[Rosemary]

How's the boy doing?

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Rosemary ( and the rest of the Toby fan club),



                     Well...., he refused to accept the cage rest as he felt it was demeaning and spent his time  trying to climb it instead of resting. As a result he is under house arrest instead. He prefers this as he feels that its more in keeping with his new public image of celebrity bad boy, whacked on metacam and brawling with the paparazzi

                    As it turned out the dislocated femur provided an effective smokescreen for his recent hospital visit and has so far managed to keep his testicles out of the public eye ( the vet of course has ensured that they wont be in anyone elses eye either )

                 He spends lots of time resting and being fussed over which fortunately he had developed a natural gift for before the accident. He got quite allot of toys from Santa (heaven knows why cos I thought you had to be good all year, but it would seem he has "good connections it the North pole" ) And managed to persuade me that it may aid his recovery if he was allowed to open one or two of them early.

               I must confess this did cheer him up and altough he has to lay down to play he has managed a few games of carpet bowls as well as "kiw da mowsi" from a horizontal position but "ready, steady, go!" is definatly out of the question.
Despite me having lots of anxiety about him getting on and off the furniture he has developed a technique of pulling himself up with his fore paws and using his good leg for balance.  He doesn't attempt to run, jump or move suddenly so he really is being sensible. He knows that his dream of becoming Michael Flatleys protege may no longer be realized but he seems confident that his plans to entertain the troops in Afghanistan with his own version of starlight express is still well within reach  As he says "not everyone is lucky enough to have such talent and its about giving something back" 

It going to take a long time for it to repair I think but from what I have researched on the internet, he stands an 85% chance of recovery with rest and restricted movement. The tricky time will be a few weeks on when he is feeling better and may try to do more than is good for him. By not being in a cage for 8 weeks he has been able to avoid muscle wasteage on his good limbs which I'm hoping will help his rehabilitation later on.

I'll be glad to see him on the mend and playing out again with Polly if only to get rid of the dreaded litter tray

Thank you for keeping an eye on his progress,


Buffy and tiny T. 

PS, I was fancying having a go at a pastel sketch of on of your pics of meg. am I able to just copy it into my files?   

                   

                   
                 

[Cinderhills]

Fun and games in the Toby household then!!

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks for the bulletin, Buffy.  Loved it as usual.

Wishing you all the best for 2012 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Here's the lad himself

Buffy

[little blue]

bless him, such a handsome little superstar!
sounds like he's doing just fine (and learning a few bad habits along the way!)
 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Bad habits....humn?

            you are right of course and grappling up the arm of the chair being the main one! fortunatly he is keeping them to a minimum. Polly understands words like no and out but Toby was just learning to respond consistantly to those when he had his accident.

I reinforce those commands with a loud clap of my hands as close to him as possible to startle him and interupt his unwanted behaviour.

As sudden movements are out of bounds for him at the moment then I have to settle for just gently redirecting his energies into something more acceptable The problem with that of course is being able to intercept him in time.
 
He is unable to get up to too much mischief fortunatly but Polly seems to be mischieving for two.

Buffy

[Rosemary]

What a bonny boy 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Amongst Toby's gifts from Santa was a grey fury mouse which vbrates itself along on relelease of a pull cord.


As he cant keep following it about he has decided that holding it between his paws and pulling and releasing the cord with his teeth is a much better idea.....looks like another toy will be in the bin by the end of the day

Only another 5 weeks of trying to keep him entertained ........perhaps I should try and teach him how to play scrable or monopoly instead

Knowing my luck he would develop a repetative strain injury from counting up his winnings

Buffy

[SallyintNorth]

Bless him!  One thing that might entertain him for a while is an empty (but not washed out) Marmite pot - but don't leave him unattended as the jar is glass.  Or you can buy Kongs for dogs and fill them with interesting sticky things, which is safer, I guesss.  And not so salty.

[little blue]

our stumpy cat has just spent a good half hour sat on the table (yes, I know - dirty habit!) playing with a little spinning top out of a christmas cracker!

we've got one of those mice ... the boys will play abit but its not exciting enough for the thrill-seekers here!
best wishes Toby for a speedy recovery

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Everyone,


                   just thought that I would let you have the latest on Toby. His confinement is almost at an end now and his 8 weeks are up in Feb.
 He still limps a little but is putting a little more weight through his weak leg from time to time. He is much more mobile or rather agile and is taking full advantage of this by sprawling across the coffee table, Garfield style, Traversing round the room while humming the theme tune to mission impossible and ambushing Polly.

I'm so looking forward to letting him out to play and have missed the anoying little way that he tripped me up when mucking out or terrorised the chickens by wandering into their coop just as they settled down to lay. I am also hoping that an interest in the outdoors will make him less clingy. I'm getting a bit tired of dragging him round the kitchen attached to my slipper like a feline ball and chain every tea time

On a positive note he has got to know OH much better and the two of them seem to have bonded Bless

I plan to let him out when I am working outside so that I can keep an eye on him, though I imagine that he will  disapear for just long enough for OH to don Hivis coat and head torch and go looking for him before he saunters in as cool as you like and demands his tea

Will let you know

Buffy

[Bionic]

His house arrest time is passing really quickly, although it probably doesn't feel that way to you. It sounds as if he is getting on well though after all your hard work.
Well done
Sally

[Rosemary]

Ah, wee man. Glad you've all got through it unscathed (pretty much).

[Buffy the eggs layer]

The time has passed quickly for me too and fortunatly he has handled it well. I think he would quite like to go out now though as he has to be held back when Polly goes out but I guess he picked the best time of year to be infirm.

looking longingly out of the window forms a large part of his day now so at least hes getting an interest in his surroundings. Though I will probably have to introduce them to the cat flap again as its been locked for so long.

Buffy