The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Cats => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on December 15, 2011, 06:12:03 pm
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Troublesome Toby has managed to injure himself yet again which has resulted in a £135 vets bill and instructions to keep him in a cage for a month. He apears to have dislocated his leg yesterday and although the head of the femur is back in its socket his xrays suggest that there may be a slight fracture or seperating of the growth plate at the top of his femur.
My options were a £600 opperation to pin it in 3 places or 4 weeks cage rest to see if it just recovers naturally ( these stray / farm cats are awfully expensive arnt they?)
As he is still young and the vet only "suspected" that the plate might be fractured and require pining ( not to mention my impending redundancy ) I opted for the cage rest and a fall back that if the thing gets worse he can have a less expensive opperation to have the head of his femur completly removed and the vet assures me that the muscles will hold the leg in place despite it being detached from the femur.
Since I collected hin from the vets with strict instructions not to let him do anything strenuous or put weight through it he has,
Escaped from the pet carrier on the drive home by working out that he could squeeze through the trap door designed for putting a food dish in it.
Climbed on top of the carrier to look out of the passenger window and balenced on the arm rest,
then climbed through the passenger headrest and over the back seats into the boot for the remainder of the journey home ::)
Eaten smoked hadock and pasta, poached in milk for his tea followed by a piece of dark chocolate raindeer that he "found" on the coffee table and a large bowl of water,
Demonstrated his knowledge of litter tray usage to polly and tidied up after himself,
Made several attempts to catch a rather dozy fly that was buzing round the living room before flaking out in the arm chair as he does every evening.
He was also castrated while aneisthetised for the xray but he dosnt seem to find loosing his testicals any where near as painful as I did paying for all his treatment ( perhaps I should take his pain killers instead!)
I havent put him in a cage yet as I just wanted him to settle down to his old routine as I think he has had enough stress for one day, I know I have. Has any one else ever kept a cat in a dog crate for a month and can you let me know how you got on.
Buffy
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i think you were nearly the vets christmas bonus,
my cats are always limping in after a hard nights work, i just keep an eye on them for a day or two and they normally sleep it off.
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Hi D.I.T.W,
I think that you are right about that! The last time he strained his arm He stayed on the kitchen chair for 4 days until he had recovered. This injury was clearly alot worse that the last and I had worked out that the pain was from his pelvice and wondered if it was fractured.
Im guessing that you dont think I should confine him to the dog crate then? The vet said 4 weeks in a crate but I could get him out if I wanted to "give him a cuddle" and the nurse / receptionist said 2 weeks room rest.
I do hate having to use the pet vets. I have always used the large animal practice previously and find the small animal practice patronising and over priced.
Buffy
Im impressed by your multi tasking by the way.... I thought driving round a round about, changing gear and indicating while trying to wressle a lame, castrated kitten back into a pet carrier was a multi tasking challenge! mind you...I didnt quite manage to achive it. ::)
k
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i think i would listen to the nurse! keep him in and full for a couple of weeks, as hes only young he'll heal quickly.
thanks btw :)
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I am going to be blunt as I have had to do this to my previous cat, Sophie, who was knocked down outside our house and she managed to get out of the dog cage, unlatch the catch of the window and scale down the harled wall to the ground floor with a cracked pelvis. We caught her and put her back in with a padlock on the cage door. She had a very large cage - room for her bed, her litter tray, and her food/drink tray separated enough not to be contaminated.
The alternatives were the same as yours if we didn't restrain her 24/7 for 2 weeks - a huge vet bill for an operation or euthanasia if we couldn't raise the money, and even that is expensive. We put Sophie in an upstairs room where she had no distractions, we couldn't hear her meowing, and was forced to sleep and get better.
I have had to do this with Freckles too last year when she had ruptured her cruciates on one knee. Six weeks cage rest, only allowed out on lead to the garden for necessities. As it happens the rest didn't repair the ligaments and she needed an expensive operation anyway, but my recommendation is that you have no choice. Put him in that cage, make sure eh is comfortable, ignore his complaints and let nature heal him. It is preferable to an operation any day.
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the painkillers will mask any problems, so be sure to get him in that cage A.s.a.p!
we had a £370 op cat who had most of his tail amputated... he was absolutely caned on metacam, pupils like Pete Doherty!! He kept removing his bandage so he had a plastic tube taped over his stump & he could be heard banging it against things, hard things!
best wishes to Toby for a speedy recovery... and no more expense! :cat:
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My old cat was run over and she had to be kept in a cage for about a month. She was very good about it but it was one of those big metal dog cages. Everyday I used to put my other little cat in with her briefly for company. But she was about 17 years old then so I suppose it was a lot easier for her than a young 'un.
