I am new to this forum and I am desperate for some advice or reassurance that I can get through this. My gorgeous cat Cookie has broken her ankle we are not sure how she did it, but she came in from the garden dragging her back leg, so straight down the vets we went. She hardly ever goes over our fence and so I imagine it must have happened in our garden somehow.
The vet has put a splint on her and said she needs cage rest for two weeks before they X-ray again and check progress. She has been in the cage for 1 week and had been coping well with the odd moment of wanting to get out, however she seems to be getting more aggravated now and she even tried to climb up the side resulting in her getting the cast stuck by the litter tray and twisting it!! So she hissed in pain and I was so upset. She is due for a check up today so I just hope she has not done more damage. The reason for my post is that I am not coping well and struggling to sleep with worry and stress also knowing that this is a long process makes it harder to swallow. I just wanted some advice on how I can try to keep her calm and happy in the cage and also try to look after myself. I was signed off work with stress literally the day before she broke her ankle so the timing is awful but I just want her to be okay and to help her as much as I can. She has started to meow a bit and I am not sure if I should ignore her or go and see her? We also currently have the cage in our bedroom and was not sure if I should move her to another room. We only have a small two bed house so are limited on suitable locations for her. Sorry to ramble on I am just very tired and drained with it all and was just hoping for some positive stories. I can’t see this getting any easier for a good few weeks how did you all cope? Thanks I’m advance. Sarah
Cage rest can be hard on all involved - you have my sympathy. My experience is more with dogs than cats, but the one thing to remember is that it is not forever - you are already half way through the two weeks. It does get more difficult as they begin to feel better, but it is important to stay firm and not let her out because you feel sorry for her, which has been known to happen!
Are you receiving any help for your stress? That would be my starting point, I think. If you are unable to sleep everything becomes harder to cope with, so I would talk to your GP and see what they advise. Cookie will be bored and frustrated at being confined, but she is warm, safe, has food and water and a tray, and you need to now focus a little on your own needs.
There are games that can make life more interesting without encouraging her to leap about - a puzzle toy feeder, for example, or dragging a toy slowly across the crate floor so she can grab and bite it. Even just scattering her biscuits a few at a time around the crate so she has to hunt a bit may help. If all else fails and she is climbing the walls and hurting herself your vet may be able to prescribe a mild sedative until her leg is better.
I hope you get reassuring news at today's appointment - let us know how you get on.
Great wisdom from fjm as usual. I don't have any experience of cage resting a cat but I can tell you I never thought I would get through it with the dog this year, nor the many months carrying him up and down 2 flights of stairs every time he needed a pee (20kg is more than heavy enough when you live in an upstairs flat!!) But you do get through it.
If the cage is quite high sided, can you put a light shelf in it like cardboard as a roof so that she can't climb up?
If Cookie is keeping you up being noisy, by all means move her crate elsewhere - you need rest and peace too. Personally if a cat is complaining in these circumstances I would be careful - you don't want to teach that yowling gets rewards, but you do want to be responsive and caring when your cat is upset or distressed or simply asking you to be there with her. The one thing to be sure to avoid is to go to her because she is persisting. When she starts either go to her at once (or call her and talk to her) or not at all, but do not ignore-ignore-ignore and then give in, she will learn that persistence pays in the end and become a nightmare.
Do try to bring your own stress levels down, there are good meditations on You-tube (and even cat calming music) because you would be surprised just how brilliant cats are at tuning in to our emotions, and our stress makes them stressed. So it's important for both of you that you can be calm and relaxed as much as possible. If you can afford it I can recommend reiki which some practitioners offer at distance, it makes the world of difference to my girl whenever she has to travel and is really helping my neighbour's cat who recently lost a leg in a dog attack.
Just to say that cage rest is survivable. My Tilly had some 9 weeks of it some 8 years ago when she broke a metatarsal bone. The first week was the hardest. How big a cage have you got? I found having two cages with passage between them helped as the extra space meant her litter tray could be in one cage whilst her bed and food could be in the other. She was much less stressed that way. I also had another cat in those days, who came and slept on top of Tilly's cage to keep her company which probably also helped. (That Badger also caught a mouse that he dumped in Tilly's cage for her to play with is something I never allowed the vet to hear about!)
we are not sure how she did it, but she came in from the garden dragging her back leg, so straight down the vets we went. She hardly ever goes over our fence and so I imagine it must have happened in our garden somehow.
