h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I slept 2 hours at the most last night.

Monday evening Charlie came home limping badly. His collar was gone. His head was covered in mud. He was in a bad way.

I didn't see all of this because I was working. At 8.30pm B came and met me from work to tell me that Charlie had had some sort of accident. My legs turned to jelly and my heart leapt into my mouth. He needed to see a vet ASAP.

Charlie couldn't, or wouldn't, stand up. His front right paw was twisted inward. I didn't know what could have happened. He may have been hit by a car or fallen from somewhere.

We had to go to the emergency hospital. They were very slow and thorough but were unable to give me any answers that night. They gave him pain killers and told us to take him to our vet the next morning.

Tuesday morning we took him in. Yves, our vet, told us that he would need to stay in and be x-rayed. They did blood tests and urine tests at the same time. Initially they found high levels of creatine and potassium in his blood and were worried that he may have been in early stages of renal failure. They took some urine from his bladder whilst he was under anaesthetic for the x-rays and ruled that out thankfully.

However, they did find two fractures. One in his front right paw and one on his back left ankle. He had to stay in again overnight so that they could operate on his front paw the next day.

Yves told us that he would have to be confined to a cage for 2 weeks so that both fractures could heal. Having already spent £700 on the treatment we then had to shell out another £65 for a cage.

We bought him home yesterday. Last night he cried all night. It was pitiful and I was sobbing buckets just to hear him. He has a cast on his front paw and finds it hard to get around anyway. I feel so cruel caging him. He is distressed but it is necessary to keep him in there. I feel wretched.

He is sleeping now and I am going to try to get some shuteye too.

I'll keep you posted as to his recovery.

My poor baby.

I'm so 'with you', Lady. I know how hard it is to 'be cruel to be kind', but you will have to be strong and keep Charlie in the cage and just sit with him as much as possible. At least take some comfort in that when you aren't at home he will probably just sleep - it's only when you are there that he will cry for attention and comforting.

When Lua broke her hip in a fall many years ago the vet said it was 50/50 that an operation would help and he suggested I just take her home and let her heal on her own. Apparently with some hip fractures a cat's natural posture and body movements will eventually put the hip back into its place, but of course leg fractures need to be set.

I didn't have to put Lua in a cage as she wasn't wanting to walk around at all anyhow. I made up a comfy bed for her, put a shallow litter pan and a water dish next to the bed. I hand fed her food throughout the day and also put the water dish up to her mouth after eating so she could have a drink without having to move. I'd also help her into the litter box when she made a move towards it.

Within a week she was able to walk a bit again and the vet actually encouraged this - that Lua would know how much to walk, which would also help with putting the hip bone back in place (when it broke the xray showed it bent up along side her spine - the next xray showed it still somewhat 'wonky' but more or less back in place).

A couple of weeks after that she was actually able to leap on top of the dining room table from the floor - I was amazed!

Anyhow, you might want to try making up a comfy bed on the floor for Charlie and let him lie there when you are at home and can keep a very vigilent eye on him in case he tries walking - though I doubt he will. But I think you will still need to keep him in the cage when you are at work and during the night.

The good thing is that cats do recover very well from fractures and it is also good news that he didn't have any other problems - probably the initial blood tests showing possible renal trouble was due to a shock reaction.

Well, just keep us posted here and - as always - feel free to talk as much as you want or need to.


az

Poor Charlie and poor Lady!

Luckily, he has someone to love him and someone to "fix" it. Let us know how things progress.

for Debs - I won't hug Charlie as he probably wouldn't appreciate it from me right now. Have this catnip-filled to play with when he is better.

Did the vet suggest what might have caused the injury?

k

Poor Charlie! I hope he gets well as soon as possible -- give him a little pet from me, please.

Lady, s to your family.

How is Charlie's co-cat taking this? In my experience, other cats can get really bent out of shape at the ill one, from the vet smell or just from being worried or anxious. My little Squeaky got absolutely furious at Bandit when Bandit got her tail operated on after catching it in a door. I think Squeaky was really freaked out by the big neck collar thing; the collar lasted an hour, and fortunately Bandit never bothered her bandage. Took Squeaky a week to get over her rage, though.

Chin up, hope the bones knit quickly!

SC

Update: Saturday morning...

