Saturday, October 3, 2009

Tiger's Homecoming!


YAY! I thought when I woke up this morning. Tiger can come home from the vet today.
YAY! I thought when the vet called and said he was doing fine and I could come and pick him up.

I set the carrier down in the bedroom and opened the top. He was wrapped in a towel, scrunched up in the corner. He looked around for a few minutes. I reached in and petted him on the head. He jumped out of the carrier and ran under the bed, his favorite hiding place. I figured he would hide for a while, so I left him alone.

A few minutes later I found him already out in the kitchen. Oh, he must have been hungry... the vet said he hadn't eaten this morning. I put some canned food on a dish and set it in front of him. He gobbled it all down. The other two kitties came over to investigate. Katie hissed at him; I thought it was because she wanted some of the food, and she is kind of grumpy anyway so I didn't think too much of it.

Then I opened the back door so he could get some fresh air. His littermate, little Tinkerbell was there. I thought she would be happy to see him... surely she missed her own brother. But she HISSED at him! She hissed and growled at poor, recuperating tiger! Why would she do that? I called the vet. They said he probably smells different, maybe like urine. They said cats don't like the smell of urine. I wondered... how can they use a litterbox? Doesn't it smell like urine?

Anyway, they suggested I wipe Tiger down with a moistened towelette to take the smell off. I would try that if I could catch him! He doesn't like to be caught in general... especially just after he's been tortured at the vet's office. I also have to give him pain medication every twelve hours to ease the pain from having a catheter put in, his bladder pumped out, then the catheter taken back out. He's been using the litterbox very gingerly. I think it hurts.

He's hiding under the bed again. He's probably in pain. And the other cats keep hissing at him. I feel so bad for him. I am doing all I can, keeping an eye on the situation, making sure he has food, water, and a clean litterbox all to himself. I've been putting the pain medication in his food. I hope it helps.

4 comments:

Jenn Jilks said...

You know that the animals all will get along soon. They seem to know what is best after a point in time!

We adopted our kitten, and the Queen, Sady, gave him grief. Now, Oliver is in charge. They reap what they sow!

All the best!

P.S. We've done the carrier catch me if you can trick. Two months before we moved. Cats are so precious. NOT! Silly beasts! They don't know which side their bread is buttered on!

judy in ky said...

Yes, they are silly beasts, aren't they? But we love them, don't we? I do think they will sort it all out. Thanks for your comment.

Susan said...

That always happens when one of mine has to spend time at the vet's office. They also pick up smells from other animals while they're there, too.

You're probably lucky that Tiger is actually using the litter box. My son's cat stopped using it when he had the stones, because they associate the box with the pain they're having. Unfortunately, he hasn't resumed using it, even though he is better. So, Sammy is now an outdoor cat. Not sure how that's going to work this winter.

judy in ky said...

Susan, I'm sorry Sammy has to stay outdoors.
The vet told me I should monitor Tiger's "bathroom" habits, so before I brought him home I bought a brand new litter box just for him and left it out where it was easy to observe. He seems to like it. Maybe he won't go back to using the old ones for the reason you describe.