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

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Just as well as I think it's a rather extreme choice (imho). Lots of cats are extremely sensitive to any sort of tranquiliser (my Azar for example) and the smallest amount will totally knock him out, which can be dangerous if he is left sleeping alone - the cat might get into a curled up position that cuts off breathing and if he is knocked out he could die.

Can you get Bach Flower Remedies where you are? My Natural Cat book recommends various combinations of Bach remedies for various complaints but the easiest Bach's flower remedy solution (for physical and emotional shock) would be to simply buy what is called Rescue Remedy (a mixture of impatiens, star of Bethlehem, cherry plum, rock rose and clematis). Put two drops of this in a one-ounce dropper and then fill it three-quarters full of spring water. Shake vigorously (about a hundred times) and it will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Give the cat two or three drops of this, three times a day.

The book says that these treatments are all made from flowers so they are dilute, natural, gentle and perfectly harmless. If you use the wrong remedy the worst that can happen is nothing - zero results.

I've actually used to use Rescue Remedy for panic attacks and found it sometimes helped to calm me down (if I wasn't too 'far gone'). So if you dilute it for Charlie I can't see there being any unpleasant side effects.

Are you still putting a bit of bran in his food? I think the fact that Charlie isn't able to move around much makes his system sluggish, which is why he is getting constipated. So perhaps go a bit easy on the bran, perhaps half a teaspoon for every two tablespoons of wet food. I'm assuming you are giving him wet food now, which I think will help in case he isn't drinking as much as usual.

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I'm sorry, but that made me laugh. Oh, poor you and poor Charlie. Meanwhile, it isn't unlike what parents go through with a sick child. Curious that he seems to sleep quite happily during the day. You may want to bite the bullet and drag the big cage up to your bedroom at night - at least once to see if having you nearby helps him settle down. In fact, you might try this before trying the Bach remedy thing. The 'reassurance factor' of sleeping in the same room as you might make it worth moving the cage at night, rather than moving yourselves downstairs every couple of hours.

Toilet brush?


az

Mudhooks may be right that the cage is possibly not necessary. I told you about when Lua broke her hip that time - no cage. She just had her little comfy bed made up (with shallow litter tray, food and water next to her) and she didn't bother to move at all until she started feeling better. Especially as she had me hand-feeding her little tidbit treats and I would also help her in and out of the litter tray. Then, after a week or so, she started moving a bit more each day, as she felt able to.

Mind you, I was living in a studio apartment then so my bed was next to hers (well, everything was next to her bed - it was a really small place).


az

az.

I can get Bach's Rescue Remedy easily here. I didn't think of it at all for a cat...but why not?

I think the diazapam didn't even stand a chance last night as the pain Charlie must have been in neutralised any effect the tranqs would have had. I discussed the use of them with Yves and he said that they use it as a sedative for nervous patients. I was wary but as you can imagine I wanted to try it for 2 reasons. Firstly so that I could get a night's sleep (very selfish I know) but most importantly because I though Charlie was becoming so distressed every night that it might help him.

I put bran in his food this morning. I didn't put any in after the first time because I thought that he would be regular again after that first bout of constipation. I shall put a little in every day now.

I really would love to bring the cage upstairs but unfortunately it is just too big. We haven't got a big bedroom (there is only about a 1 metre clearance around the bed) and the landing outside isn't big enough either.

I wanted to let him out of the cage last night. B said I musn't. It was under strict instructions from Yves that he stayed in.

I so want all this to be over.

Charlie too I should think. Poor baby.

Well, you may notice that diluted Rescue Remedy given to Charlie throughout the day might help calm him down in general - rather than just giving him a 'knock-out' tranq at night.

Yeah, be careful about not putting too much bran in his food lest he end up with 'dire rear'. But I think a wee bit every day (perhaps just once, in the morning) would help him now.

Meanwhile, I doubt Charlie is crying because of the pain. He is probably crying because he feels lonely. I don't think a broken leg should hurt any more than a broken hip (unless it isn't bandaged properly - maybe you should check again that the cast isn't too tight and perhaps cutting off circulation - this once happened to a friend of mine's cat and my friend went back to the vets and pretty much ripped their heads off). Anyhow, Lua didn't cry once while she was recovering from her accident. Not one peep.

You probably don't want to hear this, but if I were you (and bear in mind that I am the softiest of softies when it comes to my cats) I would be sleeping on the sofa (or on an air mattress) next to Charlie so that he'd be comforted by my presence during the night. Not the most comfy way to spend the night, then again, neither is having to get up several times . . .

