Caged!

Toro being quite comfortable at night in bed.

I had deliberated whether to just allow him to sleep the night in the cage or in bed. Then I thought if I made the changes in his sleeping arrangement, more than 1 cat would be unhappy. Ms Akira would raise a storm as the two-tier cage belongs to her at night. She is used to this and I do not want to stress her out. Megat would be quite happy but Bujang may make his night uncomfortable as Bujang likes everything just so, nothing should change too drastically for him. Toro himself may be stressed as he is used to sleeping in the room on his own blanket, but mostly on mine. So I finally made the choice of status quo. It just means I would have to make the quick changes early in the morning so Toro can be in this cage without Ms Akira knowing it. At night, I would just have to make sure the cage is cleaned thoroughly and put Ms Akira's blanket and toys in it so she would be none the wiser :)

Of course he would leak urine but yesterday no blood on his blanket-pillowcase, which leaves me just to wash the blanket itself this morning. I had placed a plastic sheet inside the blanket-pillowcase so we do not have to clean bedsheets repeatedly but I will see how this goes.

I am glad to report that yesterday he actually peed a small puddle inside his litter. YAY!! But no poo that I saw. However since there was poo in the litter I would just have to assume that some of it would be his (fingers crossed). I have also given him 10 ml of water in a syringe each time eats but he also drinks from the drinking fountains. Yesterday, when I was giving him the sub q, he peed quite spontaneously in his carrier, a sizable amount of urine. I am also giving him 5 ml of sieved pumpkin everyday to help him with the fiber that would enable him to poo. Since he likes pumpkin I would try to give him more today.

This is what the cage look like. Megat has the lowest cage and Ms Akira has the two-tier one as she likes to jump up and down it. Toro also uses both tiers during the course of the day.

Toro making it quite clear that he doesn't like girlie things...

Toro spends most time resting and napping here. These two days, I had lined this part of the cage with newspaper and liner which is changed everytime he wets it so he is not uncomfortable. Yesterday I opened the door and placed a small chair next to its door. He walked out and then made a tour of the house after which he actually made the decision to get into the cage to rest and relax. So I do not think he is overly stressed in this temporary half-way home at all.

I had taken off his collar only when he eats under my supervision and it goes on him immediately right after his food so he has no time to be licking his catheter. He is quite good at accepting the collar these days and he has bumped into things less. He is still dripping urine but I am glad he has made some progress in trying to pee in his big litter. The small triangular liiter box is still very clean as I think it is difficult to pee in it. But as long as there is pee on the liner, I know some things are working well enough.

I am considering the urinary canal operation quite seriously as I think it would definitely solve the blocked problem. I also saw his kidney stones in the xray that Dr L had taken. The stones must have been very big for them to show so very clearly in xray. So if the stones should dislodge themselves, I hope he would be able to pass them out. But of course this is further in his future if he should get blocked the 3rd time. We are still not out of this challenge so that is a problem to be decided on in the future.

Toro spends ost of his time in the cage but I let him out in the faternoons and evenings where he would be able to walk about quite freely but he makes the choice of either staying put next to the window or even going back ino the cage. So I think he does not feel confined in it.