Containing curmudgeonly cats

[MercianQueen]

Let me introduce you to my beautiful furry black boy cat (he's the fluffy black one, pretty tabby is his sister).

He's 11 years old and has lumbosacral disease and worn out discs. And he is the most beautiful fusspot ever.

My challenge is to "rest" him for 6 weeks. No going outside (sorted with locked catflap), no stairs, no running, no jumping. Now he's a poorly chap, smacked out of his brain on gabapentin, but still wants to hurl himself up and down stairs, and climb onto unsuitable furniture.

Tips please on how you create a safe environment and contain elderly puss cats who still believe they're kittens...

You need a dog cage. Poor cat!

Yes. My friend had to confine her kitten to one for 6 weeks when she broke her foot. It was the only way. She got used to it and was allowed out under supervision.

I know, poor soul! I really don't want to put him in a cage, so I've got a stair gate today which I'm hoping will confine him to the first floor. He doesn't seem overly upset with it.

The only problem is that we have an L shaped landing with railings giving out onto the stairs. His sister has happily squeezed through them onto the stairs. Boy cat doesn't seem included bed to try this - yet. And he may be prevented from doing so by his ample girth. But I may need to find a way of sealing them off if he changes his mind...

Can you set him up in one room and keep the door shut? He will get used to it after a while, although the first few days will be hard. Otherwise a cage is the best option I’m afraid. This is a case of cruel to be kind, you’ll both need to tough it out.

He's pretty much confined to the spare room now. We've successfully transferred feeding and litter trays there. And because I'm an absolute softy I've been sleeping in the spare room with him for the last week to make sure he's ok 🤭

I don't want to shut the door as he gets so distressed if he can't see his sister, and they're both prone to stress cystitis. But our first floor is hardly massive and he seems to be quite comfortable with it - spare room for sleep and poop, landing just outside for scoffing. Which he's doing quite a lot of 🙄

How’s the prisoner doing?