Fredo is home.. and suggestions/recommendations
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Hi all,
I got a surprise call from Fredo’s surgeon this morning, saying the night went well and he could go home. I asked when, and he said, how about 11? Surprise! I had not prepared his little space at home, of course.. I thought I had an extra day. So, I stopped for some different litter (no clay, but natural plant material or something), a new little bed, and the Kong toys with catnip were buy 2 get 1 free so obviously I got those.. not for now, but after he’s healed of course. He loves the ones you fill with catnip, so we have about 8 of them already. Oh well.
We got home, he was REALLY happy (okay disclaimer–I’m not sure if happy is the right word, since he’s on drugs and also doesn’t speak English) to get out of his crate and hobble around. He was on his feet immediately, going from room to room. He headed straight for his litter box (which had the clay litter in it still), which has a lid and kind of a high step. He got in with minimal problems but couldn’t really get comfortable in there and gave up. He tried again a little later, it was unsuccessful again, but this time he just sort of gave up in general and laid down on the laundry room floor. Sad! I took him out to the living room, and he got comfortable. BUT THEN.. I turned around for a minute, and he was gone.. and up the stairs. Whaaaaat! OF COURSE the vet’s instructions said, no stairs or beds or furniture. So, from a healing standpoint, it freaked me out, but I did feel reassured that he will adjust to stairs without a problem.
The vet suggested a large dog crate with his litter box, food, and a comfy sleep space, so I was in the process of setting that up when he went on his little stair climb. I finished that up and locked him up in there.. it sounds sad that he’s locked up in his own house, but he actually got comfortable really quickly and has been napping (more or less) for the last few hours. I covered it with a blanket, so it seems pretty relaxing? I wouldn’t totally mind a comfy cave bed. Also, let me mention that we’ve never owned a dog.. ha! Along with Alfredo, I also inherited a large dog crate from my roommate. I knew we were holding on to this for a reason.
Ah, we also had a conversation about litter at the vet; the vet tech did suggest the newspaper-y pellets for litter, which I’ve had before. When I stopped at PetsMart (PetSmart? Not sure) they only had giant bags of said litter, so I decided to get a smaller bag of the all-natural “plant material” stuff pictured below. He said this was okay. Generally, we want to avoid infection, so the clay-based formula is no bueno. Still, since they are small pieces, I’m going to keep an eye on it. I bought some disposable trays and had to cut down the sides so it’s easier for him to step into. It seems like a pretty decent setup. The vet tech said he was just peeing on himself, poor guy. Mostly because he was on drugs and didn’t feel like moving, so the tech just cleaned him up with some non-water soap? I may look into this, since bathing isn’t recommended right now, and he is so dirty. I might be wiping him down with some towels throughout the next couple of weeks. He’s so clean normally, which isn’t surprising since he is a cat. But I think his life’s joy comes from cleaning himself, for real. But anyway, off topic.. what I meant to say was, while I was out earlier, he peed in his little litter box, and that is very exciting! Haha. I don’t want to have to think of him peeing on himself.
Yesterday I bought some calming spray. I have never tried this… Fredo does historically have some nerves and a puking problem (he gets nervous about eating and sometimes eats too fast, yada yada), so it wouldn’t be the worst idea ever. Even so, I thought it couldn’t hurt, so I sprayed as much of the downstairs that I could. Might be working, might not be. Who knows.
So here is where I open it up for anyone else who has suggestions–particularly for the period of recovery when the pain medications stop, which at this point will be Thursday or Friday. What should I expect? Any other tools or tricks to make this process easier? I’m going to head to the blogs after I post this, but still.. all advice welcome!
Pictures ahead!
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