I doubt there's anything you can do. One of ours has always run immediately when someone is at the door, and his safe space isn't just under the bed, it's inside the mattress via a hole he ripped. I let him have access. If he feels he needs it, that's going to avoid him unnecessary stress. Over the years he has gotten used to some family and guests and quickly returns to be near us and them. Other less frequent guests he still hides from. That includes the person who visits daily when we are away on vacation, perhaps for two weeks, and that person actually has this cats brother, but our cat still hides every time.
Letting your cat hide in your mattress is not a solution either. This indicates that the basecamp is not set up properly/your cat needs own retreat options.
Yes cats look for their own hideouts, but if your cats love your smell so much then try to spread it to optional hideouts, offer them various options in form of markable catfurniture etc. Our cat used to retreat under the sofa, till he truly "arrived", now he has a new go to. The top of his cat tree in the sleeping room.
Man. Not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm in a bad place right now.
Two years ago, my cat tore both ACLs in her legs. It was a freak, random accident. We just came home one day and she was dragged her legs on the floor. We were told it was going to be $3,000 per leg for the surgery so we decided to just roll the dice and see if they could get better in time. She had some meds and made a semi full recovery. She was confined to a room and gradually started exploring the house again, running, jumping, etc.
On Dec 26, she was startled by a person entering a room and she jumped off a desk. Immediately something was very wrong. She growled and painfully cried loudly. She hide behind the couch. I managed to get a vet appointment that day and we took her to the same one we took her to before with the ACLs. They didn't really tell me much (something about an ankle) and didn't do an x-ray (which I thought was weird). They gave me pretty much the same medicine from before with the ACL and we took her home (no cast, splint, nothing). I've been regretting this interaction since the vet. I should have been a lot more proactive in talking treatment.
It's her left leg or ankle. She can't put any pressure on it without intense pain and crying/hissing. I've been giving her pain pills and the joint supplements all week. She seemed to be getting a little better. She could stand up (sometimes) and not hiss in pain.
I finally decided to sleep in the same room with her tonight and it brought me crashing back down to earth. She would yelp/hiss out in pain every 5-30 minutes when she tried to move (cleaning herself or moving up and down the bed). I ended up moving back downstairs now since the painful cries are too much for me (and feel really bad about it since she's been up there alone for like 20+ hours a day for 6 days so far). She's mostly been sleeping on my bed for the past three days in the same spot. I'm glad since she hasn't been moving a lot.
I'm probably going to begrudgingly take her back to the vet on Wednesday if I can. It's very traumatic taking her to the vet since she's so distressed and it takes a toll on me mentally but I'm not sure what else to do. She seems to be in a lot of pain still. Even more so (that I remember) than when she tore the ACLs.
Do any of you guys have any advice with broken/sprained limbs with cats (at least this is what I'm guessing it is since the vet didn't say shit)? Does the pain go away relatively quickly? Or am I just being paranoid and it'll go away in another week or so?
If I have to put her down due to some freak accident, I'll probably break. Lol. I love this cat so much and it's absolutely destroying me that she's in so much pain. When I walk into the room to greet her, she replies with one of the most defeated, pitiful meows I've heard from her. It's like a dagger to the heart. I was hoping it would heal itself but an entire week (almost) in constant pain just seems wrong to me. She can get up and move but is in a ridiculous amount of pain when she does. She goes to the litter box overnight when I check on her in the morning so she can still move around. She just stumbles when she does.
It's honestly killing me. I've barely slept I've been so worried since last Wednesday. I'm just imagining her being upstairs in pain and I'm too much of a coward to stay up there with her since her cries are like knifes running through my chest.
A lot went wrong in the past. I understand that 3k each is expensive, but you should have gotten a second (third) opinion.
Have you ever sprained a limp? Let me tell you they dont "cure themselves". (Been there.) Yes, it might be that you are somewhat lucky that it somehow regrowth - there is no guarantee it will not leave your cat in constant pain after wrongfully healing -, however you get a guarantee to rip again (which it obviously did). Even if you dont operate, the limps need rest/cast for it to heal well. Your cat had nothing.
We cant change what hapoened in the past, the good thing is that it riped again. Take your cat to another vet. Get a second (third) opinion. Tell them about the past too. If its too expensive, ask them if they know about programs that could financially support you. Compare prices of different vets.
You say your cat is in constant pain because it shows it. Cats dont show pain normally, it is most likely your cat never stopped to have pain but now they became so intensive that it cant hide it anymore.
That itself is a HUGE red flag and that's also the reason why both Weltall and myself urge you to seek medical help for your cat.
This is not a reason for a cat to be put down. Cats can live with 3 limps even, why'd you put down a cat who has sprained a limp?
I at least understand your words regarding the vet and such, but "Get your shit together instead of looking for advice on a video game board" is a shameful way to talk to a distressed member of the community, especially considering you're the OP.
Xyer is doing precisely that, reaching out here for help because of a lack of expertise in this area. In many cases, outlets like these may very well be the only ones someone has to turn to. Don't deride others just because it's a "video game board", that part is irrelevant.
Also, the comment "even ignoring your original choice not to operate"... he said 3k per leg, so a
$6000 procedure. That's not chump change to a lot of people. Not fair to attribute that decision to a moral shortcoming.
How many options did you seek out to support you? There are vets in america that are cheaper than other or even just ask you to pay as much as you can afford.
In general you should have a pet insurance, they would have covered it (partially). You could also step towards shelters/cat rescues etc.
For the future: get a pet insurance.
I went back because I trusted them after the ACL tear. She healed up relatively nicely from that.
You ASSUMED she did. She didnt.
I'm going to call up this other local vet tomorrow. It's tough because this happened on the 26th. Right smack dab between Christmas and New Years. Not a lot of options right now. I'm not sure I'll even be able to get her into the new one this week. I'm not sure how crowded vet appointments are.
Indeed. I'm going to try to spend more time up here. I just feel so helpless there's nothing I can do to help her right now hour to hour. It's all up to the healing process. I know she's also hurting. That's what kills me. She's not supposed to move and when I'm in the room with her, she wants to move around and see what I'm doing. If I'm not in there, she usually sits in one place.
I went to the vet on the 26th. They gave me pain pills and medicine. I was under the assumption that the pain would go away after a few days with the medicine and the ankle would start to heal after 3-6 weeks. The pain hasn't gone away. I also come from a family with farmers and they've been telling me the cat should adjust to it. The ACL stuff kinda confirmed that for me so I just went with the waiting game. Now, I want to seek help after a prolonged window of pain.
I didn't operate on her originally because it was $6,000 dollars. I don't have that kind of money for a cat even if I love her to death. She's also 7 years old. The ACL isn't the problem here. It appears she did something to the ankle. This is a new problem.
I understand the harshness but damn. I apologize I was trying to look for some advice but I guess I'm just a piece of shit cat owner. Sorry. :(
Cats deal with all sort of pain and seem ok. The question is: Do you want a pain free cat? If yes your cat needs most likely an operation.
Dont try the farmers argument, they held cats back in the days who got kitten thrice a year and "totally did ok" nobody watched out for them because they reproduced themself anyway. It's not really a good argument to say "back then the cats were fine, mine will be too". They werent fine, nobody cared enough to actually invest any time or money into them. You do.