Charlie has done his first poo in 5 days!

He miaowed quite alot through the night but we didn't go down to him. We want to turn his natural cat rhythms upside down and have him awake during the day while we are there and sleping at night.

He has almost mastered how not to dunk his cast foot in his water bowl when he gets out of the litter tray! He is eating well and is loving his treats! I said to B that we are going to have a podgy moggy when he comes out! All that inactivity and treats. Hmmmm.

Thank you all for your support. I am a big baby when it comes to my small furry babies!

Tasha's reaction is one of disdain at the moment. We have encouraged her to go into his cage to see him but all she is interested in is his food or litter tray. She didn't go near him at all when we bought him home - probably the vet smell like you said SC.

Mrs married and blissfully happy Kelli - for the catnip idea! He has one in there now and is rubbing his head furiously on it! I feel like a dealer giving a child a fix! He is loving it!

More soon...

Sunday afternoon:

Charlie now has enough cat litter to last him til Christmas! I think we went a bit overboard but it's better to have too much than not enough I think.

He was extremely loud last night. I had to go down to him at around 4:30am. I cuddled him and catnipped him (he liked that ) and eventually calmed him down using the Tellington TTouch technique. It is technique best explained on the "inventor's" web site here: http://www.lindatellington-jones.com/

Basically it is a sort of massage using small clockwise circular motions.

I can't say I am expert at it and probably don't do it quite right but what I do manage to do seems to calm him down. It really works.

I have given him "wet" food today to see it helps to loosen things up a bit. 1 poo in 6 days is not good.

I am not looking forward to another night of broken sleep but I guess I have to accept it for now. If only he wasn't such a loud miaower!

3 more days til his dressing change...I bet it will be quite whiffy by then!

more...

You might try adding a bit of bran to the wet food if he seems to be constipated. But I think sometimes after an injury the body just naturally takes some time to re-adjust. Plus, he's not getting his usual exercise and is possibly not eating as much.

Perhaps if you kept the cage in your bedroom at night he would settle down and not cry so much? Might be worth a try.


az

Hey all! Wednesday morning:

The poo situation is under control now - although I now find myself saying "how on earth does something like that come out of a cat?!"

Thanks for the suggestion about the bran az - it certainly did the trick. The nurse at the surgery said it was a good idea to get Charlie "going" too.

The sleeping situation has not improved. I feel like a new mother... every night we have to get up to him. I know I said I wasn't going to but the miaowing is so pitiful you can't sleep through it. Unfortunately the cage is too big and heavy to carry upstairs every night so he has to remain downstairs.

This morning I was up at 2am until 2:45. I went back to bed and put in earplugs. When I woke up again at 6am B was up and with him. I cannot wait until all this is over.

He seems quite resigned to being in the cage during the day. He no longer tries to get out when we open the side. In fact I forgot to close the cage yesterday when I went to get his pain killers and he just stayed there.

I have taken a few pics...will upload them to Fotki when I remember my login password!!!

Aha!! I remembered eventually (luckily Fotki doesn't lock you out after x tries)

So...here's the link http://public.fotki.com/catcollection/lady_in_a_tree/

Poor baby

Glad to hear the bran worked, Lady, though it sounds like it maybe worked 'too well'?

I'm sure that Charlie feels better physically for being 'regular' again. Being constipated is a very uncomfortable feeling.

Yeah, I'd be the same as you, getting up in the night to comfort the poor little thing. He must be crying quite loudly if you can hear him upstairs! Do you have the cage where you normally are at home (living room?). No doubt he is happier in there when he knows you are nearby. But if the cage is too big to move at night then I guess it will be night crying until it's all over - which is when?

I think you can email Fotki to get your password again. Looking forward to the photos.

Meanwhile, you have to know that you are doing the best thing for him and once he is up and about again he will totally forget his 'incarceration' and will just be happy to have his 'freedom' again - cats and kids are very resilient that way.

Sending you a and please give one to Charlie for me too.


az

Pics are up there now http://public.fotki.com/catcollection/lady_in_a_tree/

az
Charlie is going to the vet to get his bandage checked (and changed hopefully) tomorrow and will have to be in the cage for at least another week. Yves reckons he won't be able to go out for about 2 months!!! The cage is kept in the lounge - the only place it will fit - so yes, he is with us most of the time.

