Dooley, injured Flipper

[Trishy]

It happened to Leo maybe 2 or 3 months ago except I was lucky enough to be there when it did and grabbed him taking the weight off his leg. It happened so fast.

I searched everywhere for solid handles and couldn't find them so duct taped some handles, removed and replaced others with knobs. Husband thought I was being overprotective and paranoid, but I saw what could have happened. I have had handles and cats my whole life and never had an issue before. I thought maybe it was just Leo AKA Dennis the Menace.

I hope Dooley is feeling better!

 

[John Popp]

For our replacement cabinets, we will have all solid drawer pulls that a cats paw won't be able to slip into. Just strange that it happened, and for the time at our temporary home we have placed dish towels in them.

Here's the drawer pulls on the cabinets.

 

[John Popp]

Update, Dooley will have 2 cast changes over the next 6 weeks. At that point he will be X-rayed again to determine if he will just have a cast for another two weeks or need to undergo surgery. Fingers crossed it's just the last of the casts.

Fortunately Dooley is pretty good about things and they gave him a mild sedative to get the cast on and do the x-rays. Fortunately I'll get to be with him for the other casts, not that we won't need to sedate him, just hopefully not as much. Just really fortunate to have a vet that lets me be with him for things like this.

 

[Trishy]

Good thoughts and prayers that just the casts mend his leg and he doesn't need surgery. It sounds like you have a good, compassionate vet for them to allow you to be there with him.

 

[John Popp]

It sounds like you have a good, compassionate vet for them to allow you to be there with him.

For sure, they always let me back in the Surgery Room when it's better for the cats to have me around. The same was true at the Surgical Center with Dino when he needed to be scoped, they actually called me to come down to keep him calm before he was anesthetized to keep him calm. He went limp in my arms which still gets me a little emotional.

 

[Rafiki]

I can see how a cat's paw could get caught but whenever I see Rafiki jump, she launches herself OUT more than down. It is only when she is very high up (on top of the upper cabinets) that she would crawl down for part of the decent and my upper cabinets all have knobs. But, with 2 SVs getting hurt this week, I keep wondering if I am missing something.

 

[Carykd7kau]

As much as we try, we can't protect them from ALL hazards. We do our best, but it is just like children. There will be accidents. All we can hope is that they are minor. Ypu do fine Linda. You too, John.

 

[Trishy]

With Leo, he fell off my desk. Was playing and kind of slid/fell. Not sure if Smooch bumped him with her butt, it just happened so fast. The desk handles stuck out a lot more than the kitchen drawer handles, so I guess the type of handle may be part of it.

 

[John Popp]

Just wanted to update everyone who shared their concerns.

Dooley is doing OK, his long cast is continually bruising me while sleeping with him in his padded room and he has the best big brother ever.

Things have worked out so Dino is totally content to be locked down with him, often herding him back into their room and gently playing with him. Dino is content with just a few hours of me time away from Dooley each day, but every other hour he is right at his brothers side. The prescription is a new cast every 2 weeks, and at the end of 6 weeks he will be evaluated again.

I am incredibly fortunate to have these two boys, and despite his injury Dooley continues to just love life. Likewise, Dino has demonstrated that he is the sweetest big brother Dooley could ever have and has provided lots of help for Trish and I.

Special thanks to Sue Armstrong for making these guys available to us.

 

[Patti]

I'm so glad to hear that Dooley is tolerating his lock-down well, and that Dino is being such a good and caring big brother!