Fisters' Journey - Holidays & Hell

Fisters’ Journey - Holidays & Hell

It just wasn’t fair. There had been no warning, no mysterious suitcases in odd places, no whispering and planning, it just suddenly happened.
It had been a great week, lots of love and attention, lots of playing with the favourite ball of wool, and then THIS! Back into that prison box and off to hell again. It just wasn’t fair!

When we go on holiday, we usually take Fister to the cat pension as late as possible. This time, since he had to be operated on, we took him off a day earlier. So he was totally unprepared, but just half a minute before I went to fetch him, he realised something was up, and he was under the bed in a flash as usual. Then Randi had to do her trick with the vacuum cleaner and drive him out so I could round him up. He fled into a store room, and when I got hold of him he peed all over the place in sheer terror and gave a heartbreaking howl. This is a recurring drama for us every time we travel. It’s getting better than previously though, I managed to get him in the box with a minimum of bloodshed, and he wasn’t sedated as he always had been before. That at least is progress.
We were to be away for a week, and had originally thought it best if he got the operation done just a couple of days before we got back. But the hospital persuaded us that it was best done as early as possible, since he would be more frustrated in his normal environment with the cone on. This was definately the best decision, since he was very upset and has understandably been quite a handfull since he got back.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...f/fd02ddaf.jpg
He looked very sad, quiet and depressed when we fetched him, but as soon as we got in the taxi home, he went beserk and attacked his box and threw himself around for most of the trip. Talk about a tiger in a small cage!

Home again. we placed the dreaded box on the bed, and carefully opened the lid. He shot out of it like a cruise missile and immediately onto the floor. But this time, he didn’t flee under the bed as usual, he was just extremely p*ssed off! His first thought, as always, was to get out into the back yard. This must be some instinctive reaction, since he isn’t usually bothered about that anymore. Realising that there was no way, it was up into the kitchen window, and a long vigil checking out the cats and birds in his childhood home.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...2/fd02ddae.jpg

The next job was to check out the flat and make sure everything really was normal again. Every nook and cranny was carefully studied, all the cupboard doors opened, and only then did he relax a bit and lay in his favourite chair. Shortly after, he was in a deep sleep. A little later he woke up, and was ready for some head bumpies and scritchies.
He has handled his “lampshade” surpisingly well, and seems to have adapted to it with no great trouble. The nurse at the cat pension was quite impressed, apparently he was running around and leaping onto narrow windowsills the instant his cage was opened. He is SO happy to be home, and follows us around and won’t leave us alone for a second. I’m glad that the lampshade will soon be off, it’s difficult to get any sleep with a conehead wandering about on us, he keeps banging it into the headrest and turning around to find a better position to be cuddled in. He also shakes his head a lot, producing a very loud rattling sound, guaranteed to wake one up! He went under Randis eiderdown for a while, something he normally only does when he’s been sedated. Then, in the middle of the night, he decided to creep under mine too. He settled down there and seemed quite relaxed, but then something must have scared him, he shot out like a rocket, using my head as a take off ramp, and cannoned into the wall with a terrific crash. A little later, relaxing a bit too much, he fell very noisily out of bed. Not much sleep tonight!
During his survey of the flat, he had of course wanted to get under his beloved wardrobe again, but had a lot of difficulty. In the end he succeeded, but of course the next problem was getting out again! He gave a few pityfull cries, and Randi luckily managed to help him out again. We then had to block his favourite place - didn’t need to have to do that in the middle of the night!
We’re hopefully off to the vets tomorrow to get the stitches removed, and I imagine that Fister will then start on a marathon wash and cleanup!
More news will follow.

john

Thanks for the report! Poor Fister - you're such a brave boy! Your family only wants to do the best for you - even if it means wearing a lampshade and going scary places.

Best wishes - and lots of naps - to you all!

Here's hoping the trip to the vet to get the stitches out goes well!

Any chance the vet makes house calls?

Poor Fister, Poor Randi, Poor John!!! You have all been through quite a time. Hopefully the lampshade will come off soon and all will return to normal.

What an ordeal you've been through sweet, Fister!!:( And you poor Mommy and Daddy too! But you're on the homestetch, sweetie!:) I have to say, even "behind bars" or with a lampshade on your head, you're adorable!:)

Poor Fister, what a sorry boy wearing that restricting collar. You be a good boy at the white coat's and have those stitches out so you can be free again. Good luck orange boy :)

Fister, I am so sorry things are a little bit 'off' for you right now! Falling out of bed must have been awful, and then without your favorite place to crawl under..sheesh. I know in no time will you be back to your sweet comical orange self. I hope you, Mommy and Daddy get some rest tonight! Can't have all three of you cranky now, can we? Good luck, and thanks so much John for the update!!!

