Anyone that can give some advice or has experience - it would be much appreciated.

You may or may not know (If you read the Mad Cat Owner thread, you will) last Sunday Effie had an accident, a silly one.....

I was feeding her and Ella and we were having our usual before bedtime fun, games, rituals and converations when suddenly they got freaked out and went running to the top of the stairs and were looking down at the street door. I didn't think anything of it as we have another cat that visits and they don't like it.

Anyway Ella went down to investigate and Effie came back to me, I stroked her and comforted her and we continued our play. Anyway Ella came trotting up the stairs and Effie leapt out of her life not realising it was Ella.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion then... Effie ran leapt up to the window sill, missed it and hit her back on the handle of the window. She then fell, hit their litter shacks and fell on the floor. I ran to her and she ran down the stairs, away from me very shaken.

She was in pain and limping - it was 3am at this point and me and my partner stayed with her to calm her down. She settled and after a while went asleep, she could walk but limped.

Anyway when we got up, we checked her and she was limping but ok. We called our vet but they were closed so we called the emergency vet and they assured us that it wasn't broken as she was walking and that she would be crying if it were.

We were like panicked parents all day and we decided to monitor her but about 4pm it seemed to be getting worse but mostly as she was still jumping from the settee to the floor and other surfaces. She stayed away from us and stayed near the bedroom curtains. almost hidden.

The last straw was when Ella went to see if she was ok and she cried and lashed out. She seemed to be starting to get distressed so we decided to take her to the emergency vet to put our mind at rest, even tho they didn't seem keen on us going in and it was the other side of London. We didn't want to see her in pain.

They gave her a pain killer and told her to take her to her own vets on Monday. They weren't very helpful and were very expensive. Effie found the process of being dragged across London stressful. The pain killer helped, she stopped limping for that evening but was very aloof.

On Monday we took her back, they said her leg wasn't broken but was bruised and could be causing her issues for a week or so. They gave us a pain killer to give her, which made her sick on Monday night.

Her leg seems to be getting better but she has changed and here is where any advice would be good....

She has gone from this loving girl that follows you everywhere to a cat that is aloof to me, my partner and to Ella.

She is really nervous and that worries me. She jumps at everything. every noise and every movement. We have been off from work this week on holiday and have barely left the house (which has been lovely) but I worry about her next week when we are not here to keep an eye on her.

She isn't Effie anymore, She has lost her characte r which was beautiful. I try and reassure her but she isn't interested. The leg seems better but I suppose the shock of the accident, seeing two vets, the journeys, an injection, being sick and being seperated from Ella for the first time has got to her.

She comes into the room and walks out and sleeps in places she has never slept before

is this usual - sorry this is the first time anything like this has happened and any advice would be good. Wilheima - I am sure you might have some answers!

I am not sure if it is the exact thing because one of my Cats (Fern) had a more serious accident (someone drove up onto our driving when reversing and knocked her down and sped off) which meant she had to have a metal rod in her leg and lots of time in a cage to prevent further injury. But she became very jumpy after the incident, loud noises and sudden movements still make her wary and some times I have to get her from under the bed to comfort her. But she has settled down a little more now but it has taken a very long time and she is still a nervous cat now.

I would advise to check (if the cat is still limping) that she is limping on the same foot. Cat's for some reason have a strange thing of limping on different feet when they get the cat flu (and the cat flu can be caused by stresses and strains upon them - I only know this because of a previous cat we had Phantom and the vets told us that the shock of getting "done" caused her to go into shock and the stress caused the Cat flu) but the weird limping was the first sign we noticed.

Thanks badcompany. The leg seems fine now but she doesnt. I am continuing to monitor her leg.

Effie is nevous, I guess like Fern was although her injury was far less.

Hope Fern is ok now

Aye Fern is fine, spends most of the day on her fleece at the end of the bed. Just loud and sudden movements that make her jumpy.

I am sure Effie will get better with it all soon, I hope so. Curious what it was that startled them in the first place.

It may have been another cat or a fox. They both heard something I didn't!

I don't know if this helps but my cat Eliza was very sick for quite awhile with chronic stomach problems when it was at its worst she was a completely different cat very aloof from me and her partner in crime Harry - as she got better which did take quite some time the behaviour also changed and now she is back to being the totally loving cat she used to be.

It may well be that although the leg is healing it will just take her some time to get back to how she was - i hope this is the case anyway.

Even though she is not limping I would guess that her leg is still hurting her and she has had a shock. A lot of cats withdraw and hide when they aren't feeling up to scratch. In my experience cats sense weakness and will exploit it. Effie is probably feeling off colour and vulnerable even though Ella isn't taking advantage of it (I know mine would).

Like any nasty injury it'll probably take a little while to heal just keep an eye on it and take her back to the vet if you are worried. I think she'll just need love, time and patience which I'm sure you have in bucket loads.

Don't worry I'm sure she hasn't changed personality. Some cats can take a while to settle down after a knock just hang in there.

I would recommend using Feliway, either as a spray or better as a plug in. Also consider Bach Rescue Remedy or other flower remedies as they really can work on the overall constitution of the cat.

Maybe neighbours playing a SU BO CD!

Thanks all - All reassuring. i will see who is goes and may investigate some of your suggestions

Thats what I was going to say. I would put a few drops of rescue remedy in the water for both cats to drink and get a feliway plug in for wherever she prefers to be. Vetuk.co.uk is pretty good pricewise I think. Its probably just the shock of it all thats upset her and she will calm down and return to herself soon.
I hope shes ok

I also think that the shock of the injury & the follow-up treatment & vet visits & pain has completely unsettled her. If she's a bit nervous & reactive to start with then something like this can just tip her over the edge.

It may be that she's lost a bit of trust in you as you were the ones that took her to the vet & perhaps you started to act a bit strangely too (as far as she's concerned!) by fussing over her & giving her much more attention than normal.

The best thing you can do is make sure there are lots of comfy, warm, safe places around for her to sleep & relax. Keep your routine as normal as possible & allow her some time & space to recover. It may well take her some time to get over this & start to feel normal again. As long as she's eating, drinking, toiletting & moving around normally then I would think she'll get back to her old self soon enough.