I have come upstairs to my office to check my emails and he has started yowling again...I have been with him all morning. I think I need to get out. I feel wretched. I have to get away from the poo and miaows for a while. He'll go to sleep hopefully.

Aaargh!

Poor Charlie....

We went out to visit Cutie, my Mom's aged cat at my sister's farm. He is hardly eating, and looks awful.... thin, scraggly, cold, he's stone deaf. My sister had to feed him watered-down food with a syringe....

I said that if he were my cat, I would think about letting him go. They are going to give him another week and see how he is, then. He is about 20, now.

Well, not such a big deal if Charlie can't go out for a couple of months. Heck, my cats never go out - they are 'apartment cats' and get fresh air hanging out on the balconies. But the apartment is big enough that they can run around - Azar quite likes doing this - and so it's just another sort of 'cat life'.

Mudhooks, it sounds as if Cutie should be 'let go'. It's a very hard decision to make - remember when I first saw Lua having problems breathing, having to hold herself up to get a decent lungful of air? That's when I decided to let her go. I just couldn't watch her suffer in that way.


az

I felt badly because Cutie was sitting up against me and I was doing that Tellington Touch thing which, as noted, works wonders (except on Benjamin, needless to say). He was softly purring but my sister decided he HAD to be fed just then. Poor fellow. I think he would have preferred being comfortable over being force-fed.

This is Cutie taken last year (I thought he was 20. I guess he is 18) in better days: http://public.fotki.com/Mudhooks/my_stuff/year_in_photos/2004/mothers_day/100_0040.html

I was going to take photos yesterday but simply didn't have the heart to.

Mudhooks

I would say it was time for Cutie to go too. It's not an easy decision to make but it is nearly always the right one.

Charlie went for his checkup today. He did very well and Yves said that the dressing was OK and didn't need changing. We mentioned the incessant miaowing every night and were subsequently given Diazepam for him (I feel like nicking a few for myself!)

I was worried about using them but have weighed up the distress Charlie must be suffering every night and the chances of him suffering any side effects. He had his first one about 45 minutes ago.

He is miaowing now as we have both come upstairs to get ready for bed but I am hoping that the tablets will soon kick in. It says to administer an hour before bedtime on the bottle...but what is bedtime for a cat?

We shall have to see. Will this be the first unbroken night's sleep for a week?

I'll let you know...

Well, I can imagine the sort of noise that Charlie must be putting forth. I was squirming in the examining room listening to the 'owling coming from the surgery area when they took Benjamin out to remove the IV and then get him into the cage.... and HE was just mad! You would think he was being murdelated!

Apparently, he did his usual peeing all over himself and everyone else and so I brought him home wet from having a shower.

He now only has his incisors. They removed 4 teeth (at $100 a pop). I think he is much more "up" than the last time he had teeth yanked. He ate and immediately tried to get out the door between Mom's feet.

3am.

F***!

He had his "drugs" at 11pm. Still miaowing at midnight. Eventually, after much fussing and plenty of catnip spray on his cushion, he went quiet.

2:30am. Miaowing for Britain. I asked B to get up and check him - I said I'd do the 4:30 shift (the usual time for the miaowing to move up a gear).

2:45am Charlie does a poo the size of himself. The house STINKS! No wonder he was yowling. OMG! He has been holding that in for 2 days now.

He is still yowling. It is 3:09am.

Back to the drawing board. My cat is immune to diazapam.

Dammit.

I finally went back to bed at 6am. I shut the door to the lounge and put in earplugs. He was still miaowing. I eventually went to sleep at around 7am. Woke up again at 9.

I can't go on like this.

Not true - I can, but I don't want to.

I've had something to eat and I am now off to bed for some more shuteye whilst Charlie sleeps like a baby downstairs.

Perhaps you should call the vet and ask if he wouldn't be happier being out of the cage at night?

When Musa broke his leg, the vet said to keep him indoors and keep him on a lead when not indoors. Musa had completely other ideas and after crawling through a hedge to get him back while on his lead, I just let him out. He knew his limits and yet climbed up and down stairs and jumped on and off low shairs without complaint.... and he didn't have a cast...

He was more miserable when confined.