Awww poor Fister. I'm glad that you're adapting so well to your cone. I'll be praying for a speedy recovery. Thanks for the update John.

poor fister..........life is not always a ""bowl of cherries". is it. who coined that phrase anyhow"?

Fister, poor baby!!
Hope you have a speedy recovery!

Fister: every day will be better than the day before in the next time. We are all so happy that you're on your recovery trip!

This is day 10 with the cone on. We took some pics of Fister's behind (on macro) just this morning, and sent them to the vet, so he could see how it is healing and whether the stitches can come out - he rang back and said "it looks fine, come on over with him" - so we're confident the stitches can come out today! :D We gave him 5 mg. Diazepam, equivalent to Valium, half an hour ago and it definately has started working, so he's very daring at the moment, wobbling around, he can even open the door to the bathroom enough to get in with the cone on - smart boy! :cool:

Will report back later, we're off to the vet! :)

Poor Fister! I hope everything "comes out" all right. You've been a very good boy and hopefully your diet will allow your purr-ents to give you a special treat.:)

It was a bit of an ordeal to hold Fister down on the table while the vet took the stitches out, but the cone stayed on until it was done, so that made it a little easier - he complained a lot, but at least there was no bloodshed! :)

When we came back, Fister immediately went to his food bowl and started eating, so much easier without the cone on - and then a good wash! He's even had a few shrimps! And dinner is going to be duck for the three of us! :p He's still a bit wobbly when he walks around and VERY chatty! I think he learned a few new words from the other cats in the pension. :rolleyes: He can't get enough headbumpies and nosescritchies, so he doesn't leave us much time to post this. He calls us if we leave him for two minutes for more cuddles. Yes, he wants ATTENTION! - and he gets it!!

It's going to be a nice evening in bed with TV (Robinson Expedition), and lots of cuddles! ;)

It's heaven for him with that cone off!! :D

Well done Fister! Cone off, stitches out, lots of loving. From hell to heaven!

Have I spoken too soon again :confused: Now it seems that Fister has stomach cramps! :( He wants our attention ALL the time! I hope it's just because he had a few shrimps and a few pieces of raw duck! I gave him half a Romefen an hour ago (painkiller) hope that will help him feel better! Perhaps he just need to go to the box!

Ohh, just now, Fister is laying in bed on John's stomach UNDER THE DUVET!! That is very unusual!! :eek:

Poor Fister! Did all the excitement of the day give you a tummy ache? I hope you rest up and feel all better soon. You are home now so calm down and enjoy your hugs and cuddles. Fingers and paws crossed that you are your sweet self soon.

All paws, fingers, toes, etc. crossed from me and my gang as well. Hoping it was just the excitement and the shrimp/duck. Keep us posted!:(

Oh Fister, you poor baby. :( I feel so sorry for you, you don't understand what's going on and don't feel good. We'll be praying for you sweet boy...here's to a speedy recovery.

P.S. I'm glad you were able to get that cone off. :)

Fister, I'm so glad that you were able to get the cone off. I sure hope that your tummy feels better soon. All paws and fingers are crossed here.

Fister is feeling SO much better today! :D He seems to have changed his routine also. Last night he was walking all over us in bed - well, that's not so unusual, but early this morning he climbed under the the covers with John and lay there for hours!! Then, when I went to have my shower, we played a little with running water across the floor and he STAYED in the bathroom while I showered!! Very unusual!!

Oh I'm so glad he's better again. Fister's tummyache was the last thing I read about yesterday and first thing I looked up this morning.
I know from Tigris and Filou that they try to stay very very close to us when we have been in holidays. How much more must this be important for Fister who was with strange people who did cruel things to him (this is how it must have appeared to the poor guy). Now he can lay under the covers with his favorite people and relax!!

And they are so scared if they cannot understand things. One day we got a new wooden floor in our living room. People were working there with loud machines. We had enclosed the cats upstairs but of course, Filou managed to escape when Siegmar opened the door. He ran after Filou and wanted to catch him because there were these machines etc. When he got him, eventually, Filou was so scared that he peed on Siegmar's shirt and also left a trace of 4 claws 10 cm long through the shirt on Siegmar's belly...... But we were sooo happy he was ok!

It's fairly common for a cat to become extra affectionate after he's been sick. I think that the restoration of his routine is so comforting that he's grateful. I'm glad Fister's tummy feels better.

Fister, never a dull moment in your house, hmmm? I hope your tummy ache was just a case of the shrimp being bigger than your tummy! I hope to hear you are up and about to your ole sweet orange self in no time!!!

