Cat on crate rest

[KittenKaboodle]

Our sweet little DCat has broken her pelvis. She had surgery on Tuesday and came home on Thursday evening. She is on strict crate rest for 6 weeks. She’s young (2 1/2 ish - we don’t know for sure) and very inquisitive and energetic. At the moment she’s just sleeping lots and our main battle is keeping the bloody cone on her, but I think as the weeks go on she is going to be climbing the walls (or the bars). The cage is in our living room, where someone is most of the day, and we are giving her as much gentle attention as we can.

How can we keep her entertained without getting her too excited? Unfortunately we can’t raise the cage up to window height, but we are trying WindowSwap on my iPad (along with HD fishes - cat TV in general winds her up too much). What else can we try? She is a catnip addict but the vet told us to avoid catnip toys while she is healing.

Thanks!

(ps that’s soil on her litter tray - she’s an outdoor cat through and through)

No idea how I missed this thread @KittenKaboodle - please message me if you think I could help
Finlay was on crate rest for 6 weeks and got very bored - we put cat tv on iPad outside cage for some of day and lots of explore type toys involving rattle balls or hidden treats - he also loves his cuddly ratty rat and a dish full of pom poms - Lego to flick about was another good shout
We had to line some of the cage with old towels held in with clothes pegs to stop him climbing and doing the monkey bars - lovely obligatory cat pics too!
He preferred soft collar - pics show some of the toys he had in crate

@JaceLancs Thank you, I really appreciate that. I’m so pleased that Finlay is making a good recovery from such a nasty injury. We are (thankfully) past the cone phase, but we’re definitely in need of some entertainment that doesn’t involve laser pens or throwing ourselves up the air and/or bolting up and down the stairs, so looking into some of those hidden treat mats. We’re at 4 weeks on from surgery now, so can let her out of her cage for a careful walk around. Unfortunately our house is really unsuitable so we’re using a dog pen to keep her safe - at least until she’s a few weeks further on. She’s calmed down a lot in the cage, thank god, but the flip side is she seems really depressed. She is such an outdoor cat and I think she’s struggling with that, especially. Just a case of counting down the weeks…!

”Let me out!”

She escaped the cage this afternoon (on my watch) and bolted up the stairs at top speed. I managed to catch her before she jumped on the bedroom window (her favourite spying spot) and carried her back down again. She seems fine but I feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

It’s only a month since her surgery and a fortnight since the vet thought she might need additional surgery to correct her SI joint.

Coming back to update this thread in case it’s helpful to someone else in the future. DCat had an X-ray to check healing earlier this week - she’s just over 8 weeks on from surgery. All looking good and we are now allowed to let her out in a room for a couple of weeks, with low jumping allowed, followed by the run of the house for a few more weeks, and then back outside in 6 weeks (gulp..). She is SO happy to be back on her beloved windowsill.

For anyone else going through this, strength and empathy to you. I won’t lie, it’s been really, really tough. She has been a very impatient patient and getting her to rest has been a real battle. The first month felt like a year, it passed so slowly. Be kind to yourself and don’t beat yourself up if your cat laughs in the face of the vet’s guidance.

Thank you to everyone who offered advice on this thread. 💐

So pleased your DCat is healing, we've got just under 2 weeks until we find out if Marshies op has been successful, he's still in the crate but allowed out for supervised walks downstairs on a harness. He's still not allowed to jump on anything or do the stairs, he's getting increasingly frustrated as he just wants out now which I don't blame him for.
He's still having sedation on a night but he's resigned to the fact he has to take his medicine now

Oh @Iamme2023 that is so tough on you and Marshie! That’s been such a long haul for you both. No wonder he is getting frustrated, and it gets increasingly hard to keep them calm. I will keep everything crossed that you get good news about his op and recovery and can give him a bit more freedom.

@Iamme2023 please let us know how he gets on in a couple of weeks 🤞

My cat had to do 13 weeks cage rest after a complicated elbow break, he was only about 6 months older than your cat and he just accepted it eventually. He did have a big crate, like aimed at a medium dog but as long as he was getting fuss, he was happy enough. He knew that he needed to be in there.

@KittenKaboodle of course I will x

So pleased to hear she is on the mend.

My cat spent three months in a crate at around the same age. I didn't do anything to entertain him, and was working full time. He spent most of the time sleeping. I did however sleep in the living room, on the floor, for the whole time (I know, mad!). He did cry a lot, and I would go over to the crate and rub him through the bars - although one day my DM was visiting and stayed for a while after I left to go back to work, and he didn't make a sound after I left. They know how to play us!

@KittenKaboodle so glad things are going well!
Finley is now 3 months on from accident and surgery - having physio and hydrotherapy and recovering very well
He is still not allowed out yet and gets rather bored - but doesn’t understand that he is not supposed to jump up or down too much

@JaceLancs I’ve been following Finlay’s physio - what a trooper. So pleased he is making a good recovery - clearly he thinks he is a-ok, but not so good for your nerves! We are supposed to be minimising jumping - nothing too high for her to jump on in our living room (and no curtains), but she is up and down like a yo-yo. Two months of pent-up energy has got to come out somehow. Finlay must have even more!

Marshie is fasting ready for his check up, they need to anaesthetise him so they can get all the x-rays and scans. Really hoping for good news, he's spent nearly 13 weeks in his crate and we're all sick of it.

Marshie has had his check up and his hip has healed and he can come out of the crate tomorrow once he's recovered from his anaesthetic 🎉🎉

Fabulous news - thank you for update
we are a few weeks ahead and Finlay is being allowed out in the garden for the first time tomorrow - we are so excited

Dreaming of the new adventure

Ah @Iamme2023 that is fantastic news! What a relief and Marshie must be delighted. I hope he is being sensible with his new found freedom today.

And great news for Finlay @JaceLancs - what a long road it has been for you too. Exciting day but a bit nerve-wracking too I guess?

We have another 4 weeks until Kleo can go outside, but it is so nice to have her moving around in the house and be able to properly play with her again. She’s full of beans and desperate to go out and chase the squirrels.

Sadly Finlay’s first foray into the outside world since accident did not go well - he got stuck on the garage roof and I’m very stressed about what to do now

Oh no, hopefully it's just learning what he can and can't do and how to get down from places

Is he down?

My daughter's cat had surgery underneath and wore a babygro type thing rather than a cone. He did wiggle out of it once and they had to use a safety pin to keep it a but tighter. He was fine then

Oh no @JaceLancs - hope you got him back inside without too much additional stress.

Marshie is enjoying his freedom, we were able to bring his cat tower back downstairs yesterday.
He's still a bit unsure at times jumping on high surfaces but after 15+ weeks of no jumping I think it'll just take time.
It's so nice to have him off his sedation and back to his incredibly naughty self, the kitchen cupboard lock are all back on all the time now 😂

That’s so lovely to see! Marshie looks very serene there 😊 I’m sure he’ll be jumping on/off everything you don’t want him too before long!

I’m so happy that after a long slog for all of us, our DCats are getting back to their old selves.