Glad your guys seem to be doing well! I've never had pain meds for any of the pets I've had spayed. Never slowed any of them down. Not saying I'm against it, just never known vets to give it to them. Mine are just thankful there was no cone of shame involved . BTW - when I was "spayed" I decided not to take drugs either. Okay, the first day I did and then decided that the planting of a whole bunch of roses (digging in very rocky ground) would be the thing to do because the drugs said, "go ahead, you'll feel it but not care." Afterwards decided probably not smart. If I hurt and care, I make better decisions. And that is why I decided not to take them any more; the drugs didn't reduce the pain one iota - just made it so I couldn't give a rat's azz.
Phoebe came home last year with pain meds. after her spaying too, so this is pretty normal around here (for just under 1/100th of a century ). Same thing with the cone of shame: it is there to prevent them from pulling at the sutures as they come home with no bandage or wrapping around their waist or over the incision at all. In fact they are allowed to [not] wear the cone of shame until / unless they get to digging at their sutures which is why Gizmo is 'cone- free as a kitten can be' today while Slash has to wear hers; I watched Slash pulling at sutures with her teeth this morning so we had to put it back on her. About the same thing with the pain meds., we put both of them on half- dosages today because they seem to be pain- free, and will stop them altogether tomorrow as long as they do not seem to be in any discomfort. Brian
Kittens doing great and off pain meds. this morning. Went overnight with no cones but had to put one on Slash this AM 'cause again, she was chewing at her sutures. And both kittens are in high- gear, insane kitten mode too and now Slash is running around crashing into everything with that cone trying to 'get' Gizmo. She is not being hurt and while unfortunate, there is a little bit of humor in watching her (yep, I know, going to pay for these cruel thoughts later on..... but Andrea is chuckling too). Brian
The kittens are still doing well. I walked into the kitchen to find they were making sure the dishwasher didn't go wandering off before it was finished . Of course they were both just sitting there until I grabbed the phone to take the picture .
The gig is up - the basement is no longer off limits to the kittens. Oh, not by choice, well not by MY choice anyway. I blame do myself though. See, yesterday I was talking to my mom on the phone and was sitting at the top of the stairs (best reception area for long distance calls). To sit there I had the partially gate open, but I thought I had it blocked with my body. The last thing my mother got for conversation was this, "Spot, what are you doing down there?" and the explanation of why it was a surprise. I'm assuming she went behind my back as I was leaning against the door frame. I retrieved spot and closed the gate and all was well. Until a while ago. I went downstairs to start a load of laundry. Shortly after coming back upstairs I saw spot looking thru the gate on the wrong side. I assumed she had slipped by me as I was taking the laundry down the stairs. BUT, then when I went to change the wash to the dryer, I made extra effort to make sure no cats got thru the gate and the gate was closed. Coming back up the stairs, there was Spot. She turned back up the stairs and climbed the gate - argh! The reason I blame myself is that she probably would not have climbed the gate if she hadn't gotten by me yesterday and got the lay of the land of what was on the other side. Rainey has not figured out the climbing part, but was trying to open the gate by sticking her paw thru and pushing/pulling while Spot was on the other side. Decided to just open the gate to keep it from being damaged. Not happy as they are still small enough, and naïve enough to get into lots of trouble down there. But, don't want to put the door in place as it is a major PITA for the workings of the house. The bright side is that I should be able to transition them to using the litter boxes downstairs which does 2 things; keeps the smell down there when they do their business, and means I don't have to clean both morning and night (only one litter box upstairs for all 3 cats but there are two for downstairs), Anyway, here is the culprit taunting Rainey as Rainey is reaching her paw thru. Rainey trying to figure it out - Spot is on the second stair down on the very left - she is decending so unless you know what you are lookin for, you can't tell.
It'll be OK. My cat is mostly a basement dweller in the wintertime, that's where the woodstove is. She sleeps on top of a cat tree, or on a stack of plastic tubs that almost reach the ceiling. I read somewhere that cats like it about 20° warmer than humans, 85-90° is where they don't burn calories to stay warm.
Most of my cats have only been in the basement either to do their business, because I'm down there, they were chasing mice, or they were sick (big clue - changing resting spots like that). The 3 cats I have now are not heat seekers - they sleep in the back bedrooms where it is 64-66*, which are the coolest rooms in the house. They also love the bay windows, which this time of year are the coldest places in the house (with the shades/drapes closed). None of my present 3 have ever shown an inclination to get close to the P43 for heat (to play, sure) or within the airstream that passes right over a side table and the back of the couch. My previous cat Fuzzy would lay on the table that is 3' in front of the stove so he could bask in the warmth. I just figure the kittens will find stuff that entertains them when downstairs. However, so far it has been short trips downstairs then they come right back up. Whether that is because of caution, or because I am upstairs remains to be seen.
It has been a couple of weeks but here are the kittens wearing their cones of shame..... Both have had their sutures removed and are doing great. Gizmo even figured out how to get a drink while wearing the cone. They only ended up wearing them for the first night home and part of the next day, otherwise they did not bother with their incisions so we left them off. Same thing with medication for pain- only gave that to them for 1 1/2 days, while we had a script for 10 days. Gizmo Slash Gizmo drinking Brian
My kitties still have some of the sutures - the ones that haven't absorbed yet. Vet said they would be absorbed eventually so didn't need to have them taken out. They never have pulled at them, which was great. All litter boxes are downstairs now . Now they have access to 3 boxes, so I don't have to clean them twice per day. Also don't have to sweep the floor in front of the pen constantly from trackage. Another bonus, no litter box or cat litter containers in pictures of the living room anymore . And I could bring up the cat tree that I got a couple of weeks ago. Both have been reasonably restrained on what they have gotten into downstairs so far. Rita is a bit happier as they don't invade her space as much since they have more room to roam.
