For just over a week now we've been keeping Mahou shut in one of our spare bedrooms. This has not been pleasant for either her or us. We took her to the vet's a while back as she'd been intermittently limping for about a month - just when we though it had stopped, she'd start again, so off we went.
The nurse, a lovely woman called Minerva, had a feel and declared that it was just a bit of inflammation, phew, but she thought the vet should check just in case. Our vet often reminds me of the vet from The Simpsons - he's always rushing about to deal with as many animals as possible in a rather heroic manner (although I've not seen him use any defibrillators on hamsters, yet). He had one feel and whisked her off for an x-ray - oh dear, this wasn't looking good. Elbi had her leg broken last year and now walks with a limp, it was looking as though we were going to end up with two wobbly-legged cats. The x-rays showed that she's chipped part of her hip bone, probably in a fall. We now have to keep her in and rested for at least one and a half months, two if possible, and give her a sulfate tablet a day to help the joint.
This has not been easy. Mahou is a highly independent and proud cat who previously spent most of her time adventuring outside. We can't give her toys to play with as she's not supposed to be using her leg, so I often go and sit with her and try and read or do a Sudoku while she pats at me - claws extended, if she's feeling particularly pissed off - to ask what on earth we think we're doing keeping her shut in like this. The tablets we have to give her are enormous, but so far we've been successfully giving them to her crushed up with some canned food. This in itself is causing problems - we usually feed the cats dry food, with the odd can or bit of fish from Matt as a treat. Beeps and Elbi are disgusted that Mahou is being given preferential treatment in the food department. Whenever I open a tin they hang around for a while to check what´s being prepared and then dash madly upstairs to wait by Mahou's door. So, bowl in hand, I have to deal with one cat that desperately wants to escape and two that are determined to get in and scoff as much of the good grub as possible before they get chucked out. I've no idea how we're going to keep this up for another month and a half!
The nurse, a lovely woman called Minerva, had a feel and declared that it was just a bit of inflammation, phew, but she thought the vet should check just in case. Our vet often reminds me of the vet from The Simpsons - he's always rushing about to deal with as many animals as possible in a rather heroic manner (although I've not seen him use any defibrillators on hamsters, yet). He had one feel and whisked her off for an x-ray - oh dear, this wasn't looking good. Elbi had her leg broken last year and now walks with a limp, it was looking as though we were going to end up with two wobbly-legged cats. The x-rays showed that she's chipped part of her hip bone, probably in a fall. We now have to keep her in and rested for at least one and a half months, two if possible, and give her a sulfate tablet a day to help the joint.
This has not been easy. Mahou is a highly independent and proud cat who previously spent most of her time adventuring outside. We can't give her toys to play with as she's not supposed to be using her leg, so I often go and sit with her and try and read or do a Sudoku while she pats at me - claws extended, if she's feeling particularly pissed off - to ask what on earth we think we're doing keeping her shut in like this. The tablets we have to give her are enormous, but so far we've been successfully giving them to her crushed up with some canned food. This in itself is causing problems - we usually feed the cats dry food, with the odd can or bit of fish from Matt as a treat. Beeps and Elbi are disgusted that Mahou is being given preferential treatment in the food department. Whenever I open a tin they hang around for a while to check what´s being prepared and then dash madly upstairs to wait by Mahou's door. So, bowl in hand, I have to deal with one cat that desperately wants to escape and two that are determined to get in and scoff as much of the good grub as possible before they get chucked out. I've no idea how we're going to keep this up for another month and a half!
4 comments:
Oh poor Mahou. It is so difficult keeping a cat quiet and confined. They are so adventurous they just want to explore. Has she started climbing up the curtains yet?
We have a fluffy ginger and white cat called Scaredy.
Glad to see you like sudoku. I bought a 'experienced' from Japan when I was there earlier in the year and it is really difficult but at least it stops by brain cells totally disintegrating.
She's not been going up the curtains yet. I think she's getting used to her confinement and has mostly stopped trying to escape when I go in - probably because I usually enter with a tasty bowl of food. She's always been a very sensible cat when it comes to convalescence. We've had her since she was one month old so she knows she can trust us and she always behaves perfectly at the vet's while they prod, poke or inject her.
She is putting on weight though - she was always very lithe and svelte before. As she's half Siamese we put it down to that, but now she's not been exercising she's turning into a bit of a porker.
I enjoy most games that employ logic. My boss gave me a Sudoku booklet recently with 100 puzzles in there. It's been keeping me occupied of an evening. I raced through the beginning but the 'difficult' section at the back has slowed me down considerably. I'd probably have serious trouble with an 'experienced' Japanese one.
Hello to Scaredy - I like the name.
I'm still getting over the fact that you are in regular touch with my Auntie!!! This is so random!!!
Tortoiseshell - I never knew you had an Auntie Lorenzo!
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