Kitty doing well

[GillZB21]

Went to vets for check up tonight - all good.shes happy with Kitty but did say she should stay in ideally for another week - she's allowed out as long as stays in the garden but that's a tall order with a cat as curious as Kitty! She said if Kitty is an adventurer and likely to stay out all night then we have to keep her in as can't risk any damage to the scar though it's healing beautifully.
She's going stir crazy stuck in the house no matter how we try to entertain her and she will only sleep if she's lying on Kev's dressing gown - and loves it even more if he's wearing it!!
So we've decided to let her out tomorrow afternoon when Kev's washing the car as she never strays far from him and we've also been advised not to feed her before letting her out that way she'll have to come home for food!
Its a risk we'll have to take as the poor little thing has been so patient and good staying in but she really needs to go out. She'd never make a permanent house cat !

[fjm]

That is excellent news!

I have taught my cats to come when called with high value treats. Not completely reliable, as they more or less turn off their hearing if they are concentrating on a hunt and simply choose not to come if they are doing something very interesting, but still worth it. The trick is to call the cat for a treat and a fuss, then let her go back to whatever she was doing, and repeat over and over again. If coming when called means being shut in the house or other disappointment it won't work, at least until a really strong connection between coming when called and Good Stuff has been established!

[Ruth B]

When i get a new cat I always start saying its name at meal times, calling as I would normally but quieter. Then when they start to go out I let them out just before meal times and call them in, They soon learn to associate being called in with getting fed and most of the time they do respond. Sometimes I think Saturn is out of earshot which is why he doesn't turn up and even the girls might be the next garden over, but call their name and the pop up on the fence and come trotting home. Of course it does mean that if I call any one of them all three tend to turn up demanding food, but it is a small price to pay.

[ThorpeDave]

Good news that she is now recovering well.

Have you considered "cat proofing" your garden - or part of it?

It can be a simple job but it can also be difficult and expensive. But if you are able to do it, it will keep her safe and give you tremendous peace of mind

Regards

Dave

[GillZB21]

Thanks for the advice - kitty didn't go out today after all because it's raining!! Didn't want to - typical cat!
I think she's still getting used to being called Kitty - with her being either a stray or someone's unwanted cat we don't know if she had a name prior to coming to us. She does respond to Kitty and we've always shaken a box of cat biscuits at the door and that usually brings her home - we've also positioned a wheely bin at the kitchen window so we can now see her - she never used to meow she first came to us in fact I thought she had a vocal problem as nothing made her talk but since she's had her op she's really found her voice! She never stops talking now and makes little noises when she's happy and talks non stop to Kev - she can't get close enough to him!
Hopefully tomorrow will be D day and she can go out - but another day inside won't do any harm - it's all healing time for her scar

[Lilith]

Great news, and fusses to Kitty - you've all weathered a traumatic time together (a spay/abortion is no joke) and hope you all have a good summer ahead - and many happy years to come

[GillZB21]

Thankyou for your kind words Lilith - bless you - and yes you're right - it's a huge op for any female and I'm wondering if her clingyness and meowing is to do with hormones? After all when a woman has a hysterectomy it brings on the menopause which is a nightmare - so why would a female cat be any different? Poor thing also lost a kitten and her body would have been preparing for pregnancy so there must be a lot of hormones flying around- poor little kit.
Kitty came out in the garden with us today but was very wary - she kept meowing at everything but she eventually started to play and roll about and chase her feathers on a stick - then she came back in with us.
About an hour ago she was at the door meowing and scratching so we've let her out on her own - hopefully she'll be back soon fir her supper - we can't wrap her in cotton wool much as we'd like to!
It's about time she went out as she's been so bored she's been really naughty - chewing tv cables and breaking the blinds and attacking feet !! Of course she's forgiven everything! We're suffering sleep deprivation as she' won't let us sleep at night - I even dosed off watching telly through the day yesterday which I never do!
It's great to see her bouncing around and doing what cats do!

[GillZB21]

Kitty didn't come home last night.
We spent an absolutely fraught night shaking her biscuits and calling her every hour - no Kitty.
I finally drifted into a restless sleep tormented by images of Kitty being hurt, attacked, lost, confused alone or dead. Of course I blamed myself as I let her out.
She finally appeared at 10am this morning - really jumpy and nervous but fit and well and apparently none the worse for her illicit adventures - I was so relieved and overjoyed to see her little furry face that she's been made a fuss of all day
She's not going out alone unsupervised anymore until her fur has grown fully over her scar.
We suspect she's been asleep somewhere as she's wanting to play and not in the least bit tired. She's also been following me around as I've been her constant companion during her 2 weeks recuperation and I think she feels safe when I'm close.
we were complaining we were suffering from sleep deprivation with her waking us all night but last night she wasn't here and it was the worst time ever! We won't be complaining again! The thought I'd never see her little face or furry body again absolutely broke my heart - it's amazing how a little stray cat has become the most important thing in my life - maybe because I don't have any family at all and considering some peoples family experiences I think I'm quite fortunate!! She's without doubt the most precious little body in my life

