Cat on Cage Rest

[silv]

My little cat had surgery for a fractured kneecap on Friday, he needs to be on cage rest for the next 6 weeks. I feel terrible as the cage the vet is leasing us is tiny. Poor pussy cat must be bored stiff. Any ideas of what I can do to make things more bearable for him. I move the cage around so he has a different outlook and have been giving him fabulous food ie chicken breast etc. He has some toys but not that interested in them. Any thing else I could be doing?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

We had to do this once when my sister's cat had to have a wound re-opened and re stitched as she was allergic to the original sutures. It was easy to start with as the cat was feeling pretty miserable and just wanted to sleep, but as she began to feel better it was harder to stay tough and keep her in the cage. We did play with her through the bars (the tassel on the end of a dressage whip was her favourite toy) and gave her cat treats in card boxes so she had to open them, or just outside the cage so she had to carefully reach through the bars and scoop the treat up. When her time was almost up, we did get her out for short periods (as long as she was calm) but your cat's injury might mean that that isn't a good idea.

 

[MissMistletoe]

Bless him.
Just make sure he is kept nice and warm and gets plenty of quiet time.
Hoping him a speedy recovery.

 

[TheFizzPony]

Treat balls? I know whiskas are doing cat stockings at the moment with ones shaped like eggs inside, my cats love them!

 

[hackneylass2]

Hope your kitty is soon on the mend. I would liaise with your vet and hope that vet will see kitty at regular intervals to assess progress, if so, your cat may not have to spend a full six weeks in the cage depending on how well he is healing. Just make sure he has lots of attention and take him out for lap time if he will stay quietly on your lap. Talk to him a lot xxxxx

I think personally it's a bit tight for your vet to lease the cage to you really. Ours give out cages if they are needed gratis.

 

[Emma_H]

Cage rest is just awful, I sympathise with you .

I had a cat that when I moved home I kept in for a month. A couple of days before he was due to be let out he jumped out of the bedroom window and broke a bone in his foot. Cue the cage rest

He was in there for about 4 weeks. I couldn't find anything to keep him amused, he slept most of the time and grumbled the rest

 

[silv]

Thank you for all the suggestions, the vet will be seeing him every fortnight.

The cost to lease the cage is $5 a day which I think is a rip off. I do not grudge the money on my pets as his surgery was $1500 but I think it is a bit much to charge so much for the cage. The better news it that a friend is lending me a much larger cage so at least he will have more room. Apparently the biggest risk is not from walking but jumping.

Pet insurance is not common in NZ, but if I get another cat it will definitely be insured.

 

[hackneylass2]

Yes its a rip off but I can see your point. Glad your kitty will have a larger cage. If all goes well it may not turn out to be a 6 week 'sentence' Good luck to him!