Reclaiming the living room

The cage came down at the weekend. Doctors orders.

I can't say I'm sorry to see it go, it was an eyesore but I think Mister was sad about it. It's been his fort for the last 6 weeks (which have gone very quickly actually) and I think if he'd had the choice it would've become a permanent fixture. Regardless, the Ikea chair can go back where it was, the sofa can move back into it's grooves in the carpet and the room regains a sense of space and tidyness.

Aaaahhhh. Feels better already.

*Sigh*

Following a Christmas Eve check-up at the vets we were instructed to get Mister excercising a bit more to prevent any further muscle wastage - lest we forget he's been doing nothing for a month. So, 10 or 15 minutes a day we've been getting him out of his cage (which I'm considering collapsing now - it's an eyesore) and encouraging him to explore. It's slow progress (about 5 minutes for a lap of the coffee table) and he's still dragging his back right leg but it'll only get quicker.

Obviously the sideboards in the kitchen are out of reach for now but I thought I'd pop him up to remind him the world was still out there waiting for his return. He was terrified so I put him back on the floor, poor fella.

Out and about

All of a sudden it's been almost 3 weeks since the accident (that's December for you) and Mister is showing excellent signs of making a full recovery. His apetite is back in force, he's been stretching his legs a little and overall he seems a much happier cat.

I had some time off recently and decided to get him out of his cage for a change of scenery. Just the sofa, nowhere crazy mind. All was going well until the phone rang whereupon he got a bit spooked, tried to dive off and made straight for his cage again. I can see there being tears when we actually have to give it back to the vets. It's like a home within a home: a kind of fort if you will. I'm quite jealous.

1 Week In

We took Mister to the vet's again today and apparently he's coming on very well. There was lots of prodding, meowing and bum shuffling and on the whole the vet seemed very pleased with his progress.

I think, all things considered, we're very pleased too. What's impressed me most is his newfound ability to simply do nothing for long periods of time. I'd never had him down as a big thinker and, as a previously very active cat, we were particularly worried about how he'd deal with being confined 24/7. Contrary to this, however, he's proved himself to be particularly adept at surfing the internal terrain: I like to imagine he's putting the world to rights, plotting revenge on his assailant or reminiscing about past glories, mice caught and foes bested.

Or perhaps just wondering how to go to the loo without moving too much.

Feeding time!

Well we couldn't be happier with Mister's progress, we've managed to get him eating at last. The vet sold us some 'senior' cat food which is basically chicken mousse and it stinks and looks really unpleasant!! As if that's not enough, we also have to add a little bit of warm water and some high energy gel to it to make a kind of 'soup' for him. But Mister is enjoying it which is the main thing. He has also taken to it being spoon fed :D

He's still in a lot of pain though and we've heard some very strange growling noises from him, but he seems better once the pain killers kick in.

Bills bills bills...

£921 and counting... Let's hope the good people at Healthy Pets pay up on the insurance or it's looking like a lean Christmas.

Better news!

So we've just heard from the vets and Mister is on the mend and he can come home tonight! He has even managed to eat and go to the loo on his own which is good news. We have to give him a little physiotherapy every now and then to make sure that he can use his legs again, we'll post some pictures of this soon! The picture is of Mister in happier and healthier times.