A CHERISHED pet cat was recently presented with an award to highlight its bravery after overcoming a road accident.

Drake Vets in Yelverton presented the cat, Emily, with one of its Braveheart Awards — the awards are handed out every few months to animals who have been nominated after showing outstanding bravery and courage to illness or injury.

Emily, a 10-year-old female cat, was involved in a road accident in November.

She was found by her owners cowering under a parked car and brought into the veterinary centre in a lot of pain and struggling to walk.

She was very shocked by her ordeal and had several cuts and grazes. She was also showing a lot of pain and straining when trying to pass urine.

Emily was given pain medication and put on a drip at the practice.

The following morning when she had stabilised, she was anaesthetised so that her injuries could be assessed — X-rays confirmed her pelvis was broken in two places.

She also had broken toes and a wound on her foot that was cleaned and stitched.

The location of the breaks in her pelvis meant it was unsuitable to be repaired surgically, so she was given strict rest in a cage while the bones fixed back together.

The vets warned her owners, Sue Laing and Kevin Briggs, that there could be irreversible nerve damage which would affect her bladder and bowel control. Luckily, after rest and care her bladder and bowel function returned to normal and after several weeks she began walking better as her pelvis began to heal.

Emily went on to make a great recovery and is now a very happy cat.