I have an aloe plant that I keep on the window ledge. It was given to me and it looked healthy enough, except that it seemed to be "loose" in the pot. Is this normal? A couple of days ago, my cat pushed it off the ledge onto the floor and now it looks smashed in and it lost a couple of leaves in the process. I thought about repotting it, but I don't know if I'll be doing more harm than good. I'd like to bring it back to health since I've grown quite fond of it (does this sound silly?).

You're posting on this site and worried that caring about your plant sounds silly?!? If so, I must be completely daft! Anyway, what a good oportunity to look at your plant's roots. "Loose in the pot" is not usual for a well rooted plant. If they're rotting, trim off any dead and repot in fresh soil, same size or maybe smaller pot. Give it a few days before you water it, then water only when the soil gets dry. Keep it in the sun. It may take it a full year to look like nothing happened to it. Plants teach us patience. You may be able to root the leaves, too.

(Mt. Kisco? I grew up in Yorktown.)

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may God bless the WHOLE world!

If the leaf has some of the part where it joined the stem still on it, leave it somewhere for two or three days for the broken edge to heal over (this prevents rot), then lay it on top of some damp sand or vermiculite or a mixture. Make sure the edge of the leaf touches the sand but isn't planted deep and that the sand stays damp. This is a good use for distilled water, as nothing concentrates in the sand when water evaporates and you add more. I usually put a glass bowl over the whole thing. If it's a long leaf, you can cut off the end third or so. In a few weeks, one or sometimes two new plantlets will form at the edge of the leaf that was connected to the plant. When it/they have a few leaves and roots, take them off what's left of the old leaf and pot them up. This works for all leaf succulents, that I know of.

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may God bless the WHOLE world!