My cat Sidney had the adventure of her life last Thursday evening when she fell out of my living room window...4 floors to the ground. Thanks to my brother Brian's razor-wire fence climbing abilities, she was rescued from the backyard of my downstairs neighbor. After a nerve-racking evening spent at The Emergency Animal Medical Center on 62nd and York, Brian, Claudia and I were very happy to learn that Sidney escaped with only a cut on her chin and a fractured rib. We also learned that a 5-6 story fall is actually better for a cat, because that distance gives them time to right themselves and land on their feet. A 1-4 story fall usually ends in lots of injuries because the cats do not land on their feet. Thank goodness my building has high ceilings, which equated her 4-story fall with the distance of a 5-story fall. (Also, a fall from 8 stories or higher is usually pretty bad because the cat reaches maximum velocity...enough said.)
Sidney has been resting for the last several days and is slowly returning to normal after her pain medicine patch was removed. At first, Trigger was very frightened by the whole situation and spent most of her time hissing and sitting in the corner. Today, however, I found them sleeping together all snuggled up, so I'm hoping that things are finally returning to normal.
Sidney has a shaved left forearm where the vet drew blood for tests and administered fluids, a shaved spot on her back above her tail where the pain medicine patch was placed, and a shaved chin around her small cuts. I feel horrible about the whole situation, but am so very thankful that this entire incident ended the way it did. Needless to say, one of my New Year's resolutions is to never leave a window open without the screen in place.
