Orange Tabby...He Stays and His Name is Finn (Update with Videos Dec 31)

[canesisters]

OH!

Look how happy you have made him!

 

[speckledhen]

He's liking that heated floor in his new house! After DH widened the front door, I guess he figured as long as his bed was inside, he might as well try it out. And he's been in it quite a bit today, in between following me around calling to me. He's so vocal, much more than any cat I remember having. Now, he'd better now disappear until late like he did last night because he has to be off food and water after midnight. Last night, he was gone until about 12:30 a.m.

One thing that bugs me is so many places online say keep the cat inside for a week, two weeks, two months, whatever, after neutering. Call me cruel, but I don't want him inside at all past the day of surgery if he seems okay. I didn't plan to get a cat and certainly if I did, I would have gotten one already neutered. I never want an inside animal again because of my business-I advertise many of my items in the store as coming from a smoke-free, pet-free home, so I don't want to suddenly be fighting cat hair. Maybe I could put him in the stand up crawl space with a litter box for a couple of days. It has electric light and plenty of room and is very warm compared to anywhere outside. Plus, he may be able to catch a mouse in there.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I think he should be ok outside as long as the anesthesia wears off. They do that with barn cats and feral cats all the time. Just make sure they know that so they can give him the longer lasting pain meds and antibiotic shot so you don't have to mess with any of that.

 

[speckledhen]

I think he should be ok outside as long as the anesthesia wears off. They do that with barn cats and feral cats all the time. Just make sure they know that so they can give him the longer lasting pain meds and antibiotic shot so you don't have to mess with any of that.

Oh, thank you for that suggestion! I was thinking that many cats never go inside so how would they even be happy being "trapped" in there? Of course, this one wants in badly, LOL. Finn's out hunting right now. I hope he doesn't stay out until late. Usually, he's back by 9 p.m. or so. And when he goes back in his house, he will be brought into the pet carrier in the house for the night, along with his bed he likes. Of course, tomorrow I'll make sure he is fully out of the anesthesia before he goes outside. He'd probably hang around anyway as he usually does during the daytime and even more likely to after his little morning "adventure" he's going to have. I still may set up the crawlspace (about 8' x 32' and about as tall as I am with dirt floor and concrete block walls) for him for a couple of days because it's going to be very cold starting tomorrow night. Getting a pan and a bag of litter is no big deal.

 

[speckledhen]

Finn is at the vet's for his procedure. He weighs 10.5 lbs and the vet thinks he's about a year and a half old, same as I was thinking. We got a litter pan and litter and the big crawlspace is set up for him to spend a day or two resting before he goes out into the cold. He should be plenty warm in there, no drafts at all, stays quite a bit warmer than outside, but we will leave on the two lights which will add a little heat as well.


ETA: He's home now. He was a good patient, the tech said, and she liked him a lot. Apparently, they gave him the feline 4, which I guess would include not only distemper but leukemia vaccine as well. He is so darn hyper, not at all groggy like he's supposed to be, and he will be inside tonight, then he'll go into the crawlspace tomorrow for a couple of days to heal up. They didn't even superglue his incision since male cats supposedly heal over so fast, so we found we weren't supposed to get litter for the box for 24 hours in case it got into the wound, but use shredded up newspaper, which we didn't have, so the tech gave us some to take home for the litter box. I hope he zonks out soon. He's all over the place! I know he's hungry but he can't have more than a few pieces of food tonight.

This is taking some getting used to, having an animal underfoot again. It's so odd. My last old dog passed away two years ago and she was never underfoot anyway. Finn is in and out of my legs and it's going to take all the concentration I have not to stomp on him or take a header down the stairs, which almost happened a few days ago when he passed in front of me as I was about to start down.

 

[N F C]

Sounds like Finn came through his procedure like a trooper, good to hear! I got a chuckle about him weaving in/out and being underfoot. That is definitely a cat hazard, lol.

 

[JensChickies]

Finn is at the vet's for his procedure. He weighs 10.5 lbs and the vet thinks he's about a year and a half old, same as I was thinking. We got a litter pan and litter and the big crawlspace is set up for him to spend a day or two resting before he goes out into the cold. He should be plenty warm in there, no drafts at all, stays quite a bit warmer than outside, but we will leave on the two lights which will add a little heat as well.


ETA: He's home now. He was a good patient, the tech said, and she liked him a lot. Apparently, they gave him the feline 4, which I guess would include not only distemper but leukemia vaccine as well. He is so darn hyper, not at all groggy like he's supposed to be, and he will be inside tonight, then he'll go into the crawlspace tomorrow for a couple of days to heal up. They didn't even superglue his incision since male cats supposedly heal over so fast, so we found we weren't supposed to get litter for the box for 24 hours in case it got into the wound, but use shredded up newspaper, which we didn't have, so the tech gave us some to take home for the litter box. I hope he zonks out soon. He's all over the place! I know he's hungry but he can't have more than a few pieces of food tonight.

This is taking some getting used to, having an animal underfoot again. It's so odd. My last old dog passed away two years ago and she was never underfoot anyway. Finn is in and out of my legs and it's going to take all the concentration I have not to stomp on him or take a header down the stairs, which almost happened a few days ago when he passed in front of me as I was about to start down.

Sometimes the anesthesia they use can make them get up wondering around almost like they are there but not really. They also have big pupils too. It wears off. My big orange cat actually gets a little cranky/mean when he's getting off of anesthesia. Normally he is the sweetest thing. Sounds like Finn is doing great!!

 

[speckledhen]

Sounds like Finn came through his procedure like a trooper, good to hear! I got a chuckle about him weaving in/out and being underfoot. That is definitely a cat hazard, lol.

The cat hazard better not become a "cat-astrophe"! It will be better when he can go back outside, I'm sure.

Sometimes the anesthesia they use can make them get up wondering around almost like they are there but not really. They also have big pupils too. It wears off. My big orange cat actually gets a little cranky/mean when he's getting off of anesthesia. Normally he is the sweetest thing. Sounds like Finn is doing great!!

He got into DH's desk chair and crashed. Ha, that will keep DH off his computer for awhile! We'll put him in the pet carrier in his sheepskin bed for the night and he ought to sleep fine as the anesthesia finally wears down, at least I hope so.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I'm glad to hear things went well! Sounds like he's a happy cat, and very lucky to have found you!

 

[N F C]

I'm glad to hear things went well! Sounds like he's a happy cat, and very lucky to have found you!

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