A Bristol kitten has made a miraculous recovery after surviving a 50ft fall from a fourth-floor flat. Oreo the one-year-old cat spent one of her nine lives when she escaped her owner's window in Redcliffe.
She plummeted 50ft to the ground where she lay overnight. The curious cat broke both of her front legs and fractured two bones in her front right paw in the incident.
She also sustained severe bruising to her chest, mouth, and jaw. Amazingly Oreo is now expected to make a full recovery thanks to vet charity the PDSA's Bristol Pet Hospital, even though Oreo's distraught owner could not afford the cost of the treatment.
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Her owner Melanie Woodward said she did not know if Oreo would survive the ordeal. The 38-year-old, from Redcliffe Hill, said: "Oreo is very friendly and always comes into the bedroom for a bit of fuss in the morning.
''When she didn’t come in, alarm bells started to ring. My daughter and I looked for her all over the flat - under beds, in cupboards, behind furniture – everywhere we could think of, but we just couldn’t find her.
“By that point I was hysterical. In desperation, I went onto the balcony, and when I looked down I saw her lying in our downstairs neighbour’s yard. It was beyond horrendous, we were all beside ourselves.
"I ran downstairs in my pyjamas and socks and banged on my neighbour’s door so I could get into the yard to help Oreo." Despite immediately rushing Oreo to the vets after the incident in July, Melanie was unable to afford the treatment as she suffers from ill health and her husband is her carer - leaving her unable to commit to expensive vetinary treatments.
It's understood Oreo had opened a window which was left slightly ajar, and fell out. After discovering that she would need a series of treatments, Melanie said she was “heartbroken” as her family have had to watch every penny due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.
“The days where my husband and I have to miss meals to ensure the children and Oreo are able to eat are becoming more and more frequent”, she told PA. “We rescued Oreo before all the bills went through the roof and she has quickly become the centre of our family, we all adore her.”
Thankfully vets directed her to the PDSA to get help - and the group were able to give Oreo treatment worth over £2,500 at minimal cost to Melanie. She added: “I can’t thank PDSA enough for saving Oreo.
"Everyone in the team was so kind and did everything they could to help her survive so she can have a healthy and happy life. There is no way we could have afforded to pay for Oreo’s treatment as, like most families nowadays, we just don’t have thousands of pounds spare, so to be able to access PDSA’s services when we were absolutely desperate was incredible.
"I will never forget the kindness and compassion that the whole team showed not only to Oreo but also to myself and my family. We will all be forever grateful.”
The charity is now appealing for donations so they can continue to help pets in need when their owners are unable to pay the often high cost of treatment. PDSA Bristol Vet Penny Morgan said: “Little Oreo’s injuries were very serious. Her legs were badly hurt and she had sustained severe bruising.
“After two weeks we made the decision to operate because her fractures weren’t healing as quickly as we’d have liked. We performed a complex surgical procedure to repair her legs, fitting metal plates to each of them.
“The surgery was a success and Oreo’s injuries are now healing well. With the care and love of her family, I’m confident she will make a full recovery.”
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