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The litter tray

Cage rest - tips, tricks and general sympathetic noises?

2 replies

DontCallMeBaby · 02/05/2016 22:07

One of my cats has been on cage rest since Thursday, following surgery to fix ruptured cruciate ligaments. He's got 24 days to go, followed by a further two weeks in a small room (that'll be the spare room).

He's nearly 7, and a little tubby (which we have to address) but is normally a very active, outdoorsy cat. He was hell on wheels when we attempted to start cage rest before the op, but has been surprisingly good since coming home. He's been taking his antibiotic and Metacam like they were delicious treats and not try to escape TOO much. But he does cry from time to time, and I can only imagine is going to get worse as he starts to feel better.

He's supposed to have a soft bed to avoid getting what are effectively bedsores - but he's not that keen on it, and struggles to get in, so is mostly lying on a towel down the side of the litter tray. I have ordered a couple of blankets to make him a bit of a nest. He's in a soft Cone of Shame when he's left alone (overnight and when we're out) but wear and tear is showing on his dressing - I need to call the vet to see what to do about that, even though we're only 'supposed' to take him for a check up after two weeks. Plus he has a sore patch where I think the dressing rubbed when it was first on. I've got appropriate size dressings from Boots today but I don't know if it's appropriate to put human dressings on a cat?

He's got a Feliway plug-in to try to keep him chilled, and his brother has stopped hissing at him (in our presence at least). I just feel so sorry for him, and wondered if anyone had any tips to make it a bit less tedious for the poor chap?

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Lonecatwithkitten · 02/05/2016 22:47

Is it a small sticky dressing? If so it doesn't need to stay on longer than 48hours if he is wearing a cone when alone.
The cat pyramid food dispensers are good in this situation they gave to spend time using their front paws knocking it over to get the dried kibble out. Remember adult cats sleep on average for 18 hours a day.

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DontCallMeBaby · 03/05/2016 09:09

Sticky dressing, yes - like a big white fabric plaster? That'd be good, if we don't have to worry about it coming off.

We do have a ball you can put food in - might dig that out. Normally he likes big toys, but that's because he's a kicker and I don't want to encourage that at the moment!

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