First major oopsy from the kittens - I have to blame both because I'm unsure which gray cat I saw streaking by the office doorway after hearing the crash. This door w/mirror was leaning against the opening to a repurposed medicine cabinet, that is sitting on a counter. The door was just leaning there because I haven't been able to find the proper hinge. 6 am this morning had to clean up the glass in the carpet. Taped up the rest of the glass so no more would fall out before I can get it to the dump next weekend.
Well, it has been one year- the kittens were born on 12 May 2018. My two are in great shape and still very much as they were, personality- wise, when they were six weeks old. Both are healthy and happy and settled in to live with us here. Both have settled in well with Phoebe with Slash and she becoming pretty good pals (Slash loves Phoebe, Phoebe's attitude toward Slash varies but does get very affectionate) while Gizmo and Phoebe get along fine. How about you Bogieb, how are you 'kids' doing? Brian
The kids are doing great! They have settled down a bit so I only have to investigate strange sounds / crashes only a couple times a day instead of every couple of minutes . Spot is still the one most likely to discover how to do something (she has turned on the light over the dryer a couple of times - I thought I had left the light on over night until I caught her at it), and Rainey learns quickly by observing Spot. One thing that Rainey is usually first at is jumping in a new box, bowl or potential sleeping spot. Rainey is most insistent on trying to "visit" the birds, climbing the legs of the stands and patting the bottom of the cages, while Spot pretty much ignores the fact that they exist. Both love to sleep on my legs if I am stretched out reading, or when I am sleeping. Spot has put on weight, so is no longer skin and bones - probably owing somewhat to her not longer being frantically in motion every waking second of the day. Rainey is the larger of the two (she was smaller when I picked them up). Rainey's face has filled out so she looks more "cat" while Spot's facial markings make her seem to still be more kittenish. Usually, Rita politely ignores them except during the occasional game of tag. Here are a few recent pics.
Fantastic, excellent! It sounds like all four of them 'landed on their feet' so to speak. Slash is still the forward, curious one while Gizmo is much more reserved, just as they were when you met them. Gizmo has turned into a first- class thief- she will steal anything she can drag off with her mouth. And the clever one; all three want to get into the bathtub but only Gizmo knows how to open the doors; the other two make a fuss in the bathroom, usually with Slash clawing at the glass door until Giz comes in. Then the other two stand back and watch while Giz opens the door, after which all three go into the tub. Too funny. We had a little trouble with Slash's right ear and it took several vet. visits to clean it but otherwise, all are in great health and seem happy enough. Right at the moment, my D-I-L and granddaughter (10 mos.) are visiting and so the cats have been forced to adapt; Phoebe mostly ignores Penelope (granddaughter) while Giz is curious and Slash is downright nosy and insists on being 'involved'. Brian
At the one- year mark. Phoebe, Slash and Gizmo. As I said, Slash just loves Phoebe and will actually lay down on TOP of Phoebe. Phoebe likes Slash so she allows this. Not so much with Gizmo though- they get along OK but that is it. Gizmo Phoebe and Slash: Slash running around in the trusses. She is about 10 feet off the tiled floor, good thing she is as sure- footed as..... well, as a cat. You cannot tell from the photos but both Slash and Gizmo are small cats, both in overall size and build. Gizmo is downright 'bony' looking but always the first one at the feeding bowls (we let them eat all they want, anytime they want). Phoebe on the other hand is a cow- big, bulky and her hanging belly has its own zip code I think. The younger two will probably gain some weight but are either very close or done growing. Brian
Yeah, mine are smaller than Rita, and she isn't what you would call a big cat (although a bit rotund).
Thanks for being so good to your kitten's/ cats. We have a really nice Mancoon marked tom cat, we rescued him, and raised him from a young cat of about 10wks old. Had him neutered which was part of the deal when we got him. He's been a really good cat, no trouble, he comes in the house during the winter off and on, sleeps in the wood pile on a dog bed i put in a good place for him. He's no problem at all. The other morning my wife told me to come and look at him. I'm pretty sure some one shot him with a Blunt arrow, he's missing a chunk of skin and fur about the size of a 50 cent piece on his right front shoulder. Its totally raw, and exposed, he walks like its stiff, but can still get around. I'm sure its some ''hero'' close by, who will brag to their buddy's about the cat he shot with his bow. Now, our cat, we can't catch him to take him to the vet, will eventually die from infection. Its sad to see this old boy, hurt so badly and we can't do anything about it, i was able to give him some penicillin in some of his cat food 2 times so far, but, that's about it. I just thought i'd mention this, IF you don't like some one's cat, be man enough to tell them face to face, don't take it out on a poor defenseless animal. Don't be a low down rat and injure them like our cat was. Sorry for the rant, but i had to post this, i've never had a animal intentionally injured like this before, its a very sad thing to see.
That's shameful, to shoot a pet. There's no way you can catch him? If you sit down near him, would he come up to you? If he's hurt, he might.