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I too have had to keep a cat in a cage for a month, twice. As a 6 mo she fell off the back of a motorbike (parked ::) ) and caught a leg in the rear footrest, causing a nasty fracture which had to be plated - fortunately I didn't have to pay as the young vetling who saw her first removed a vital bit of bone which meant that the initial pin didn't work so they payed for full treatment at the Vet School. The second time she was hit by a car and had her face split in two so she had to be tube fed as well as immobilised. Both times we made a low cage for her by attaching mesh to the bottom section of a multi-shelf room divider. This meant she couldn't stand on her hind legs as the height was low, but could have her litter tray, bed, water bowl and food in with her. It also meant that she was in the living room with us and the other pets so she wasn't lonely. It worked fine.
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Mix (the cat who looked spookily like Polly) broke his hip when he was about a year old. They did the 'remove the head of the femur' fix, so he had to be caged (NO jumping AT ALL, NOT ANY) for three weeks while the false joint formed.
I put him in an old rabit hutch, like Fleecewife I had the cage in the room with me, so he could see me and purr at me - which he did pretty much constantly. I got him out for cuddles, never letting his body go so he couldn't jump about at all.
We coped, his hip healed and he was mobile again. It was never as good as the other hip, and he'd limp quite a bit if he got overweight. When he was 15 he got a very aggressive cancer in that hip joint - but he'd had 14 more years of a really good life, so I reckon the choices we made were good ones.
Whatever you decide, hope Toby makes a good recovery. He's such a lucky boy to have such a caring mum!
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Thanks everyone,
I must say that I am supprised that so many of you have had to do this. I let him sleep in the kitchen by the radiator last night with polly but will put the dog crate together and settle him in there for the day.
he is laid on the sofa with me at the moment purring like an little engine and watching me type this update to his adoring public. I feel like Barbara cartlands serarary :-\
Feral farm cat........yeah right!
Buffy
PS I am holding you all personally responcible for allowing me to fall in love with a purring vets bill by the way :P.
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my mother in law came to live with us, bringing her cat and dog as well. i am very allergic to cats, super sensitive, so we put him in a cage in the utility room, and she walked him on a lead regularly, and took him up to her room for cuddles at night. he took to it remarkably well, considering his complete freedom before.
unfortunately, when she started allowing him to roam in the garden he insisted on going onto the road everytime, and was clipped by a car, so he went to live with her other son in the highlands. (i still feel bad that she lost her cat because of me!)
i could never understand why he always went to the front of the house to the road, when behind the house there is about 5 miles of farmland before the next road!!
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I hope Toby is soon better. I was thinking about this last night. Cats cope remarkably well to being enclosed for long periods - look at cases where cats have been shut in places accidentally for weeks at a time. And they seem to like (well mine do anyaway) dark closed in places to sleep.
I do sometimes wonder about painkillers. I know we want them not to suffer but if it hurts to move, naturally they will be more likely to stay still and rest and let nature do the healing.
Anyway, I'm sure he'll adapt - food, water, rest and cuddles on tap. What more could a sore kitty want.
And don't blame us - we warned you what would happen ;D
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we had a cat that had to have 8 weeks cage rest after being hit by a car and having a smashed hip (thank god for pet insurance) the surgery was amazing but she needed the 8 weeks to recover, this was a cat who didn't like kids or the dog so wasn't pleased.
after the reccuperation she was deamed needing a indoor home which we couldn't supply at the time where she would be happy due to kids and dogs so she now lives with a neighbour who loves her to pieces!!!
keeping them caged does work...
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I was going to say, pretty much, the same as Rosemary. Animals if in pain know instictively to keep still (much as we do) If the pain is blunted they want to leap about as usual.
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Hi,
I think that you are right about the pain killers and I didnt give him any this morning. I planned to give him some this evening but he dosent seem too hungry.
I set up his bed, food, water and litter tray in the dog cage this morning only to find him stood on his back legs trying to work out how to get the roof off :-\
I settled him in his bed again inside the cage and when I next looked at him he was squeezing his head through the slightly wider bars at the bottom of the crate and attempting to wiggle throught the gap :o
I decided to leave him in the kitchen all day insted an there is nothing to climb on there and found him asleep on his blanket when I got home.
I think he is feeling it a bit now but he wants to be with me all the time so if I leave the room just for a moment he follows me. He is snuggled beside me on the sofa again now, wrapped in my poncho. But he seems to want alot of contact so he tends to climb on top of me and go to sleep in my arms.
Ah how sweet you may think...but it makes answering the phone, stoking the fire or putting the kettle on rather tricky ;)
At least Im at home now for a couple of days so I can try and cat proof the dog crate :cat:.
