Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

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Charliefox
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Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Charliefox »

Hello all, looking for some advice. I have 2 oriental kittens (7 months old) kylo and bruce and bruce is an adventurous soul who managed to fall out the window on thursday and break his paw (i know, it was my fault i couldnt feel worse about it) and hes had surgery to pin it all together with strict orders of cage rest for 4-6 weeks, bought the most enormous dog crate for him but soon as it was time for bed and we put him in he went beserk! Scrabbling and headbutting the walls, literally climbed the inside of the cage at one point so phoned the out of hours vet and they recomended a blanket over the crate but that did nothing, still very stressed and at risk of damaging his little paw futher (external pins 🤢) ended up taking him out and “sleeping” upright on the sofa while keeping a hand on bruce to lift him if he wanted to go to the litter box or change position and he calmed down alot. Obviously this isnt going to be workable for the next month, im self employed and between jobs so for the next week i will be around but i have to be able to leave the house and feel like he is safe!
We have cleared a small spare room so the only potential risk is the windowsil which ive put books along so it looks higher (hes not the most confident jumper, unlike his brother) and placed the open cage with bedding in (he is fine with the door open) and a litter box in hopping distance. Im so worried he will hate being seperate from kylo at night but we cant have them together because kylo likes to pounce but i dont know what else we can do, does anyone have any tips for keeping him calm? I dont want kylo to start claiming the house in bruces absense and i dont want bruce to be misrible, he can be in the livingroom when we are around but even then he is such an independant little guy we have to hover over him to make sure he doesnt try jumping onto the sofa. HELP!!!
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Kay
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Kay »

I can't offer any advice re cage rest as I've never had to do it, but I wonder if you have tried plugging in a Feliway near him? It doesn't work for every cat, but with him stuck in a small space it is certainly worth trying

I wonder too if he would accept wearing a harness with a lead, which would allow you to sit with him without having to worry about him reaching somewhere he ought not to go
Charliefox
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Charliefox »

He is harness trained already so thats a good idea, vet gave us kalm-ease (i think thats the spelling) which is a gel which he will accept via dreamie! To be honest though he is SO much calmer tonight anyway, when they were castrated they went nuts after anestesia so perhaps he had rhe same reaction to it this time? We are calmer tonight as well the vet redressed the paw today and its fully covered now which makes the idea of the pins catching on something less scary and im more comfortable with his brother snuggling under supervision as he cant lick the open wound. We will see how the sleeping arrangements work for tonight anyway!
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fjm
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by fjm »

I have never had to crate rest a cat, thank heavens, but when Sophy my papillon was on strict crate rest for a slipped disc some of the things that helped were:
- A harness and comfortable bed beside my chair or on my lap. By keeping her leashed I made sure she could not fall or dash off, but she did not feel imprisoned.
- A large canvas crate downstairs, for when I had to leave her unsupervised. Fortunately she crate trained herself through always travelling to walks and happy places in one in the car, so this particular crate is associated with good stuff - that is a bit more difficult for cats... But a canvas crate may be more easily accepted than a wire one.
- A small canvas crate on my bed, so that she could continue to sleep there. Once I was sure the harness and lead worked I let her sleep out of the crate, wrapping the lead firmly round my wrist so I woke up if she moved more than a few inches.
- Brain games - lots of interesting finding the treat games, puzzle toys, etc, etc that she could play without moving more than a step or two.

It was a long three weeks till her back healed, but worth it to avoid the potentially disastrous complications. Good luck with your youngster - I hope things are settling down a bit as the anaesthetic wears off.
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Kay
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Kay »

my Tosker went totally beserk for 12 hours after an anaesthetic - he climbed in and out of the garden enclosure all night, and I awoke to a bed filled with soil and leaves, so that could well be your answer

then he zonked out and peace was restored
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Lilith
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Lilith »

Hi, there's a lot about cage rest on this thread -

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5353

And a quite miraculous story too.

Good luck with the lad - all paws and tails crossed here.
Goobergrapejelly
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by Goobergrapejelly »

How did you get on? My cat started cage rest last night and I'm feeling very nervous about how well he'll cope with it
bbbonbon01
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Re: Cage rest trials! (Oriental cat)

Post by bbbonbon01 »

I can't offer any advice re cage rest as I've never had to do it
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