Charlotte's Accident

Last night was going a bit strangely anyways. Joe's work has been overwhelmingly busy lately, and when he called to say he wouldn't be home until after 9:00PM I wasn't exactly surprised. I spent most of the evening editing our photos from Greece at a desk in our second bedroom. The cats were restless. I could tell they were stressed about Joe not being home by now (especially Oscar), and kept coming up to me and meowing in a strange sort of way.

Around 10:00pm. I heard my phone beep with a new text message. It was from Joe saying he was finally headed home, and he had eaten dinner at work. Since I had been waiting until he was home to eat, I decided to head to the kitchen quickly make myself something eat before bed.

I had the front windows open, as our flat seems to stay warm no matter the time of year. Since we've moved into the flat, Charlotte has had a penchant for walking out onto the window sill. We used to scold her, afraid that her catty senses might fail sending the three stories down. But after nearly a year of her insistence at sitting out there (and no accidents) and the guilt of keeping her confined indoors, Joe and I had both relaxed into letting her out.

Charlotte was milling about while I was cooking. I remember giving her a bit of cheese, and turned around to the stove. Suddenly, I heard this pained meow from far away. I thought it was coming from outside, and stuck my head out to have a look at the street below. I heard it again.... it sounded like Charlotte. I called her name and received a pained meow in response. In complete denial, I ran through the house calling her name. The meows from outside continued and soon Oscar was meowing in worried response. When she didn't appear from any of the bedrooms, I quickly grabbed my phone, shoes, and keys and ran out the back door. I called Joe's mobile and franticly told him I thought Charlotte had fallen out of the front window. He was still trying to make sense of what I was saying when I saw her. She was curled up on a cashpoint which is inset into the wall three-stories below our window. As I ran to her, I realized she wasn't ok. Her right eye was a bloody mess and her chin was split open from the fall. Joe was telling me she was alright, but all I remember was screaming that she wasn't alright that there was blood everywhere.

I scooped her up and ran back in the house. After putting her down in the bathroom, she scampered into the second bedroom to hide under the dresser. I took this as a positive sign, as she wouldn't have moved so quickly if she was in a huge amount of pain. I tried to calm myself as I phoned Joe again to discuss what to do next. He was still about 30 minutes from arriving home, and I didn't want to wait that long to take her to the emergency vet. We both decided it was best that I take her, even though it's not legal for me to drive on my own. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before Joe arrived at the hospital. Joe took over from there, as I decided to wait outside in the waiting room. I was feeling sick and having trouble seeing her in her present state.

The veterinarian confirmed that she would likely lose her eye and her jaw was probably fractured. She needed costly scans to check for internal bleeding and other broken bones. We left her at the hospitable to be stabilized and x-rayed; hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. They called around 2:00am to let us know the x-rays revealed she has no internal bleeding and no broken limbs. I cried in relief at hearing the news. However, she does have a fracture in her maxilla and a dislocated mandible, and the right eye might need to be removed.

Charlotte is currently set to have surgery on her jaw this afternoon. We are giving the eye a little bit longer, to see if there is any improvement. Our current medical costs are over £1300 ($2080), and will increase if she needs any post operative aftercare. To help with medical costs, I am putting some of my photos up for purchase on Etsy:

Or if you hate my photos, but love me, Charlotte, or cats in general please donate here:

We are by no means hoping to cover all of our expenses, but only to offset some of the burden. Thank you for your ear and support. Lots of love from Amanda, Joe, Oscar, and of course Charlotte.