We need help, please.

[Grace]

Grady came home from the hospital today. We are supposed to keep him *quiet* for the next 6 - 8 weeks, while that bone heals.

They gave us Metacam for discomfort - once a day.

We got him settled into his cage, and it's been downhill since then. He tries to free himself from the cage; scoops the litter out of the pan; howls. I did contact our Vet, and got some Acepromazine to sedate him. And it does work, but this poor 2 year old male cannot be comatose for the next 6 weeks.

We took him out to eat and give me time to clean up his mess. He walked right over to the back door.

Anyone have any suggestions? It's only been 12 hours with him home, and I'm ready to move out myself.

I feel so bad for him, and so frustrated. :(

[slick]

Grace, I'm so sorry about Grady. I've had no experience with injuries such as this, but do you have a small room you can keep him in instead of a cage?

Some kitties, just hate to be caged. I had renos done to my condo last November and I had to cage Max. When I came home from work, I couldn't believe what I saw and it took me at least an hour to clean up the mess.

Hugs to you and prayers for Grady. I'm sure other Pet Talkers will have some great suggestions for you.

[QueenScoopalot]

I'm so sorry to hear he's freaking out, but it is to be expected IMO! I'd let him be in an area that he's comfortable feeling in for the night. Between the surgery, and the drugs he's on, he's going to be agitated, and unsure of his suroundings. It's major surgery that Grady went through, and it's not uncommon for him to freak out. Keep up the pain meds!! ;) Georgie was worse. :(

[jenluckenbach]

Personally, if you can't cage him then I would put him in a small room where there are not a lot of high places for him to jump up on. That way he will just stay mostly on the floor and not jump and hurt himself. Hiding places on the floor, like boxes and 1 story condos, would be good, to give him places to sleep.
Best of luck.

[catmandu]

Those Cats,do not realize,that they ahve to stay still.All you can do,is to try,to keep him,as quiet,as possible,and pray,that he doesnt hurt himself!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/catphotos730.jpg

[jomama55358]

Hello.
i would agree with jenluckenbach. try to keep the kitty in a small room where he can't jump around much & give him lots of love & attention. I'm sure he's been through a lot & he may take awhile to figure out that he is home & safe & recovering.
Good luck & God bless you.

[Grace]

Thank you all for your suggestions and good thoughts.

So far we're all still sane - LOL!!

We don't have a good, small room to put him in. I did come up with one place, though. We have air-lock entries, front and back doors. I set up the short front hall with litter box, bed and food. We put him in there, for a change of scene when he starts getting really obnoxious. We can't see what he's doing, but we can hear him. While he's in there, I can vacuum and clean his cage - and boy does it need it!!

The tranquilizer has been a God-send. Half a pill every 6 - 7 hours, and he's fine. I hate to keep him drugged, but there is no other alternative for now. Pain wise, he doesn't seem to be bothered much. Gets the NSAID at bedtime, and that does it for him. His appetite is good.

About 90 minutes ago, we had him out of the cage, loving him up. He enjoyed it, for about 10 minutes, then he wanted to rock-and-roll - :)