Post-op Cat
 

My cat has had 2 serious back leg injuries one after the other & was
confined to a play pen for a number of weeks.
He has since been gradually allowed a bit more freedom as the weeks
pass.
I now let him go into the garden whilst I am there to watch him.
Once he used to urinate/defecate in certain spots in the garden (as
does his brother), however now he refuses to go in the garden & once
back inside uses the litter tray.
I use Natty Cat litter which is pelletised grass.
I would like to try a get him to use the outside when I'm around but
I'm getting nowhere. I've tried emptying the remains of the litter
tray in the garden & put him on it, but to no avail, as summer is
nearly here I really don't want to come home to these odours, we live
in a house were it is almost impossible to hide away the litter tray,
BTW it's one of those ones with a lid etc., but still gives off bad
odours!
He has also developed some other strange behaviour..he hisses at
buckets! ANY bucket!
He wags his tail a lot of the time & miaouws all the time for no
reason.
He has a limp but the vet says that this is now permanent but he
shouldn't be experiencing a lot of pain.
Other wise he is, as always, a really happy cat & a purr box.

Many thanks for any advice in advance

Pat

Post-op Cat
 

"Patc" wrote in message
ps.com...
My cat has had 2 serious back leg injuries one after the other & was
confined to a play pen for a number of weeks.
He has since been gradually allowed a bit more freedom as the weeks
pass.
I now let him go into the garden whilst I am there to watch him.
Once he used to urinate/defecate in certain spots in the garden (as
does his brother), however now he refuses to go in the garden & once
back inside uses the litter tray.
I use Natty Cat litter which is pelletised grass.
I would like to try a get him to use the outside when I'm around but
I'm getting nowhere. I've tried emptying the remains of the litter
tray in the garden & put him on it, but to no avail, as summer is
nearly here I really don't want to come home to these odours, we live
in a house were it is almost impossible to hide away the litter tray,
BTW it's one of those ones with a lid etc., but still gives off bad
odours!
He has also developed some other strange behaviour..he hisses at
buckets! ANY bucket!
He wags his tail a lot of the time & miaouws all the time for no
reason.
He has a limp but the vet says that this is now permanent but he
shouldn't be experiencing a lot of pain.
Other wise he is, as always, a really happy cat & a purr box.


What happened to him that injured his legs so seriously?

Post-op Cat
 

On Sep 27, 9:35 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"Patc" wrote in message

ps.com...





My cat has had 2 serious back leg injuries one after the other & was
confined to a play pen for a number of weeks.
He has since been gradually allowed a bit more freedom as the weeks
pass.
I now let him go into the garden whilst I am there to watch him.
Once he used to urinate/defecate in certain spots in the garden (as
does his brother), however now he refuses to go in the garden & once
back inside uses the litter tray.
I use Natty Cat litter which is pelletised grass.
I would like to try a get him to use the outside when I'm around but
I'm getting nowhere. I've tried emptying the remains of the litter
tray in the garden & put him on it, but to no avail, as summer is
nearly here I really don't want to come home to these odours, we live
in a house were it is almost impossible to hide away the litter tray,
BTW it's one of those ones with a lid etc., but still gives off bad
odours!
He has also developed some other strange behaviour..he hisses at
buckets! ANY bucket!
He wags his tail a lot of the time & miaouws all the time for no
reason.
He has a limp but the vet says that this is now permanent but he
shouldn't be experiencing a lot of pain.
Other wise he is, as always, a really happy cat & a purr box.

What happened to him that injured his legs so seriously?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text

His knee joint was totally displaced/the joint had no ligaments left -
they were all ripped apart, the vet said it may have been caught when
he was trying to leap over a fence & got his foot caught, luckily my
partner found him under the car on the coldest night in July. The vet
said that it was the worst knee injury he had ever seen.
He had surgery & had an exertnal fixation device in place & all was
well until we had to get the stitches out & dressing changed 2 weeks
later. Another vet changed the dressing & I expressed my concerns that
it wasn't as thick as the previous dressing but was assured all was
OK, within an hour after getting him home he started crying a lot & I
thought he was just whinging to get let out for a while as we had let
him out for an hour or so previously
I felt SO bad a couple of hours later when I noticed that the exernal
fixation was dislodged & bleeding. I went straight back to the Vet (it
was a Weekend) but was told that he may have fractured his femur now
as when fixation devices come adrift this can often happen.
After a phone call I was advised that Xray confirmed he had a
fractured femur but the vet that had orignally operated was overseas &
not available & there was no-one to look after him in regards to pain
relief. He was then transferred to specialist Vet where he was put on
pain relief.
He had pins and plates inserted to his femur one day later, & I have
doubts as to why he coped OK fore 2 weeks but after getting the
dreesing changed was in a bad state so sonn after, BTW has cost me
thousands $.
Thanks for your interest.

Post-op Cat
 

"Patc" wrote
What happened to him that injured his legs so seriously?-



His knee joint was totally displaced/the joint had no ligaments left -
they were all ripped apart, the vet said it may have been caught when
he was trying to leap over a fence & got his foot caught, luckily my
partner found him under the car on the coldest night in July. The vet
said that it was the worst knee injury he had ever seen.
He had surgery & had an exertnal fixation device in place & all was
well until we had to get the stitches out & dressing changed 2 weeks
later. Another vet changed the dressing & I expressed my concerns that
it wasn't as thick as the previous dressing but was assured all was
OK, within an hour after getting him home he started crying a lot & I
thought he was just whinging to get let out for a while as we had let
him out for an hour or so previously
I felt SO bad a couple of hours later when I noticed that the exernal
fixation was dislodged & bleeding. I went straight back to the Vet (it
was a Weekend) but was told that he may have fractured his femur now
as when fixation devices come adrift this can often happen.
After a phone call I was advised that Xray confirmed he had a
fractured femur but the vet that had orignally operated was overseas &
not available & there was no-one to look after him in regards to pain
relief. He was then transferred to specialist Vet where he was put on
pain relief.
He had pins and plates inserted to his femur one day later, & I have
doubts as to why he coped OK fore 2 weeks but after getting the
dreesing changed was in a bad state so sonn after, BTW has cost me
thousands $.

I wonder if he now associates the outside with danger? And so does not
want to eliminate out there, as it leaves him kind of vulnerable while he
is in the process? I think he might deserve to just go in the house in the
box after all he has been through, don't you? After all, what is the reason
for wanting him to go outside?

:

Post-op Cat
 

Considering all this guy has been through, it's no wonder he wants
nothing to do with eliminating outdoors. He probably associates that
with pain or trauma. Please keep him indoors and let him use the
litterbox inside. Do you have a closet or area where you can put the
box? I lived in a small apartment and devoted one closet to the box.
As for the smell, if you scoop or change the box often there really
shouldn't be much of a smell. I am not familiar with Natty Cat litter,
but am guessing it's not scoopable. You can still scoop the solids
daily and keep odors to a minimum. You can also switch to another
litter that might control odors better. If you do this, switch
gradually or he might get upset and not use the box at all! Also, make
sure the box has low sides he can get into easily. I'm sure he isn't
as mobile as he used to be!

I'm sure this guy has had a rough time. Please don't force him to do
anything he's not comfortable with. I hope he makes a full recovery.