Cage rest

[Cattery]

So my lovely boy has torn his cruciate ligament in his left knee. Vet has told us to keep him in a cage for six weeks then she’ll review. I’ve got a cage on order and it’ll be here today. Has anyone any experience of keeping cats as least mobile as possible?

Ouch, your poor cat! I haven't had first hand experience of having a cat on cage rest but I have read that moving the cage around the house is a good thing to do as it helps keep the cat occupied seeing different rooms at different times of the day. Being around the family should help as well. The poor love, I hope they recover quickly.

Thanks for replying. It’s going to be tricky because he’s a real wild child party animal but hopefully this will help or it’s an operation x

My cat needed cage rest as well a few years ago. He was so drugged up with so many pain killers that he didn’t mind. He just slept in the cage the entire time. The last few weeks were tough, we have a very small bedroom and for the last 2 weeks the vet said it would be ok to let him out into the small room as long as there was nothing to jump on and we were there to supervise him. At that point though, he never wanted to go back into the cage. We played a lot of cat TV for him 😄

Oh bless! It’s going to be so hard. I just popped out to the shops and my DH said he was trying to go out in the garden then trying to get behind the tv. I thought I bet he needs the litter tray so we gave him a bit of privacy to use that and now he’s in his pet carrier whilst we wait for the cage to be delivered. He’s really not going to like it but needs must. I have to take charge. Cruel to be kind and all that x

We had to put one of ours on cage rest for the same reason (although in her case the rest came after the surgery). It wasn't too bad at first as she was drugged up and in pain but as she healed she really wanted to escape. It was a pretty awful experience tbh. Maybe see if the vet can prescribe a sedative?

My poor boy was on cage rest for even longer after experimental orthopaedic surgery - only option, unless we PTS - cost us mega money even though we had insurance. We got a dog crate for him - big enough for litter tray, bed plus food and water at appropriate distance and made it as comfy as possible. We also ensured one of us was in his eyesight. We let him out once a day but only if both of us were around because we had to prevent him jumping. It wasn't an amazing experience but he recovered from multiple broken bones. Unfortunately, he died at our feet during lockdown; he was purring away one second and then literally dropped dead. He was only 8 and we couldn't get any answers because a post mortem would have involved a delayed transfer miles away. Only comfort I can take is at least I didn't have to make THAT decision.

My cat did this, torn cruciate ligament in one of her hind legs. The vet explained that she could do the 6 weeks in the cage and review or he would operate. We opted for the op but she still had to do at least 2 weeks in a cage after the op. Our neighbours lent us their cage which is for their Bull Mastiff so it was huge. We put her bed and litter tray in there and she had a bit of room to move around. She was on painkillers so was a bit drowsy. It didn't help that she had a collar on as well, I think that annoyed her more.

Hope your cat improves soon

Thanks so much. The cage is here and up and running. It’s a dog crate from Pets At Home. Hoping against hope he recovers with rest. If not they’ll operate and then back in the crate to recuperate. My boy is only 8 also so we’d like to give him the best chance. Xx

It’s not mega big because the space available is limited x

He’s wearing a cone because the vet removed a cyst on his head whilst he was sedated for the X-rays. He’s really been through it the past few days x

Oh poor CatCat.

My big ginger monster tore his cruciate ligament and was on extended cage rest after surgery.

It wasn’t too bad. He liked having company and supervised sofa cuddles.

He was on gabapentin straight after surgery which helped chill him out.

It seems hard at the time but it does pass and the ginger one has recovered really well 6 months later.

Oh that’s brilliant to hear. My boy’s been prescribed Gabapentin and it’s calmed him so he’s resting now. Long road ahead but we’ll do all we can to help him x

Our young cat had crate rest after a hip operation. He wasn’t happy but we tried to keep him relaxed - he has the same cage as you’ve bought.
We played music for him - Alexa played relaxing music for cats and did play with him by hanging things through the crate.
He did develop a serious tuna habit as we’d give him tuna after his medication!

We did also use a relaxing cat spray from the vets too. As I said he was only young to very energetic and we had to try and chill him out from trying to remove his cone..

@fiorentina Thank you. Some great tips . Hope your boy is fully recovered now 🐈🐈 Last night he went all round the cage testing every surface for any means of escape. Feel so sorry for him but we’ve got to stand firm for his own good. He’s had his meds this morning and is now chilling. X

He’s fine now thanks, and seems to have forgiven us for his imprisonment!

I had this years ago with a cat that broke his pelvis falling off a wall (particularly low brain cell count, that one, god love him). He went batshit in the crate, even when sedated, and was bashing himself around in panic. The vet told us it might just be better to let him loose and confine him to one room in the end. The lunatic still kept jumping on things even though we moved what we could. He healed fine despite this, although walked with a mince afterwards.

We eventually let our 'wild child' out, it was doing itself more damage thrashing around in the cage trying to get out, it absolutely hated it. Let out in the room it just laid about most of the time. Not a suggestion, and a difficult experience for the cat and us! Good luck.

Thanks everyone. He’s coping better than I imagined he would. The cage is in front of the back doors in the sun and he’s chilling. So sad because I’m sure he’d like to be on top of next door’s shed in the crow’s nest surveying all before him. Got him out for a cuddle yesterday afternoon. He was so good; just relaxed on the sofa. We’ll keep going. Only another five weeks 😱

Ah that’s a lovely update. I’m glad he’s coping ok so far. And you’ve already done the worst part.

Fingers crossed he gets some good healing!!

Thank you @JenaWren We get him out of the cage twice a day. Long way to go yet and he may still need the operation as the vet said the cruciate is torn both ways (something like that). We have another vet appointment tomorrow to check how the scar from the cyst removal is healing. To be honest, thats the least of his worries. It’s looking good and the fur is starting to grow back. Poor puss. Onwards x

Mine had the op as his was totally torn - it was ok and he’s recovered well.

It was an anxious period. We had a bit of a setback when he managed to do something to his knee in the second week but eventually it all healed ok.

He particularly enjoyed the dreamies-led, post surgery, physiotherapy. And the massage treatment. Both of those made a huge difference to his recovery.

We had to keep one of ours on crate rest for a few weeks, and we found a heated blanket really helped to keep her calm.

She did need company at all times though (she's Siamese) so my DD and I took turns in the crate with her 24/7 for the first week.

It was horrendous but worth it for my beautiful girl 😻

So worth it. He seems quite content at the moment but that’s probably because it’s pelting with rain and he’d rather be indoors anyway. If he needs the op he’ll have it. (Just as well we didn’t manage to get Oasis tickets now we’ve got this new expense) We’ll do everything we can to rebuild him and get him back at his lookout point on top of the neighbour’s shed 🐈‍⬛

Yes, I've done 6 weeks. My girl broke her ankle badly and needed surgery to repair it. The vet impressed on me that though the repair went really well, it would be totally messed up if she jumped on it too soon and she could potentially lose the leg. The first few days she was on morphine so happily zonked anyway, after that we just took it a day at a time. She's a sweet cat who is extremely bonded to me, and not the sharpest tool in the shed, so as cats go she was probably on the easier side to manage. After her progress x rays showed she was ahead of the curve in healing we did cheat a tiny bit and I had her on my lap etc. She had a LOT of Dreamies, a lot of YouTube for cats, a lot of me sitting on the floor with her. We got through it, and she's still jumping onto the sideboards and doing sprints at the age of 14.