Although I already have 2 indoor cats, I was recently asked if I would be willing to foster unwanted cats and kittens by the local cat rescue charity. I replied that, since I only have one rather small spare bedroom, I could only foster a sick cat, or a mother cat while nursing her kittens. Since I live on a busy road, outdoor cats are completely out of the question. Within a week I was collecting a still unconscious,14 year-old tom from the local vet after his castration OP. Evidently the poor creature (given the name Pepino), an indoor cat, had been sharing a 50 m² apartment with 2 humans, 2 babies, 4 dogs (including a German shepherd) and 4 female cats. The local authorities had stepped in and Pepino sent to the vet.
When I picked him up on Monday, the smell was overpowering and I put him on clean bedding in his carrier, letting him out into his small room just before I went to bed myself. I was surprised how quietly he spent the night, how friendly he was the next morning and how much he ate!
I have been brushing him with a baby brush during the day (his coat is a mess, the white fur is grey or yellow). He enjoys attention, only disappearing under the bed when he has had enough.
Today, perhaps because I was cleaning the house, he spent more time under the bed. He had been given a pain killer, the effects of which will now be wearing off. I have had many cats spayed or neutered but always during the first 12 months of their lives. Should I be aware of any complications which could set in? How long can I keep him in this small room (ca. 12 m²)? My own cat Mogi will not even venture past his room so I cannot consider letting him out or even setting up the barrier so that the cats can at least have visual contact. Although Lilly was extremely inquisitive at first, she has now lost interest, perhaps because the smell is not quite so intensive as it was 2 days ago!
Pepino, one day after his OP.
When I picked him up on Monday, the smell was overpowering and I put him on clean bedding in his carrier, letting him out into his small room just before I went to bed myself. I was surprised how quietly he spent the night, how friendly he was the next morning and how much he ate!
I have been brushing him with a baby brush during the day (his coat is a mess, the white fur is grey or yellow). He enjoys attention, only disappearing under the bed when he has had enough.
Today, perhaps because I was cleaning the house, he spent more time under the bed. He had been given a pain killer, the effects of which will now be wearing off. I have had many cats spayed or neutered but always during the first 12 months of their lives. Should I be aware of any complications which could set in? How long can I keep him in this small room (ca. 12 m²)? My own cat Mogi will not even venture past his room so I cannot consider letting him out or even setting up the barrier so that the cats can at least have visual contact. Although Lilly was extremely inquisitive at first, she has now lost interest, perhaps because the smell is not quite so intensive as it was 2 days ago!
Pepino, one day after his OP.