Cricket the survivor kitten got neutered this morning. I brought him home with the following instructions from the clinic:
Keep him warm and dry.
Don't let him lick his incision.
Don't let him run, jump, climb, or roughhouse.
So we got home and I put him in a guinea pig cage (about 4 feet long by 2 feet wide), with a litter box on one end, food and water bowls on the other end, and a nice soft kitty bed in the middle, with his plush snuggle toy to keep him warm on the bed.
He was really agitated at first, which I figured was probably because he was frantically hungry. I fed him (small amount, another small amount later on, not too much food all at once). He gobbled it up and licked the bowl clean. I hoped he would settle down for a nice quiet nap. Instead he proceeded to lick his incision, leap into his water bowl and get himself wet, run, jump, and climb all around the cage, and roughhouse with his snuggle toy and his bed, both of which became airborne at times.
I took him out of the cage, put a harness and leash on him to contain his zooming, and tried to encourage him to sit calmly and get petted instead of wrestling with his cage furnishings. He tried to jump off the edge of my bed (numerous times), he jumped on my face (two or three times), he tackled and bit my hands (more times than I can count), he ran around and around and around in circles, and he managed to get the harness partway off.
I took off the harness and put him back in the cage. The cat bed and toy began flying again.
Clearly this kitten has too much energy to have his activity restricted. What are some activities that energy could be channeled into, that would be safe for him to do right after surgery?
Keep him warm and dry.
Don't let him lick his incision.
Don't let him run, jump, climb, or roughhouse.
So we got home and I put him in a guinea pig cage (about 4 feet long by 2 feet wide), with a litter box on one end, food and water bowls on the other end, and a nice soft kitty bed in the middle, with his plush snuggle toy to keep him warm on the bed.
He was really agitated at first, which I figured was probably because he was frantically hungry. I fed him (small amount, another small amount later on, not too much food all at once). He gobbled it up and licked the bowl clean. I hoped he would settle down for a nice quiet nap. Instead he proceeded to lick his incision, leap into his water bowl and get himself wet, run, jump, and climb all around the cage, and roughhouse with his snuggle toy and his bed, both of which became airborne at times.
I took him out of the cage, put a harness and leash on him to contain his zooming, and tried to encourage him to sit calmly and get petted instead of wrestling with his cage furnishings. He tried to jump off the edge of my bed (numerous times), he jumped on my face (two or three times), he tackled and bit my hands (more times than I can count), he ran around and around and around in circles, and he managed to get the harness partway off.
I took off the harness and put him back in the cage. The cat bed and toy began flying again.
Clearly this kitten has too much energy to have his activity restricted. What are some activities that energy could be channeled into, that would be safe for him to do right after surgery?