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tiggymalvern
Kuro, the cat that had major jaw surgery a month ago, is now finally eating some food, though not enough to live on yet, so he’s still being supplemented with food through a tube in his neck. That became a saga of its own because he’d had stable inflammatory bowel disease for years, which rapidly became unstable IBD when the liquid diet disagreed with him; we tried two different liquid diets, probiotics, two different gut anti-inflammatories and anti-nausea meds, and he had horrible diarrhoea through all of them. The diarrhoea gave him gut cramps, which made him not want to eat, which meant we had to feed him the liquid food that gave him the diarrhoea, which meant… After some experimentation, we found one food that his IBD had been stable on which could be blended down with water into a suitable consistency to go through the feeding tube, and now his diarrhoea is fixed and he’s starting to eat. Success!
In bad news, while all that was going on, our house turned into a Cat War Zone.
Boog, Kuro’s not-related-but-raised-alongside-him brother, has always been inclined to play a little rougher than Kuro. We didn’t see what happened, but ten days ago the cats were thumping around the house as usual, and then there was a squawk, and a bit more thumping, and then there was a hiss and then there was SCREAMING. LOTS OF SCREAMING. Kuro had Boog pinned in a corner and Kuro’s bandaging around the feeding tube in his neck was all crooked. We think Boog tugged on the tube while they were playing, which really hurt, so Kuro retaliated.
We separated them and calmed them down and things were quiet for a while, and then the SCREAMING started again about an hour later, so we dragged them apart and confined them to different parts of the house. We had one shut in the master bedroom suite and one shut in the basement office area, with the middle of the house (which is all very open plan) serving as an airlock/demilitarised zone.
I dosed them both with fluoxetine (yes, we give cats Prozac) and a couple of days later we put them on harnesses and leads and tried to reintroduce them. Kuro was quite happy to forgive and forget, but apparently Boog is a Holder of Grudges. When Kuro tried to touch noses to say hello, Boog started hissing and swearing at him, so we took Kuro far enough away that Boog calmed down.
And this is where we still are nine days later. It’s fine if they’re in the same room (always under supervision) and they’re several feet apart. It’s fine if one is outside on the leash and they come up to each other through the window. But if Boog gets within a foot or so of Kuro in person, he starts hissing and screaming again. We figure this is going to be life for a while now, and hopefully when Kuro no longer has a feeding tube in his neck and stops seeming like the evil pod-cat that replaced his previously amiable brother, Boog will be willing to live with him again.
So meanwhile, Boog continues to live on Prozac (he was VERY stressed out by the fight, and then by being confined to quarters), we have the cats together for a while under supervision each evening, and every 24 hours we switch them around between who has the basement and who has the bedroom.
We chose cats over kids because cats are so much less hassle; that’s generally held true until the last couple of months!
In bad news, while all that was going on, our house turned into a Cat War Zone.
Boog, Kuro’s not-related-but-raised-alongside-him brother, has always been inclined to play a little rougher than Kuro. We didn’t see what happened, but ten days ago the cats were thumping around the house as usual, and then there was a squawk, and a bit more thumping, and then there was a hiss and then there was SCREAMING. LOTS OF SCREAMING. Kuro had Boog pinned in a corner and Kuro’s bandaging around the feeding tube in his neck was all crooked. We think Boog tugged on the tube while they were playing, which really hurt, so Kuro retaliated.
We separated them and calmed them down and things were quiet for a while, and then the SCREAMING started again about an hour later, so we dragged them apart and confined them to different parts of the house. We had one shut in the master bedroom suite and one shut in the basement office area, with the middle of the house (which is all very open plan) serving as an airlock/demilitarised zone.
I dosed them both with fluoxetine (yes, we give cats Prozac) and a couple of days later we put them on harnesses and leads and tried to reintroduce them. Kuro was quite happy to forgive and forget, but apparently Boog is a Holder of Grudges. When Kuro tried to touch noses to say hello, Boog started hissing and swearing at him, so we took Kuro far enough away that Boog calmed down.
And this is where we still are nine days later. It’s fine if they’re in the same room (always under supervision) and they’re several feet apart. It’s fine if one is outside on the leash and they come up to each other through the window. But if Boog gets within a foot or so of Kuro in person, he starts hissing and screaming again. We figure this is going to be life for a while now, and hopefully when Kuro no longer has a feeding tube in his neck and stops seeming like the evil pod-cat that replaced his previously amiable brother, Boog will be willing to live with him again.
So meanwhile, Boog continues to live on Prozac (he was VERY stressed out by the fight, and then by being confined to quarters), we have the cats together for a while under supervision each evening, and every 24 hours we switch them around between who has the basement and who has the bedroom.
We chose cats over kids because cats are so much less hassle; that’s generally held true until the last couple of months!
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 02:37 am (UTC)And of course, poor you for having to be house mother and referee.
How long before Kuro can lose the tube, do you think?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 05:18 am (UTC)The medical answer to when Kuro's tube comes out is, 'Whenever he eats enough voluntarily not to starve.' The cautious answer is probably early February. I'm leaving for a week in 9 days, and the SO is now perfectly trained in dealing with feeding tubes and blending cat food and the like. I'm very reluctant to take the tube out just before I leave in case Kuro stops eating enough again for any reason, so it will probably have to stay in until I come back from my trip.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 05:58 pm (UTC)Good thing you know how to mediate a kitty war. I hope they come to a truce very soon.
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Date: 2019-01-19 06:43 pm (UTC)Boog has grown more accustomed to confinement, but he's still a bit grumpy about it.
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Date: 2019-01-19 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-19 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 04:26 pm (UTC)