not at the vet's office, but I presume a sacrum fracture) and her pelvis was broken. The vet told us the tail needs to be fully amputated but that the pelvic break would be able to heal on its own. She said our cat would be okay but that healing would take a while.

She is on her way right now to having her tail amputation at our normal vet office. We will also receive a second opinion regarding her pelvic break, whether it will require surgery or if she will be on crate rest for 1.5-2 months. I am in shock and I know I have failed my cats by letting them be indoor-outdoor, and knew this day was likely to come at some point, but as I am usually living away for uni I feel powerless. I know they are living better lives than they would have been living as sick and suffering strays, but I am so wrought with guilt and pain that we still have 3 other indoor-outdoors who could suffer the same way. We have money but not excessive amounts and we are asking my grandparents for help paying for any procedures or vet visits. We live in Central Europe and so vet care is less expensive usually than in a place like the USA. We will do what we can to make sure Pumpkin heals properly and has good QOL. But I am shocked and I feel a bit unstable knowing this was a situation we put her in, that didn't need to happen and should not have happened. I think my mother was shaken too and will do better keeping them indoors more often but I don't think my father will. I don't know. I am leaving for uni again soon and I am so scared more of them will get hurt and I won't be able to do anything about it. I guess I am looking for advice, mostly about Pumpkin.

For those of you who have experience in any capacity, what might her prognosis look like? Full tail amputation is pretty gnarly and paired with a pelvic break, I feel at a loss. I can barely think about the situation without becoming nauseous, lightheaded, panicked, and I couldn't even look at her last night out of fear. I feel so ashamed and I want any kind of hope or commiseration or something. Has anyone else's cat healed from something like this? Have you managed to convince your parents or loved ones to keep their cats indoors even after 5-6 years of having them be indoor-outdoors? Will my baby be okay?

And I hope this doesn't seem selfish, but do any of you have advice for managing your mental health wrt pet fears? I would never have a cat of my own volition unless they were strictly indoors and even then I have pet anxiety all the time due to having many traumatic pet experiences in the past. I have nightmares all the time of my cats being hurt. Most days my parents tell me I need to calm down or take my acute medications because I get scared that something is wrong with them. I am always checking their breathing and their bodies and monitoring their behaviour when I am at my parents'. I am always trying to convince my parents to take our cats to the vet if I feel there is something wrong. Usually they will wait a few days and see if the problem persists but there have been several times where we took them in after I was told to calm down and something was wrong and would have progressed rapidly had they not been taken in. I already spend so much time thinking and fearing when it comes to cats, and this is going to explode that fear into something I can barely sustain. Please let me know if you have any advice.

And most of all please spare a thought or a well wish for Pumpkin, who is in pain and about to lose her magnificent tail. Thank you to anyone who read all of this.

UPDATE: Our favourite vet was in and took her on even though he has a full schedule because he loves her :') he checked everything and said her pelvis should be no issue at all and that it broke in the best place possible. He said the tail is a problem and he can't immediately tell what the nerve issues could be around the very bottom of the spine, but she is able to walk so it doesn't seem horrific. He said normally they would try physiotherapy or letting it heal on its own first but due to the severity of the break and degloving, they have to amputate as soon as possible. He has a full surgery schedule but will be doing the surgery himself after hours and monitoring her up until then. I cannot even express how grateful I am that Pumpkin is in such good hands right now. He told us we can't be certain about that bit of her nerves but he believes she will be able to make a full recovery back to a healthy life. When we pick her up after her surgery tonight (pending all goes well; he said if she doesn't pee or he sees any bad changes or nerve issues, she will be staying overnight), we will discuss with him where to keep her. As her pelvic break is really good, he said it is possible that she may not need to be on crate rest, just kept a close eye on, as walking may help her pelvis reset in the best position. We are incredibly lucky that this horrible situation seems to be having an alright outcome. In another world, that car killed her. If you have the control to, keep your cats indoors please.

UPDATE 2: There is a possibility (quite high) that she may come out of surgery with complete incontinence. If you have any advice whatsoever with how to accommodate her or any experience with this, please share. I am doing my best to research. I know pet incontinence can be very difficult to manage and I want me and my family to be prepared if that is the case.

UPDATE 3: She is out of surgery and our vet said everything went as good as it could have! No clue about her toilet abilities yet, and these next few days will be the most important. She will be kept under observation for the next 5-6 hours and then we will be picking her up. Getting puppy pads from the store and going to be keeping her in a small room so we can monitor if she goes to the bathroom. If she does not pee tomorrow, we take her in; if she does not poo in two days, we take her in. Otherwise, we monitor for infection, make sure she is clean and safe and not having any large behavioural changes, we give her pain meds and keep her in her little room, and then will bring her in for a check up next week. Please send healing thoughts to little Pumpkin Pie!!!

