Hello everyone. It seems that I'm going through some cat drama that just won't end. Here's the story:
My cat Alex has decided to become an outside cat. I'm thinking he was an outside cat before we adopted him so he was relentless about it. We've had him 6 years and he's been going out the last 3 months or so (since we moved to Germany). When he first started escaping, DH and I would chase him down and risk getting scratched/bitten/going into our neighbors backyards, etc. Plus it was usually dark and almost impossible to track him down. After one such escape, I heard him LOUDLY meowing outside while I was in. I ran out and found him face to face with another cat. He was on one side of a lattice fence and the other cat was on the other. I felt like I had to do something to prevent a fight so I decided to grab his scruff. In an instant, he was biting me and literally attacking my hand! I pulled back so hard that I hit my thumb nerve on the fence and the pain was just terrible!
At the time I did this, I knew I could have been hurt. I knew that he was in "a zone" and didn't really know who I was, so he thought he was being attacked. I knew it was risky but I took a chance. He truly is the sweetest cat! He's so affectionate and cuddly and incredibly smart. Please don't think he's a bad cat, he was just in some sort of fighting mode. It was my mistake but it ended up becoming a problem. My bites got infected and I ended up spending 2 nights in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. And the side of my thumb is still numb (this happened on Halloween). Stupid I know.
Since then, I've decided to let him outside and not interfere (duh!)which was going fine until a few days ago. He came home one night with what looked like a small injury on the bottom of his spine above his tail. A few days later, it was huge and hot and tender. Bad signs. So I just brought him back from the vet. They ended up sedating him and draining his infected abscess(karma?). It's 2 rather large open, round wounds. He has to wear a collar so he can't get to it and he must be kept away from my other cat. In addition, I need to administer antibiotics and give him hot packs 3 times a day! Anyone who's ever had a cat knows how incredibly IMPOSSIBLE this is going to be. I have no idea how I'm going to do this. He's a great cat but he's SOOOOO not compliant! In fact right now he's walking around with that collar dragging and he's bumping into everything. It's really sad! My other cat is just terrified! He's hiding under the bed as I type.
Has anyone out there been through something like this? Any advice?? Please?
Carolyn
My cat Alex has decided to become an outside cat. I'm thinking he was an outside cat before we adopted him so he was relentless about it. We've had him 6 years and he's been going out the last 3 months or so (since we moved to Germany). When he first started escaping, DH and I would chase him down and risk getting scratched/bitten/going into our neighbors backyards, etc. Plus it was usually dark and almost impossible to track him down. After one such escape, I heard him LOUDLY meowing outside while I was in. I ran out and found him face to face with another cat. He was on one side of a lattice fence and the other cat was on the other. I felt like I had to do something to prevent a fight so I decided to grab his scruff. In an instant, he was biting me and literally attacking my hand! I pulled back so hard that I hit my thumb nerve on the fence and the pain was just terrible!
At the time I did this, I knew I could have been hurt. I knew that he was in "a zone" and didn't really know who I was, so he thought he was being attacked. I knew it was risky but I took a chance. He truly is the sweetest cat! He's so affectionate and cuddly and incredibly smart. Please don't think he's a bad cat, he was just in some sort of fighting mode. It was my mistake but it ended up becoming a problem. My bites got infected and I ended up spending 2 nights in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. And the side of my thumb is still numb (this happened on Halloween). Stupid I know.
Since then, I've decided to let him outside and not interfere (duh!)which was going fine until a few days ago. He came home one night with what looked like a small injury on the bottom of his spine above his tail. A few days later, it was huge and hot and tender. Bad signs. So I just brought him back from the vet. They ended up sedating him and draining his infected abscess(karma?). It's 2 rather large open, round wounds. He has to wear a collar so he can't get to it and he must be kept away from my other cat. In addition, I need to administer antibiotics and give him hot packs 3 times a day! Anyone who's ever had a cat knows how incredibly IMPOSSIBLE this is going to be. I have no idea how I'm going to do this. He's a great cat but he's SOOOOO not compliant! In fact right now he's walking around with that collar dragging and he's bumping into everything. It's really sad! My other cat is just terrified! He's hiding under the bed as I type.
Has anyone out there been through something like this? Any advice?? Please?
Carolyn
It was really kind of funny to watch her walk with this thing.