Meanwhile, I think your vet's strict instructions are like all rules - that they are made to be broken in gentle ways.




az

Monday morning:

Charlie needs to go back to the vet ASAP...his splint and bandage is slipping off his leg (assisted by a very rasping tongue and lots of leg shaking). The paw is still just about splinted but he now has about 8cm of empty bandage at the end of his paw and cannot walk or stand on it. We had to do a makeshift job with micropore to hold the thing on yesterday.

Meanwhile, we have had 2 nights of sleep. I think the Rescue Remedy helps (I put 3-4 drops in his water bowl that he drinks from all day). It doesn't stop him miaowing but it has calmed him enough so that he lies down and just yowls gently rather than the standing and baying at the roof of the cage type of miaowing. We now shut the lounge door, push our bedroom door closed (leaving a Tasha sized gap) and I wear earplugs. I actually got 7 hours sleep last night.

Getting the balance of this bran right is a tricky business. Yesterday morning he was constipated again. I gave him some wet food with just under a teaspoon of bran. Last night, right in the middle of the only programme we wanted to watch on TV all evening, he decides to do a semi-runny one. Lovely. It could NOT be ignored. If we had wallpaper it would have been curling off the wall. Needless to say he felt so much better! Pooooooeeeeee!!!

Monday afternoon:

Leg now in a new bandage. He was a very good boy. Yves let me come down to the surgery and help so I got to see what was under the bandage. Nothing much to see - a tiny scar with a stitch in and a bald leg. It was remarkably clean and dry considering he has dipped it in his water bowl more times than I can remember. It was in a real mess this morning ... he'd had dire rear again but this time he had stepped in it.

He's now back home in his cage where no doubt he will sleep the rest of the day ready to be awake all night!

Well, at least the leg is re-bandaged now. Did Yves say how much longer Charlie would have to stay in the cage?

It's a bit surprising that Charlie hasn't got used to the cage. Methinks he may be just the *eensist* bit spoilt!

Perhaps you could try cutting down the bran to a 1/4 teaspoon? It seems he needs some help as when you don't give him any he gets plugged up, but maybe he just needs a *little* help. To avoid dire rear .

Btw, it wasn't my intention to make you feel *guilty* for not dragging an air mattress over next to his cage to sleep on - I was just talking about how weirdly neurotic *I* am.

Remember when Maria put The Collar on Lua (to stop her from licking the raw and bleeding tumour) and I couldn't bear to keep it on her? And I think Maria was a bit annoyed with me, but Lua just looked so sad and upset that I couldn't stand it.

In any case, the cage situation shouldn't last too much longer. . .


az

Another thought - you might want to give him some malt every day. Just one dollop - he should happily lick it off your finger, if not, just smear some on his good front paw. This, I think, will also help with the poo situation.


az

OK. Help.

His dire rear is bad today. He has had no bran for 2 days. He had wet food yesterday lunchtime. Since then only dry (Iams) but he hasn't really eaten anything and isn't drinking too much either.

He seems really "down" (comma, comma, down dooby doo down down - sorry, Garfield came to mind there!)

I don't want to start feeding him different things to try to stop the squits because I think we will be going round in circles.

I wonder if it the Bach's Rescue Remedy? I'm going to stop giving it to him to see if it makes a difference - both to his anxiety and his bottom!



I wish there was more I could do for him but I guess all we can do is wait. I can't believe its been 15 days since the accident! Yves has quoted us another 10 days with the bandage and the cage, then another week without the bandage but still in the cage and then at least two weeks in one room, with a further two or three weeks until he can go outside!! Poor Charlie. He has been able to come and go as he pleases since he was a baby (8 years ago) and now it must feel like he's been imprisoned.

Yes, I thought giving the Bach's Remedy in his drinking water might not be the best - better diluted as recommended and given orally just three times a day.

So, try a clean water dish and wet food with no bran for now. I think dry food is more difficult to, um, 'process'.

Meanwhile, simply changing the type of food abruptly (for any cat) can lead to dire rear problems. Was Charlie on wet or dry food before the accident? If he was on dry food you might want to try wetting down the dry stuff with a bit of water until it softens up a bit, rather than giving him wet food.

Oh heck, I dunno.

I know it must feel so hard, not knowing how to make things better. I still wonder that he has to stay in the cage for so long a time, but I'm not about to argue with your vet.

I'd say that if you want to continue with the Rescue Remedy then do it as I copied from the Natural Cat book. And then try various food options. Is the litter box also in the cage?


az

Howzit going?

Getting any sleep?


az

Monday night:

Charlie has been to the vet twice since Friday.