UPDATE 4: Pumpkin is home!!! My parents were the ones to pick her up from the vet (I can really struggle with these things and I don't want to scare cats when I am so upset) and as soon as they got home I went to see her. We had set up a cosy little room (the photos don't look like it; she managed to open a door and lie down exactly where we didn't want her to, but no matter) prior and I think she will be safe and clean and comfortable in there. At the start she was meowing and wanting out but she wore herself out and plonked down. She was purring while we pet her and cleaning her IV arm and was even licking our hands too :') I was worried that seeing her doped up, tail-less, and generally in a state of discomfort would just make me feel worse but I have never been happier. We are not out of the woods yet but she has made it through some very horrible and critical times. Now it is up to us to keep a super close watch on her and bring her in to the vet if anything seems off. She is so strong and I can't believe she got through all of that.

TW for mentions of eating disorders and suicidal ideation

I really struggle to remember a time when I liked myself. I always felt odd, uncomfortable, ugly, and unlovable. My family all express themselves through extreme modes of self-deprecation and I learned it young and could never shake it. I grew up in bad relationships. I was hurting all the time. My parents and sibling all had eating disorders and I was the fat kid who had to eat as much or more than my family so they were allowed to eat; so long as they weren't the fattest. I spent years trying to lose weight, not eating breakfast or lunch or going to the gym 3-4 times a week. My parents encouraged this and were always happy to see me "try". I never lost anything. I hid away for years. Didn't talk to anyone. Refused to go to the doctor even when I was very sick because all I was ever told was that I needed to lose weight. I had pain all the time and a migraine at least once a week. By the time I graduated highschool, I had come to the conclusion that I wouldn't make it.

During university I was isolated and struggling and my trichotillomania got worse. I couldn't stand the sight of myself and assumed others felt the same. I never really made friends; the ones I did make I retreated from until they gave up trying to be my friend. Every day I hoped I would die. Leaving my room got harder because I fantasised about crossing the street at the exact wrong time. I was scared that I had already died and was trapped in that pain forever. I pushed through because I loved learning and had such great respect for my professors. I submitted my thesis and never looked at it again. I was depressed and ashamed.

I decided I would only kill myself on the best day of my life, because if I got trapped in that memory then at least it would be a good one. I got a job. Almost exactly two years ago, I started to get angry, angry at my shame and humiliation. I started doing HIIT to burn off my anger. It hurt and it worked and there was a few months of pain as my body seemed to be resetting old wounds. I was still suffering all the time but at least I could be angry in private, and be invigorated by my pain instead of numb. I started feeling more and I started to hate my shame and love her, the girl who had been so scared all this time. I was angry that the people who should have kept her safe didn't. I was angry that I had spent so long hating her when all that did was make her hurt and hide.

Today is my birthday and I am finding joy in so many things now. I'm reading, drawing, writing, lifting weights, moving my body, going out, eating in front of people, going places by myself, watching movies, letting people take photos of me, and the pain is there but I can fight it now. I had to love her enough to learn to fight it. I still struggle and my hair pulling is still a big problem (maybe I'll shave my head lol). It's a slow process but I'm building habits, in my head and my body, to keep her healthy and safe. I feel I have changed how I approach life and it was slow and I didn't see "results" for a long time but that's because I was growing roots. You gotta grow roots before you can grow branches. It's a shame it took so long but I will do what I can to make up for lost time :)

TL;DR I had to learn to care about myself so I wouldn't lose myself forever. It took a long time and is still a work in progress.

(unfortunately I don't have many good past photos nor present photos of myself. Second to last was taken today. It's still a weird thing for me and I try not to focus too much on the way I look; but hopefully it is clear that I am happier 😊)

First one holds a St Michael the Archangel chaplet with a gorgeous medal, and the second one holds a coral and metal (nickel silver?) rosary with a puffed heart, beautifully cast metal beads, and a tiny reliquary crucifix (it can be opened with tweezers but is empty now).

Such unique, beautiful, and loved pieces.

Curious if anyone has any thoughts on what this might be. I assume it is likely late 19th c. prayer beads, but the mix of the mala-style skulls and the credo is confusing me haha. The transparent red beads feel plastic-y and the big metal bead is incredibly light and not very sonorous. There is dark wear on the string and the outside of the tassel. It is a beautiful piece but I have been struggling to find anything with a similar composition to compare it to :') if you have any thoughts please let me know!

Edit: thank you all for all but confirming my gut feeling...this is certainly not an antique! The seller said they purchased it in Austria in the 80s and, well, my guess would be costume/tourist jewelry from just that time.