Stupid crate. Stupid cat. Stupid hip surgery.

The BBQ Pit
1

I have a kitty.

Well, yes, it’s expensive to have a cat, but I finally made the decision and I’m definitely a lot less lonely. I am now the proud owner of a BEAUTIFUL grey kitty named Duncan by the shelter (still trying to decide if I want to give him a new name, but Duncan really seems to fit). Problem is, he came with recent hip surgery. The sutures are out, but the vet who operated wants him confined to mostly cage rest, certainly while I’m out of the house.

So I got a brand new cage (thanks, Dad!) and a little litterbox and toys and a scratching thingy and a bowl of water and another bowl of dry food. And these are set up for Duncan in his new cage.

Incidentally, Duncan is an absolute sweetie. He cuddles up with me when I watch TV. He purrs like an engine. He crawls into my lap. He follows me around the house, and boy must have some Siamese in him because he yowls like a siren. But hey, hearing something else’s voice in the house is well worth it. Even if that someone is a cat.

But I had to put him in his cage last night when I went to bed because I knew, knew, knew I would forget him in the morning or wouldn’t be able to catch him before going to work, and he was very very very active and trying to climb on everything, and I want his hip to heal properly and that won’t work when he’s constantly trying to jump on my bed and chase my feet. :frowning:

I got up this morning and the litterbox’s litter is mostly on the floor, along with a big fresh kitty turd on my lovely carpet. The towels I lined the cage floor with so he wouldn’t be on cold plastic are mostly disheveled and wet with the water from the kitty bowl, which has not been overturned but has been…played with? At least more than half-emptied, and all over the towels that have most of the rest of the litter on them. Kitty food bowl 3/4 empty, about half of the kibble on the towel. At least he ate most of the rest.

And when I come into the room with the cage: “Yooooowl! Meow! Meow! MEOW!” which translates into “Let me out, damnit! This sucks! I spent the past month in a cage by myself!” :frowning:

Siigh. Sweetie, I don’t want to do this. I want you to be free to frolic all over the apartment. But I also want your hip to heal properly. I’m overjoyed to have you in my house, and yes, when I get home you’re getting to come out of your cage immediately while I wash your towels, change your litter, vacuum and spotclean the place you messed up, feed you nice soft food to make up for all this…

At least it’s only for a week, and then you can romp around my bedroom for another two weeks, and then you’re home free. I just wish I didn’t have to make your life suck, and I wish you didn’t make your own environment suck all the more.

2

Do you think it would help if I forwarded pics of my bunny wearing his post-surgery collar (that he had to wear for 10 days) for Duncan to look at?

3

Awww…and this makes all the cleaning, chasing, wiping up water, cleaning your carpet and walking on cat litter with bare feet worth it, I bet!

I had to put my hyper kitty, Lucy, on cage (ar)rest once when she injured her hip and it was not easy. It was also after her vet shot her full of prednisone. Hyper kitty + prednisone = rest?

Right.

Enjoy your new kitty…they are worth every aggravation!

4

FilmGeek want pictures.

Kitty Pictures.
Bunny Pictures.

NOW!

FILMGEEK SMASH!

5

Aaaaaaaaaabsolutely. :smiley:

He really is a darling. And I will have pictures up when I find my digicam.

6

Oh. And he plays tag. At least, that’s what I think he’s doing.

Because he’ll be friendly and yowly, and I’ll come and pet him and suddenly he runs off. I think “WTF cat?” and walk after him. He runs into bathroom, sees me, scampers back out between my legs. Walk after again. Scampers back into bathroom. I call out “Duncan, what are you doing?” and he comes back and figure-eights around my ankles.

Weirdass cat. :confused: :slight_smile:

7

Aww, he sounds like a sweetie! Mine play tag, too. :slight_smile:

As to the spot cleaning: go get yourself some Nature’s Miracle. I have not found anything better at getting cat barf out of our white carpets, and it’s safe to use around the animals.

Also, their litter treatment is really great. More expensive than Arm & Hammer, but it actually smells good, and keeps the stink quelled.

8

Our cats also play “Startle”. This is where the cat is just standing there and you look at him/her, or move your hand, or any other excuse, and the cat stiffens and then takes off at full speed down the hall or up the stairs, then casually wanders back a minute later to do it all over again.

9

I feel your pain, truly I do. My Oscar has had to wear a collar that makes him look like Queen Elizabeth I for several weeks now so that a huge wound on his back could heal. The poor guy hated it. (We found it amusing, but that’s another story). Most evenings, he’d walk over and jump on my lap, catching his paw in the collar and falling so I had to pick him up again, but he’d lay on my lap and just look at me piteously. I’d hear one tiny little ‘mew.’ every few minutes, but for the most part, he just looked sad.

He’s not wearing it anymore, since he managed to get it off in the litterbox and no way in hell did I want him on my lap with the way that thing smelled after that, but he’s also healing nicely now. We did make him wear a baby shirt I’d found when he started scratching again, though. Pink is NOT his color. (It was on sale :smiley: ).

Emmy plays tag. It’s a bit difficult in our small two-bedroom apartment, but she seems to find it fun. If we’re sitting in the living room and not paying attention to her, she’ll stand in front of us and let out a huge yowl, then run towards the wall, jump sideways at it, and slingshot herself into the other room (not literally, but you get what I’m saying…). It’s the funniest damn thing - and if we don’t get up and follow her, she comes right back to do it again.

And believe me, I know how hard this is after dealing with our sick boy, but I’m 150% more relieved that we stuck to the vet’s instructions now that he’s well.

Duncan won’t hold a grudge (and that’s a GREAT name for a cat!) - he’ll be a little pissed in the cage, but I guarantee that he’ll forget about it ten minutes after you let him out for the last time (until there’s a trip to the vet, but that’s a whole different ballgame.).

And yes, PICTURES!:slight_smile:

Ava

10

I think Duncan By The Shelter is a great name! Keep it. My cats (by way of my wife) are named Coco Le Poof and Mr. Tai Pan the Winker. Recently RIP’d was Big Fat Pookie.

11

Duncan-By-The-Shelter? Kinda sounds like an English beach community.

And I TOOK pictures, but the camera won’t release them. Bleah.