Cat recovering and we are going on holiday

[peps2917]

Hi everyone

Hoping for some tips. We are off on our baby moon this Sunday and so excited for it. However, our fur baby has just had a nasty abscess drained at the vet today - he had to be sedated, get the abscess drained and he was given intravenous antibiotics. He was kept at the vet all day so it was quite a traumatic day for him. He’s now wearing the cone of shame poor thing as the abscess wound was left open (common for vets do this to let it heal). He is not an easy cat and he is aggressive with everyone but me and my husband and our families. He is a sweetheart with us but won’t let ANYONE apart from his close family (us) touch him (he has to be sedated at the vet to be examined).

We have a cat sitter coming to do 2 visits a day every day and my husband’s sister is going to work from here on Weds so he will be monitored and they’re going to give him his meds and keep him inside. We are back on Friday so he will be home alone overnight for 5 nights. My worry is that he HATES the cone and I’m worried he will get stuck or something somewhere while we are gone. He does tend to lick the wound a lot and I know he won’t let the cat sitter touch him so if she even attempts to put on the cone or take it off he will scratch her. By the time we go on Sunday he will have had the cone for 2 days.

Advice needed on: do we keep the cone on? Will he manage to remove it anyway and/or hurt himself in the process? We have stairs at home but apart from that there’s not many places where he could get hurt. He is going to take gabapentin (a calming med) and an anti inflammatory while we are gone so he might be more relaxed than usual, but as I say he’s very sassy and determined - he’s already jumping onto our counters with the cone on (!!!) so we have had to lock him out of the kitchen.

hope to get some tips / advice! Don’t want to be worrying the whole time while away on our baby moon! I’m already a very worried cat mum. Thanks :)

He needs to either have someone with him all the time who can handle him, go into a cattery with experienced people and preferably who can access a vet if needed (do they even take cats who are ill?) or you need to stay home. There is too much risk involved in leaving him alone for any length of time. He’s vulnerable and needs his people around him. Sorry OP!

Can the wound be covered?
My daughter used one of these instead of a cone

The image is a post surgery cat vest from Amazon (just in case the image isn’t approved)

That's just as dangerous. It can still get caught on something. The cat needs supervision if it's wearing this or a cone.

And cats are just as capable of getting out of them.

My previous cat politely submitted to being fitted with a jacket by the vet. He took 30 seconds to get rid of it when he got home

When one of my foster kittens was coming back from being spayed, she got out of her cone three times on the way home. I’m pretty sure she’d have done the same with a jacket.

I think there are only two options here - either you cancel and stay or someone else stays and looks after the cat.

And it would have to be someone the cat allows to handle him if necessary.

I would also cancel the holiday but as you won’t, the second choice would be paying for him to stay at a cattery or else for someone to stay 24/7 at your house with the cat registered to a vet who does home visits.

Your holiday might have been expensive but for most people their pet comes first. I hope you change your priorities when you give birth and don’t have holidays at the top of your list.

Sorry but I don’t think you can leave him alone when he’s recovering and has a cone and stitches. It’s dangerous and what if he gets an infection or pulls stitches out. Either cancel or get someone to stay with him in the house.

You cannot leave your poor cat. The money you’ve paid for the holiday is gone either way

No, absolutely not he's your pet, your responsibility, you wouldn't leave one of your kids at home alone would you, so why a defenceless cat that's not well, recuperating and needs to see family faces.

No, absolutely not, he's your pet, your responsibility.

OT but I have never heard of a 'babymoon' as a pre baby holiday. Surely it's the stay at home bit with new baby. If anything. Hope you get what you want though.

It’s probably too short notice but you could look on Trusted housesitters or Housesitters.co.uk and see if someone well reviewed is available. Alternatively do you know anyone who might like to stay at yours… a friend in a flatshare who might value their own space for example…

But it sounds as if anyone the cat’s not familiar with won’t be able to get near him, and that’s going to be a problem if they have to sort his cone out or get him to the vet.

My cat (many years ago, who is still with us) had a cone on and managed to get it off and make his sore so bad licking it, it started bleeding and I had to take him back to the vets. I had to watch him 24/7 after that until it healed up. Rubbish timing but I don’t think I’d leave the cat x

Op what happened in the end. Slightly worried radio silence means there might be a sad cat home alone?

Probably end up getting rehomed if that’s the case. That’s what usually happens.

She didn’t get the answer she was hoping for so stopped reading the replies and went anyway.

My first thought was ‘I definitely wouldn’t go!’ So glad to see that others agree.

I hope the OP didn’t leave the poor cat.

No way would I leave any of my cats to go on holiday. I'd go when they were better.