[GillZB21]

Kitty didn't come home last night.
We spent an absolutely fraught night shaking her biscuits and calling her every hour - no Kitty.
I finally drifted into a restless sleep tormented by images of Kitty being hurt, attacked, lost, confused alone or dead. Of course I blamed myself as I let her out.
She finally appeared at 10am this morning - really jumpy and nervous but fit and well and apparently none the worse for her illicit adventures - I was so relieved and overjoyed to see her little furry face that she's been made a fuss of all day
She's not going out alone unsupervised anymore until her fur has grown fully over her scar.
We suspect she's been asleep somewhere as she's wanting to play and not in the least bit tired. She's also been following me around as I've been her constant companion during her 2 weeks recuperation and I think she feels safe when I'm close.
we were complaining we were suffering from sleep deprivation with her waking us all night but last night she wasn't here and it was the worst time ever! We won't be complaining again! The thought I'd never see her little face or furry body again absolutely broke my heart - it's amazing how a little stray cat has become the most important thing in my life - maybe because I don't have any family at all and considering some peoples family experiences I think I'm quite fortunate!! She's without doubt the most precious little body in my life

[fjm]

My cats have done that to me innumerable times, and I still get that stab of dread. Usually they have got themselves shut in somewhere (these days Sophy can usually tell me where), but once or twice a year Tilly will go on an extended hunting trip across the fields and be gone up to 18 hours. That's when I email all the neighbours, and start combing the roads...

Give her a tickle from me, and tell her to stay safely at home for a while!

[Ruth B]

I think we have all been there.

The girls rarely miss a meal time and come when called, Saturn on the other hand I have learnt will regularly go off for 12 to 18 hours leaving me to worry and wander the streets wondering where he is. I have to an extent accepted it from him, but that doesn't stop me worrying. What is worse is when i have spent most of the day worrying about where he is and go downstairs to find he has snook back in, cleared the bowls and fallen asleep in a hammock with out telling me he is back. He is then very unimpressed when I pick him up to cuddle him and tell him how worried I was and how he isn't to do it again, he just looks at me as if to say 'can I get back to sleep, it's been a hard day'.

[GillZB21]

I'm so glad I'm not the only worrier out there!! Its bad enough worrying about our errant felines I can't imagine how worrying it must be to be a parent It's just as well I didn't have children I'd be a nervous wreck by now! I remember my mam when I went off to uni in the mid 80s on the national express saying I must write to her as soon as I got there ! And I wondered what all the fuss was about! My mam and dad couldn't afford a phone so she must have spent a fraught few days until she got my letter! We take for granted all this social media stuff and everything being instantaneous but it was a wonderful feeling getting a long awaited letter!
I had to laugh about Saturn not being impressed by the cuddles - kitty was the same - and I bet Tilly never gives a thought to you sending emails to neighbours ! Cats can be so cool!!

[ThorpeDave]

I think we have all been there.

Yep, been there, done that and had several nights without sleep.

We now have a curfew and of course a cat proof garden to they can no longer get out.

Regards

Dave

[Lilith]

Look at the smile on that face ... who demands the best of both worlds, the naughty girl!

SO glad the little horror came back safely - you must have been frantic!

[Ruth B]

I recently read that unmarried, childless females are the happiest demographic in current society, the general opinion seemed to be to blame it on the cats.

I went off to Polytechnic in '89 and I still remember all the cold evenings stood in a queue for the nearby pay phone so I could phone my parents once a week, coins clutched inside the glove, what a revolution the phone cards seemed. You wonder how our parents coped, no mobile phones to keep track of us, no social media for constant contact and up dates, and not being able to instantly share photos of us, they took at least a week to come back from the developers, and then you had to hope they weren't all blurry pictures of a thumb.

Sorry I'm getting onto the 'when i were a lass' options aren't I.

[GillZB21]

Haha yes Lilith she is a little horror at times and especially when she's waking us up at 4am - the latest trick is paw in the sliding wardrobe doors sliding them open !!

And Ruth B I certainly fit into the happy with my lot demographic - I have friends with kids who look 20yrs older than me - something I don't think I've missed out on!
I'm laughing at the memory of getting photos developed - waiting excitedly and paying boots the chemist for 32 pictures a good half of which were blurred or out of focus ! Do you remember the flash cubes you used to stick on the camera? And the disposable cameras were a revelation! I still have loads of photos from my mis-spent youth !Happy memories of phone cards too especially when you went into a phone booth and found one not fully used up! I think life was much more fun in the 80s but now I'm over 50 it seems like an age away. My happiest memories are of the cat we had from me being 11 to being 26 - a fluffy black and white tom called Timmy - Kitty could not be any more different to him if she tried but I love be her just as much and she makes me laugh just as much as Timmy did. There are no 2 cats alike they all have such distinct personalities