# My cat fell down the stairs! Advice?



## geoffb613 (Oct 15, 2012)

Good morning everyone,

Today I was awoken by my girlfriend screaming for me because she had been in the living room with my cat (River) when she fell down the stairs (Cat not girlfriend).

We live in a second floor apartment and have a private ground-level entrance, so there is a relatively large set of stairs that our front door immediately opens to. You then go up the stairs to get to our living room. There is a ledge surrounding the stairwell that is about 3 feet high and our cat has taken to walking around on it. She seemed completely fine up there and we figured that she's a cat... Who better to be suited for high places.

And then this morning apparently she fell. I didn't see it happen, but my girlfriend says River was at the highest point and fell all the way down to the bottom of the stairs (Probably about 15 feet). 

I jumped out of bed and ran to the hallway in time to see River sprinting back up the stairs, down the hallway, and into another room. 

She seems to be acting the same and I don't think there's anything too wrong with her, but she does have a bad limp in one of her back legs. She also seemed to be breathing faster than usual, but I don't know if that's maybe just me being worried and having not really paid attention to how fast she breathes normally.

Anyway, my girlfriend is taking River to the vet presently and I think we dodged a bullet here, but I'm wondering how we might be able to prevent this from happening again. River is pretty adventurous and I'm not convinced that this will discourage her from going up on the ledge again.

Thanks and have a nice day.


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

_oh dear poor River, i hope shes ok.do let us know. as for the ledge, im not sure without seeing it, are you wanting to block it off so she cant use it, or are you trying to do something to make it more safer for her to use._


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## geoffb613 (Oct 15, 2012)

Either/or. I will try to post a picture of the problem when I get back home later today. I'm new to the forums and not sure how to post pictures yet 

Anyway, yeah I'd like to make it safer because I'd imagine she won't give up on going up there, but if it is possible I'd much rather just get her a cat tree or something and have her not go up on the ledge at all.


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

_forum help and suggestions has a sticky at the top on how to add pictures.. You could buy some cat trees and various climbing things, but as River is used to clumbing up on the ledge im not sure how you are going to stop her, . you may have to try to block it off some how, i will have a think once you put a picture on later, _


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

poor river, hope she is ok. im sure with a photo we can all come up with some suggestions of how to help.


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## Oscars mam (Aug 22, 2011)

Hope river is ok


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

Bless you for your concern. Well, if she has been checked by the vet, she should be OK. I suppose there are various options to stop it happening again, howver, chances are that she has learnt her lesson. When we first got her, my Flea fell from the second story of our house when my OH left a window open . She was luckily unhurt and she never went near that window again. She also somehow got stuck in the patio roof and after a major dismantling operation we got her out unharmed. She also never tried to get into the roof again. She climbed a palm tree and could'nt get down. After her rescue, she also never climbed that tree again. So perhaps just a one-off accident with a lesson learnt?


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## geoffb613 (Oct 15, 2012)

Thanks for all your responses and concerns everyone. My girlfriend just called me (I'm at the office) and said that after an X-ray and stuff the vet thinks River will be ok. There was no fracture. She had a slightly bruised vertebrae near her tailbone but that should heal normally. The vet said she may have had her growth plate dislocated for just a moment but that it was in place now and at worst, that would result in one of her legs being slightly shorter than the others once she is fully grown.

I will post a picture later! Thanks!


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## Rachael Castillo (Dec 11, 2016)

Same thing happened to my cat! She has fast breathing. What did the vet say about that?


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## Bilai (Jun 3, 2015)

Rachael Castillo said:


> Same thing happened to my cat! She has fast breathing. What did the vet say about that?


This thread is 4 years old so I'm not sure OP will be around to reply. You need to take your cat to the vet - it's the only way to be safe.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Rachael Castillo said:


> Same thing happened to my cat! She has fast breathing. What did the vet say about that?


You need to take your cat to a vet now,there may be internal injuries so you cant wait around on the internet for answers.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Yes, take her to the vet ASAP.


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