After surgery worries....

Hello everyone. Last night my husband and I were eating dinner when we heard some small crashes in the bedroom. We went to check to see what happened in enough time to get hissed at by one of our 7 month old kittens, Oz, then he went straight under the bed. Checking the room we saw nothing that was knocked over and figured it was just Oz falling from a scare. We thought nothing of it since it was somewhat usual behavior, until he wouldn't come out from underneath the bed. I got him to come out but he was hissing and trying not to let me pick him up. Of course I grabbed him wanting to see what was wrong and he struggled out of my arms. When he landed on the bed next to me I noticed he wasn't putting any weight on his back right leg. So (since our regular vet was closed) we rushed to the local Animal ER. After some pain meds and xrays, we come to find out that Oz fractured a bone in his leg. The fracture was through the growth plate right below his knee. This called for surgery!! So he stayed over night and had surgery this afternoon. Everything went WELL!! They want him to be observed since he is on some heavy meds, so we'll get him back in couple days. The only thing that the vet told that worries me is that we will have to keep him mostly separated from our other kitten Ninja, and keep him from jumping and rough play. Have any of you experienced anything like this, I need some advice as to how to go about this. My husband and I live in a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, we have a carrier to keep in at times and a small cage that has a bit more room to stretch out. I don't know how we are going to do this for a month!! HELP!! Sorry so long a post...

Oh I am so sorry poor Oz Im not sure how to advise you on keeping him from rough play. Thats a difficult one, but Im sure someone with experience will be around and advise. Sorry again

Okay, change that! The doc called me again...and said that it's limited movement and total separation from Ninja. So it's a bit more straight forward than I thought. Some tips would still be nice if any of you got them! He also said that we can visit him tomorrow so my husband and I are rushing over. We miss him so much.

Oh boy!, first of all I'm very sorry to hear that your little one needed surgery..poor little thing

I don't have any expeirence with the type of surgery Oz had, but the only suggestion I have is to see if you can find a good friend or family member to take care of the other kitten for a week or so to give Oz sometime to heal, that may not be an option for you though.

I hope everything works out well though

Sorry to hear about poor little {({({({({(Oz)})})})})}

Is the cage you have big enough for food, water and litter pan?
Something such as that would be best where he can't get up and around to do damage while healing.

Perhaps Ninja will even keep him company on and off on the other side of the bars. On the other hand Ninja may not like the smell of Oz when he comes home which will require you to work on getting their smell the same. You can do that by rubbing each cat with towels and then switching the towels back and forth to mix scents. You can also use Vanilla under their chins and on their tails to neutralize "vet smells".

I'm sure you will work it all out and Oz will be back up and getting in trouble again before you know it.

I am really sorry to hear about your baby Oz. Coming from an apartment with 4 kitties (and one in spirit), 1 dog and 2 birds, I can related to separation challenges. I currently have two sick kitties that I have to keep separated from each other and the other two kitties. I have resorted to keeping the sickest one roaming free in my living room and the one that really needs to have quiet time and not move around so much I have her in my bathroom. She sleeps a lot and doesn't seem to mind it so much. I don't know if that is possible in your place. It does mean closing doors and such so they are separated but it's imperative to keep Oz relaxed so his little patty paw can heal right and he can play once he is all better. The vet also might be able to give you some suggestions too. I wish you all the best with your little one!!!

Hugs,
Terri

The cage that we have is, as my mom puts it, the size of a standard pillow. She used it a long time ago when she first got a puppy. I started to think it wouldn't be big enough last night. It would be nice for him to have access to everything he needs in that one cage.

I know this is going to sound stupid, but is there anyway that you could put that poor little one in a closet-type area?

I was thinking of using the closet as a temporary ER room. Litter box, food and water, toys. And if you can picture what I am thinkiing......get two child gates that are adjustable. Put one gate on the floor and adjust for door width. Put the second gate on TOP of that one and adjust for door width.

I have used these gates as a means of opening up my back door and closing it off with the gates so that the cats can see out but can't get out. Since he is a kitten, you may want to get one with a finer mesh.

Originally Posted by axroacs

The cage that we have is, as my mom puts it, the size of a standard pillow. She used it a long time ago when she first got a puppy. I started to think it wouldn't be big enough last night. It would be nice for him to have access to everything he needs in that one cage.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you could kind of anchor a box to the cage on the end where it opens so he could still manage to have everything at hand. Just make sure the box won't slide away and keep all sides covered so he can't get out that way. If you do something like that then he could also have a place to retreat to if he wants to hide for a bit.

Good luck to you and your kits.

You have ben given some great ideas! I know it will be hard. I had to separate my 6 1/2 year old cats for just a day or so after Humble's surgery, and that was hard. I would say maybe a smaller bedroom area. Can they EVER see one another when you are supervising? Maybe for a little while each day.....

I am praying for you.

Sorry it's been a while since I have updated! We have been busy keeping Oz comfortable! The first night back was the worst because I don't think that he realized he was back home with us. But after a few hours and some scratches and bites he calmed down and has been calm ever since. He's eating, drinking and everything okay. He has only a heavy bandage on his leg to keep it mostly straight. We have an appointment on Friday for a lighter bandage to be placed on the leg so that he can bend it even more. So far so good as far as keeping him cooped up. We just ended up buying a large dog cage for him, so he has everything he needs. And we keep him in the second bedroom. Ninja for now is staying in our bedroom, for fear of exciting Oz too much. We are allowed to let them see eachother, but I am a little reluctant since I want the healing process to be as smooth as possible. This Wednesday will be a week since surgery and I think we might bring them back together then. Thanks for all the suggestions!

One more thing...if you have something that your cat jumps on that their legs can go through and get stuck, get rid of it right away or cover it with something so their legs will be protected. Oz is still doing great but this is something a 7 month old kitten shouldn't have to go through. I guess the younger the better since they heal much faster but being cooped up and not be able to be a kitten is very sad. Fortunately it's only for a month I guess. You never think something like this is going to happen until it does!