First off, I am thrilled to hear that Fister is doing so well. All of you have been through a lot and I know how you worried about his health while you were on vacation.

The second thing that strikes me - is that if a neighbor had made too much noise in the middle of the night and continually woke you up - you wouldn't be too pleased. But when it is our dearly loved pets - we have patience and understanding in unlimited quantities.

It sounds as though the three of you had quite a night. But he may have learned a few new things that he likes - spending time with John under the cozy covers sounds pretty reassuring.

I am just glad that he is back to his old self - the old cone is gone and he is once again KING OF THE CASTLE!!:) :)

Holidays and Hell - Part 2

It had been a week in hell at “The house of cages”, and they’d fiddled around with his plumbing and incarcerated him for over a week. :mad:
But then the two “best humans” finally turned up again. Into the dreaded prison box, but then delivery. Finally home again! But they hadn’t removed that tortuous collar, most annoying. Every time he tried to go through a door or rub up against something - BONK!
It had been so nerve wracking that week, that he just couldn’t get enough cuddles and good old homegrown loving. Follow them around, don’t let them out of your sight, don’t let this happen again, please! But they weren’t quite finished yet, two wonderfull days back on his bed and it was into that box again. Will this never end? This time it was a short trip to the guy in the green overalls. They trapped him and held him forcibly on a table and had a really big fiddle with his back end. He complained bitterly and considered an all out attack at this unpleasant intrusion, but that just didn’t seem to help anymore, and they seemed to be doing it in his own interest. Surely this must end sometime? Then into the box again, back in the noisy motor and then HOME AGAIN AND THE COLLAR WAS OFF! Things were getting GOOD again. Now, let’s get back on that bed again and get down to some serious cuddles and head bumpies! :D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/fcff129f.jpg
That’s better!

Our week in Spain had been rather dampened by the terrible weather, but we had met another lovely Pet Talker, eaten loads of lovely Tapas and seen some great places. It’s always a problem when we’re away - How’s the cat, is he allright, and this time, will his operation be successfull? One has to put such thoughts out of ones head, but it can be difficult sometimes. The worst bit is when we come home and have to wait until the next day to pick him up. The house seems so EMPTY without him, and he’s just a few miles away locked up in a cage. We just can’t wait untill the next morning to rush off and fetch him. :)
Every time he goes through such awful dramas, he attaches himself a little closer to us. I remember when he was a little kitten in the back yard, it was impossible to get within a yard of him, but after he had been caught and taken to hospital for his castration, he became just a bit friendlier, and would even allow us to stroke him. This latest drama has obviously been very tough on him, and he has become super dependant on our nearness now. He won’t leave us alone for a minute, and he has learned a lot more about talking and communicating with humans. He has actually become a real chatterbox, and complains very loudly at the slightest excuse, a thing he very rarely did before. Has he learnt this from the other cats? He has already retaken all his old territory, Johns’ stomach and Randis’ pillow are now his property again, but he has also found that lying under the duvet in the warmth is also a really good new way to pass quality time.
We’re not quite sure how he’s taking to the new plumbing, he has been sitting in his box a lot today - and constantly washing himself. Let’s hope he’s getting used to the new system. He constantly asks to be let out in the yard again, but there’s no way when he’s in the condition he is now. He has also become much braver when we get visitors, wanders right past them and regards them with disdain. Before all this, he would have fled into the bedroom immediately. So I suppose that’s some sort of progress! :)

john

I was just wondering this morning how Fister was fairing. I'm so glad he has the cone off. Now, hopefully, things will go great for him. Paws and fingers still crossed untill he is 100% himself again even if his plumbing has been 'remodeled'. :D

I hope Fister becomes his old self soon. Maybe he just needs a few days of uninterrupted loving from you two to know things are back to 'normal'..:confused:

I know this is extremely late, but I just wanted to say how happy I am that Fister is back home and doing well. Sounds like he really had quite the ordeal and is extremely happy to be back home again. Seems like he's learned the old "you don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone." Once he learned there could be life in a cage, he just couldn't wait to get home and get settled back in and show you two how much he appreciates his nice warm home....especially that nice big, soft bed with the wonderful eider cover to either lay on...or under.

Such a sweet boy. Please give him an extra hug and smoochie from me. :)

Thanks Debbie, you bet we will! Right now, he's laying in bed ON John. The last few days, he's really started to come under the duvet - mostly in the morning, though. But at night, he's become even more social than before = lack of sleep, :rolleyes: - but we wouldn't dream of chucking him out! :D

Headbumpies and hugs to Tubby and Peanut! :)