One year old Russian Blue cat Maya is the beloved feline family member of Clarissa and Charles. Maya was attacked by a dog near her home and fortunately she managed to escape. Maya ran up the fence into her own garden.

When Maya didn’t come home Clarissa searched for Maya and only found her when she dropped from the hedge… and it was clear she was in a very bad way.

Clarissa found that Maya’s injuries were severe and in need of specialist attention. Maya’s face had been crushed, and Clarissa was worried nothing could be done for her friend. Clarissa and her primary care vet decided that Fitzpatrick Referrals was the only place to go.

Professor Noel Fitzpatrick examined Maya’s jaw and found that it was indeed a very severe fracture, her jaw was in pieces. In order for Noel and the team to fix the jaw again they were going to need to innovate a bespoke method to hold the pieces back together in order for them to heal.

With the help of a reconstructed 3D CT scan of Maya’s skull, Noel was able to get a full picture of what the team were facing, and make a plan for the surgery Maya was going to need.

With the assistance of a plate and some pins, Noel spent hours in the operating theatre constructing a split for the jaw that supported the pieces of bone and held them in place so they could begin to heal.

After surgery, Maya was under the care of the Fitzpatrick Referrals team who were there to give her plenty of cuddles as well as the specialist care she needed to make a full recovery. New recruit Veterinary Nurse Maeve took her under her wing and ensured Maya was always comfortable and happy. Remarkably, just 8 days later, Maya was eating independently with her reconstructed jaw.

Maya went on to further prove what a resilient little cat she was, a wound in her mouth became infected but with the help of Manuka honey the bacteria was kept at bay which allowed the wound to heal over while the jaw bone healed.

Following two months of intensive care, Noel was able to remove the splint from her jaw and Maya was finally able to go home to her family.