I just really want him to avoid having an opperation if I can. Its not just the cost, even if it was free I dont want him to go through all that if there is any way that he can just repair himself. I keep thinking that if I had allowed him to remain feral then there's no way I would have been able to have got near him and any injury would have just taken its natural course. I have known so many farm cats who have suffered nasty injuries and the only treatment administerable was a squirt of iodine spray.
I am hoping that a safe place to rest, a warm bed, pleanty of available food, a conveiniently placed litter tray, restricted movements and pain relief if required should be all that he needs. He certainly seems happy enough in himself and is constantly purring.
Thanks for all your advice,
Buffy
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Maybe you should try one of those baby pouches for him, and just carry him around with you :-D
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Maybe you should try one of those baby pouches for him, and just carry him around with you :-D
I used to have a cat would nestle inside the front of my coat, little head poking up under my chin. He followed me to the local shop once, so I popped him in my coat and started wheeling my trolley around. The manager approached me and said that I appeared to have a cat with me. I didn't deny it but said I'd read the notices on the door and whilst it said No Dogs it didn't say No Cats, so I thought I would be alright. "It doesn't say No Aardvarks, either," he said, "but I wouldn't let you in with one of them either."
You don't mind being thrown out by someone witty, I find. :D
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Sally -
I've nearly had two "bring your cat to work" days this winter!
The ex-stray with less than 9 lives left & a stump for a tail often "meets" me as I walk down the path on my way to work.
trouble is... its 5 miles if he gets all the way!
It was ok when I got a lift at the bottom, as he didn't follow the car but cutbacks mean my friend has her hours reduced.
I managed to "lose" him the first time when we were met by a greyhound.... he wasn't scared but wanted to befriend its owner!!
The second time, last week, I left him peering down a hole made by roadworks ....
... its a good job he has the attention span of a goldfish :cat:
He's a b*gger for getting into cars & vans parked outside too ...
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He sounds a real character! ;D :love: :cat:
But ooooh, little blue.... I had another cat used to sometimes follow me when I walked to work. It was my company so sometimes I'd let him come to the office, but on this occasion I was in a hurry and so I 'lost' him in the woods about a mile from home. When I got home, no Brendon. After a week of searching I found him shot dead in the woods where I'd last seen him; I'm sure he had been shot within hours of my leaving him. (B£$t^ds had removed his collar - so they knew what they'd done but hadn't the decency to own up - or at the very least, return the collar and let me know anonymously where he was and what had happened.)
I think I've already told the story about the cat (Mix, the one that looked like Buffy's Polly) who travelled 6 miles across Luton in the engine compartment of a gold Rover. Thank goodness he had his name and address on his collar or we may never have been reunited.
I do miss having a cat, but my goodness I don't miss the heartache!
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I had a moment last night, we searched and searched for Odette (a black kitten) in the pitch black after about 2 hours of searching and calling I said to OH I had to set up the stable and bring the horse in.
Well I was fighting in the hay store to get some hay and straw for the horse and sheep, I climbed up the straw to push a bail down and there she was fast asleep right on the top she didn't even move when I pushed a bail off the top. eventually she stirred when the horse came down into the open stable next to the store and toodled down to the tackroom for her dinner like nothing was wrong the little rascal.
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I do love the way cats will find the most comfortable beds in all sorts of places. :)
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Felix gets into vehicles.
I once had my shopping delivered from Tesco. As the bloke got ready to go away, I said that I thought my cat was on the van. It was full of boxes - we must have been about the second delivery. "How will we know?" he asked. "Just listen quietly," I said.
Felix has cat flu and a slightly cleft palatte, so he wheezes most of the time. We could hear him in the van ::) Fortunately, he was on top of the roller shutter and the delivery man lifted him out.
But he's been on Parcelforce, Royal Mail, Home Delivery - tried them all ;D
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But he's been on Parcelforce, Royal Mail, Home Delivery - tried them all ;D
But which does he reckon has the best service?????
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it seems like you keep foiling his escape plans!
one of my workers, jerry, came in with a hole in his head last night, i cleaned it with salt water and he brought back 2 shrews this morning when i let him in, just to say thanks. he is pretty hardcore tho.
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But he's been on Parcelforce, Royal Mail, Home Delivery - tried them all ;D
But which does he reckon has the best service?????
Not Yodel, for sure, but that's another story >:(
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But he's been on Parcelforce, Royal Mail, Home Delivery - tried them all ;D
But which does he reckon has the best service?????
Not Yodel, for sure, but that's another story >:(
Well I have to give Yodel a big :thumbsup: for their sensitivity earlier this week. Poor bloke, his timing could not have been worse; he realised in a flash and agreed to go away and come back another time. He came back yesterday, full of apologies - which was sweet, as he couldn't possibly have known. So although I know a lot on here have had bad experiences of Yodel, mine so far has been top notch. :bouquet: kind delivery man.