Hello, hope you all could give some advice. A bit of a long post but just wanted to make the story clear

Our beautiful cat Zeus got run over a week ago today in the early hours. Bless my clever boy, he came home after it happened and got himself through the catflap and upstairs where he laid on his bed waiting for us to get up Monday morning. Obviously we rushed him straight to the vets as soon as we saw him. We were devastated and really thought he was going to die. Unbelievably, the vet said he was going to live (huge relief as we have tragically had to say goodbye to 3 cats in the past and couldn't bare to go through it again). He has a broken jaw top & bottom, still has concussion and has nerve damage to his foot which the vet says only time will tell if he ever gets the feeling back. He is so lucky in many ways, no internal injuries or any other breaks. It's an absolute miracle. He's had his jaw wired and is back home with us after spending Monday night at the vets.

We have kept him in mine and my husbands bedroom since we got him home as this is the quietest room in the house (we have 3 children aged 9-14 and two boxer dogs) and he has all his amenities and comforts in there. Obviously at first he was petrified and would only come out from under the bed for a couple of minutes but from the next day onwards he has continued to improve greatly, the vet was shocked yesterday at how well he's recovering. I'm warming his food and mashing it up for him which he loves and he spends most of his time on our bed now and is starting to enjoy being stroked again.
We know it's going to take a very long time for him to get over this, if ever at all, but our concern now is that we're worried he's starting to get depressed being stuck in our room. He's been in there a week now and he does keep trying to get out when we open the door and tends to sit there staring into space a lot. We've been spending time with him regularly, sitting and watching t.v with him lol.

My question is......should we carry him downstairs for a bit at night time to stimulate him and let him have a wonder around? Or will this be too stressful for him and send him backwards in his recovery? We would have to shut the dogs out of the living room too because they'll go bonkers if they see him through pure excitement and don't want them to accidently hurt him. He's now, for obvious reasons, going to be a house cat and we won't be letting him outdoors again (catflap will be kept locked).

Thanks guys x

Aww poor Zeus I hope he's on the mend very soon and wish him a speedy recovery xx

It sounds like he needs to get his confidence back after his horrid ordeal. I think it would be a good idea to bring him downstairs with you and let him have a wander around, see what he's like, he may want to go back up to your bedroom where he feels safe, just do it gradually and see how he gets on.

Keep us posted on Zeus's progress.

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He must be a very lucky cat, so glad is is recovering. I would start taking him downstairs, if he obviously isn't happy then take him upstairs and try again a bit later. If he is used to the freedom of the house he should be ok with your normal household noise and activies. Sounds like he needs a lot of tlc and reassurance.

If he's showing an interest to get out of your bedroom then I would let him downstairs as you have suggested. Like humans, showing an interest in surroundings etc is a sign of recovery.

As you have sensibley suggested - keep the dogs out and anything that would get him over-excited.

Glad to read that he is recovering so well, long may it continue.

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Thank you so much. We just weren't sure what to do but giving it a go wouldn't do any harm. It might even lift his spirits. He loves being in the living room with us at night and he has a chair that he's claimed lol and loves sprawling across the back of the couch too. Obviously like you say, it will be clear straight away if he's not happy and so we'll take him back upstairs if necessary.
We coudn't believe this had happened to him as he's not an outdoorsy type at all. He's always in the house, only goes out to the toilet then he's straight back in. And for it to happen between 3am and 7am, and we don't even live near a main road, we're on a big, quiet estate, it was just so unlucky. But at the same time very lucky that he survived. The vet said that if it had been a human, they'd be in hospital on life support. His nickname is Commando Cat, we've always called him that, and he's lived up to his name lol. He's even always worn a green army camo collar lol, we've bought him a brand new one for when he's fit to wear it as his got damaged I still cry now at the thought of what he's been through, how scared and in so much pain he must have been. It breaks my heart. I am so proud of him, I can't tell you.

Kids are going to bed now so we'll give it a go and will keep you posted

Thank you

Sarah x

Quiet roads can be the worst type as cats that live by them tend to have less road awareness.

I'm sure he'll really enjoy being able to lie on 'his' chair if that is what he is used to doing each night.

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You have a good point there. As you say, quiet road, not used to being aware of traffic. Plus the fact that, as I said earlier, he doesn't go out much so he's not a streetwise cat really. Just a great big softie who loves being in the comfort of his home. I'm going to bring him down now, see what he's like.

I appreciate everyone's help, thank you x

Just seen this thread,Poor Zeus paws crossed here thay he makes a full and speedy recovery.Being safe in the heart of his loving family I'm sure will help him to put all this behind him.

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Thank you, very kind words

So far so good, he's curently chilling out on the back of the couch after having a good sniff around. He doesn't seem the slightest bit stressed

Zeus the Commando Cat chilling on the couch, it's so good to see him there xx

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