I have recently had to keep our dearly beloved cat in a cage to help him recover from a broken leg. Over the years I’ve prescribed resting in a confinement cage to many a broken cat. The usual reason being that because we make such a good job of repairing our patient’s broken bones and keeping their pain levels under control that they feel great and want to run around. If we let them go about their daily life outside they risk dislodging some of the meticulously placed metal work that is holding the bones together. Bear in mind that bones take 6-8 weeks to knit and tendons/ligaments even longer. The metal work is stronger than the bones and if dislodged can cause serious further damage.
But even repeating the old cruel to be kind mantra in my head, the thought of my pusskins being in such a small space sent my guilt levels soaring. Here’s how we got through it.
- Bought some of his favourite parma ham and kept feeding it to him through the bars.
- Left him alone to get used to the cage. The more we fussed, the more agitated he became
- Used Zylkene - a fabulous natural anti-anxiety medication. Only used it for the first 10 days to
- Kept the litter scrupulously clean. Cats hate eating and pooping in the same square foot so it was really important to deal with his poops as soon as they appeared. I also changed the whole litter tray daily and put loads of litter in.
- We had two cuddle sessions per day where he came out and sat on my lap. I would have had more but in actual fact he became more stressed about being in the cage the more we got him out.
- And I kept chanting, if I let him out he will hurt himself again and will need to go back in for longer. So it was better in the long-run
He’s out now and fine. The first day he was possibly a little agoraphobic but now he’s just back to normal again, bless him.
My little 7months kitten has broken his leg and now three weeks into plaster he is developing pressure sores underneath. The vet suggested a confinment cage but this sounds barbaric to my little bundle of bouncing fun whose personality i dont want to change… he is now confined to one room in my house but he seems to sad.
Vixx
September 1st, 2009
my big fat siamese cat broke his back leg today…i mean his whole leg all the way up to his belly , and have no idea how he is supposed to be able to use the litter box by himself ?
lisa
September 3rd, 2009