Nursing a cat back to health??? Please???

Hi all,

Sorry for the long post in advance

You may have seen my thread that our cat Icarus who was stolen over three months ago was found by this nice lady 20 miles from our home and brought to the animal shelter on Monday. When we picked him up we saw that his leg was hurt so we took him to a vet that night and found out his rear left leg was fractured. On Tuesday he had surgery done and on Wednesday we were able to bring him home.

I want to make sure the healing process goes as best for him as possible, I would really appreciate some advice. In addition to the fractured leg he also went from about 11.5 pounds to about 7 pounds. Obviously he has a lot to deal with for the next six to eight weeks.

At the vets:
The doctor was really unsure how bad the leg was and amputation was thrown out there as an options, there was a lot of scar tissue over the break that had to be removed (see pictures in thread “3 ½ months and Icarus is home”) the doctor said the surgery took a while but that they grafted some bone to help promote the bone to fuse better, they put a pin in his leg and they wrapped some type of material around the bone to help keep it in place. They did not split or cast the leg because they want us to do physical therapy with it twice day, which we will start most likely on Sunday. They gave him pain meds and Amoxicillin for seven days.

At home:
We bought a dog kennel size 40” x 36”. We have a fleece blanket in the bottom, kitten size litter box and a food and water tray hanging on the door. He has some room, but not too much so that he can’t run around. We have been showering him with affection a few times a day, I am not sure if this can be done too much. We will open the door making sure he can’t get out and pet him. Do any of you think we should limit this as not to move him to much? We are being very careful and keep the petting to the head and neck area. We are scooping his litter box out daily and I plan on replacing the litter twice a week to keep it as clean as possible. I scooped it today and he looks like he went #1 about four times and #2 once.

Food:
I have been giving him a pouch of NutroMax wet food at night and then filling his tray with dry food to get him through the rest of the day and evening. How much is too much food at this point? I don’t want him to get sick from eating too much after losing so much weight, but I also want to make sure he gets as much vitamins, minerals, calories and fat to help him put weight on.

Temperament:
He is the sweetest cat!! I know everyone will say that about their cat but he has been such a trooper through all of this. He is so quit while we sleep and as soon as we wake up he meows to let us know he wants some attention. He immediately starts purring and doesn’t stop while we pet him and while he is eating. Right now he is lying in the kennel sleeping very peacefully curled up in a ball. My H works grave and I work days so there is almost always someone home to keep an eye on him and give him affection. He really is being so great about this it breaks my heart.

His new friends (not by choice):
In addition, there is one small problem. We adopted two cats about two months ago, Chip and Scotty. My H thought they would make a great x-mas gift and we were not sure if we would ever see Icarus again and we wanted to give (originally) a cat a good home for the holidays. Icarus likes other cats, but not in his space. He would often play with the other cats outside but if they ever came in for a visit he would growl at them. We did have a companion kitty for him a while back and he never took a huge liking to her, he was sometimes sweet with her but almost always bitter towards us.

So how and when is the best time to introduce him to his new house mats? Chip is sick we think with the Herpes virus and it has been over a year since Icarus was vaccinated, will this be a problem? The other cat’s temperaments are very different. Scotty is some what of a bully (although not lately) and often skittish around people (other then us). Chip is very affectionate and mellow, I think because he is sick. He also has some bad habits and is VERY stubborn, but he is getting better and understanding the word no, I mean practice makes perfect. HAHA.

I am already feeling very guilty that Icarus will think or does think we replaced him so I want to try to make all three cats feel at home. Since Icarus has been here Chip has been extra, extra affectionate. He won’t give us an inch. How do I balance our affection between all three cats?

Closing:
I am sure I am leaving out some very important detail or question, but please any advice any of you could offer would be great. We have never had to deal with something like this before and are lost.

Thanks so much!!

Kim

Hi - It sounds like you are doing everything you possibly can for your baby. I wouldn't try introducing him to any new kitties until he has a few weeks of healing under his belt. We all know how it is when we feel bad.... we just want to be left alone

Good luck... it sounds as if they didn't have to amputate, huh? Hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

He does want attention from us, but I agree that the new cats would stress him out. I know he knows they are out there because they keep meowing outside out bedroom door to come in. I told my husband I want to wait at least two weeks before we think about brining them in for a visit and only for a few minutes outside the kennel. But maybe waiting more like four to five weeks would be better. At least we have the kennel to use for the introductions.

Yeah, they did not have to amputate his leg! Thanks goodness, not that we are against amputation since I have heard to many success stories. I think as long as we do everything we are suppos to for him in the healing process his leg should be just fine.

Also, I read somewhere about a fracture and a break. I should mention that his leg was broken because I realize I have been saying fractured and that only means a partial break. On the x-ray's his bone split in half and made an x with an additonal peice jetting off so it was a very bad break. I know caring for a fracture and a break are going to be different soI wanted to be clear on that.

Thanks for the warm wishes 2furbabies!

Also, without trying to hijack this thread I have two questions on my other cats health.

1. Chip as some of you might have read is sick with some virus. I started giving him Lysine and plan on taking him to a new vet because we are so unhappy with the one we have been taking him to. I have been thinking he had the Herpes Virus then I read that with Herpes they don't get sores in their mouth but they do with Calicivirus which does present flu like symptoms and lesions in the mouth. Is it still okay to give him Lysine? The doctor at the new vet hospital I plan to take him to said there is one option for cats who are congested (seriously) he said they can drill two holes in the skull and insert a plastic tube in each hole to drain the sinuses which has to be drained for six weeks then removed and the holes will heal. Anyone heard of this?

2. Scotty was chasing Chip (a favorite past time) and when he jumped off the bed after him he landed on my balance ball which sent him flying and his back leg hit the wall (he still ran after Chip). That was about two weeks ago. He was limping for a few days but otherwise did not seem effected. He still ate the same amount of food, still cased Chip, etc. Except now for the past week or so he as been kindof lazy. He seems to stay in bed or want to cuddle but he has not been chasing Chip and I am getting worried. He still has a slight limp almost unnoticable. I felt his leg yesterday and it's not swollen and does not seem painfull to the touch, fo course I am no expert. Any idea? Also he is a little less cuddly, but I made a point of giving them both a ton of affection yesterday.