Broken Hip, Orthopedic Surgery Tomorrow

[John Popp]

Under 20 days left to go! Everything is going quite well and he really seems to be totally recovered and healthy. Taking Chongo out from his crate on a lead has worked fairly well outside of needing to keep him far enough away from things he would usually jump on.

Chongo has also resorted to a weird game in his crate to keep himself occupied. He'll flip toys into his litter box, duck down, leap into the litter box, kick litter around and emerge with the toy. As usual, any thing he finds to entertain himself gets repeated over and over again.

Oddly enough, he has also found great pleasure in the handheld vacuum. I no longer need to put him into the carrier to run it around the crate and he'll even allow me to vacuum his fur. That's definitely a new first for me, because if there were ever two things that cats were afraid of, it's the coffee grinder and the handheld vacuum.

Anyway, I'm sure with almost 3 weeks to go he'll find some new challenges for us, but things are about as good as they can get. We plan on going to see the breeder to look at some kittens this coming week and find some furry help for Chongo's rehab. Don't really think he'll need it, but it's probably the right medicine for all of us.

 

[Jacq]

So glad he's doing well, and everything is working out.

 

[Patti]

Great to hear that there is more routine than challenges these days - I hope the next three weeks pass quickly!!

 

[John Popp]

Interesting, just got Chongo on the scale and he now weighs in at 13 lbs 6 ozs. That's up from the 9 lbs 6 ozs he weighed two days before his accident and the 9 lbs he weighed the day of his surgery.

He's never been all that concerned with eating, and would always play, play, play rather than even consider stopping to eat. He was always so thin that he was on the verge of being able to see his ribs. He certainly isn't carrying any extra weight, you can still easily feel his ribs and no signs of any kind of belly.

Gaining 4 lbs in 5 weeks seems like a ton even for a growth spurt in his 7th month. What it equates to is that about 30% of his growth has occurred in the crate without my wife or I having ever really noticed. Our guests always say how much bigger he looks and my sister who stops by a couple times a week says he is bigger each and every time she visits.

Anyway, just wondering how far outside the norm that is and if there is any cause for concern. I certainly don't want to cut back on his food while at the same time don't want to compromise his health with the abrupt increase in weight.

 

[SV Dad]

Good to hear Chongo is improving. I wouldn't worry about the weight. Once he gets out and about I fear he will lose a little with all the exercise. His brothers are certainly skinny and active. They are 12 and 11 pounds as adults.

 

[Patti]

It's not surprising that Chongo has put on some weight being locked up and inactive for five weeks, but that is a lot. Are you sure the scale is working correctly? If he doesn't appear overweight I would not worry about it.

 

[John Popp]

Oh yeah, I am sure the scale(s) are working properly as I weighed him on two and then had my wife do the same to validate. I will say again he was rail thin and often needed to be closed up in the bathroom so he would eat. I also think we had him for a couple weeks before either of us ever saw him sleep. It was his full throttle jaunts and play play play ventures that got him into trouble with something cats of twice his weight couldn't muster over the last 15 years.

 

[Dantes]

Oddly enough, he has also found great pleasure in the handheld vacuum. I no longer need to put him into the carrier to run it around the crate and he'll even allow me to vacuum his fur. That's definitely a new first for me, because if there were ever two things that cats were afraid of, it's the coffee grinder and the handheld vacuum.

Wish I could use this on my ragdoll, bet you could use it on your boy lol

http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=15720&itemType=PRODUCT

 

[John Popp]

OK, just 10 days left and Chongo is going great. I was out of town part of this week and my wife was the primary caretaker (assuming my sleeping on the floor next to him). Nothing out of the ordinary, with Chongo waking her up once through each night and a single episode poop outside his litter box (second time since he's been crated although I don't view it as an issue).

Time to start thinking about those first couple days when he'll be out of the crate. I'm guessing I shouldn't just allow him to have full run of the house from day one, and was wondering if anyone had some advice.

 

[Patti]

If he is supposed to be completely healed then he should be physically safe to do pretty much anything, but you need to confirm this with your vet. He may actually be a little weak from lack of exercise over the past several weeks so you will need to watch him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself thinking he can jump higher or further than he really can. I would personally start by letting him out in one room at a time to see how it goes and play it by ear...