On Saturday we decided that he needed to be seen because of the dire rear...it really was dire because now there was blood and mucus mixed in. Not good. B took him in and was told that he has developed stress induced colitis.

Ironic really seeing as the day before I had it confirmed that my own ... ahem ... how should I put it? erm... bowel problems, were not caused by colitis (still awaiting test results for what it could be - but definitely not any form of cancer)

So, he now has this special kaolin mixture to have in his food. It seemed to be working fine.

Yesterday he didn't poo at all.

He did, however, manage to work his bandage so far down his leg it was safer to take it off entirely.

This morning I had to take him in to see Yves to make sure it was safe to leave it unbandaged and to have the stitches taken out.

This stressed him out again.

It bought on the colitis again and once again we have dire rear.



He was miaowing pitifully today but I had to go out and leave him. I got filthy looks when I came in this evening.

As for sleep...I have now gotten used to wearing earplugs. It was horrible at first as I felt really deaf with them in. I sleep right through now as we close the lounge door to block most of the noise. He was quite loud last night...apparently! B got up to him at around 5am...apparently! I was out cold.

He now has to stay confined in the cage for at least another week whilst the leg strengthens even more. After that he will be allowed the freedom of one room for 2-3 weeks. After that he will be assessed and can then go out! Wooohooo! Can't wait!

Oh dear - what an ordeal this has been for everyone.

I know what you mean about ear plugs - I've never been able to use them myself. Though I've never tried them for more than one night and I didn't have such a reason for them.

Btw, I was reading up on the internet about giving Rescue Remedy to cats and apparently putting it in the drinking water is just fine. They say there is no way to 'overdose' or have any adverse side-effects. So, as it seemed to calm Charlie down before you may want to try it again (if you haven't already).

One more week and the worst will be over.


az

Tuesday 4th October:

Charlie is out of his cage!

We let him wander around the lounge whilst we were in there with him on Sunday. He went back in overnight though. On Monday we opened the door for him and he stayed put! Eventually he came out and hid behind the sofa. We left him there during the day and let him have the run of the lounge overnight.

Today we got rid of the cage completely. We sold it in fact to a local lady who's cat had been shot with an air rifle (bar-stewards ) The nurse at the vet remembered that we had bought the cage and that Charlie was due to be out of it fairly soon so she phoned up and asked if we would be willing to sell it on. We paid £60 for it and sold it for £45. Not bad I guess. I said to the nurse at the time we bought it that they should have bought it from us and hired it out at £10/week. It would have cost us £30 had they taken us up on the offer. As it is it only cost us £15. I think the nurse has now thought about it and the surgery are going to get their own one to hire out. 6 weeks and it's paid for itself!

Charlie is a hell of a lot happier now. He is stretched out on the sofa sound asleep. For now. He still doesn't like it when we shut the door and go to bed. He still yowls. We ignore it.

His leg seems quite strong and his bottom is not at all squitty. If anything he has gone a bit the other way again.

Tasha loves having her Uncle Charlie back out of the cage as she is now able to jump on his back and roll over in front of him whilst biting his legs again. They have been washing each other and sleeping together on the sofa. Tasha's a lazy little mare though - she keeps using his litter tray even though she can go outside.

I cannot believe how quickly this month has gone. It was exactly 1 month ago tomorrow that Charlie came home limping. Where on earth did September go?

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Yes well, sleep deprivation can have that effect.

Glad to hear that Charlie is finally out of the cage and definitely on the mend. Will you be letting him back outside?


az

Hopefully so az...but not for another 2-3 weeks. He has been able to come and go as he pleases since he was 8 months old so I don't think it would be fair to try and keep him in from now on, however much I want to protect him from anything like this happening again.

He sits by the window most of the day - yearning to get out there. He was chattering at the birds this morning. Hopefully he won't be doing as much hunting. Perhaps that's how he hurt himself in the first place - trying to catch a bird up a tree and tumbling out? Still a mystery. At least he wasn't shot at. If I ever found the little toads that think it amusing to go round firing air rifles at animals I would attach electrodes to very sensitive parts of their anatomies and plug them into the mains.

rant over now

I'd flip the swtich for you!

Glad to hear that Charlie is on his feet (pardon the pun) again!

A couple of "house cats": http://www.mjblue.com/travelphotos/bobcats.html

Read the text. It is hilarious.

Wow, they are really beautiful!


az

Those are awesomely beautiful cats ...

...you knew there'd be a 'but'.

They are wild animals, no matter how many household items they pose on; I would NEVER trust them around children under the age of 18, and I'd probably not trust them around ME, since I can't run fast or otherwise defend myself.

Absolutely beautiful, though.

SC