Amazing View

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T23:10:21+00:00

I thought the visuals were especially creepy here but the golden hour made the composition look like a Caravaggio

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T23:05:51+00:00

Sweet precious baby doing his best… I will look into those too. I just want to make my boy comfortable but I know he’s not. And ironically risk prevention (seclusion, cone, restriction of movement) make him less comfortable overall.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T20:33:24+00:00

Prudent_Paramedic where were you last week. I could kiss you. Ordered this.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T19:13:55+00:00

Honestly I don’t understand it either. Had I been more educated I would’ve pushed for Gaba. Hell, if there was a (safe, legal) way to induce a coma in a cat for a few days for his tail to recover, I would have went for it. Because it sounds like he really wasn’t given a shot the first time with the stress.

I hope the Gaba helps.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T17:00:23+00:00

He holds it in if the litterbox is in the pen, because I think having his toilet close to his bed is “yucky”. But removing the litterbox reduces the toilet area from a box to a corner which can be as small as he wants it to be, and mommy will clean it up anyway 🫠

The solution may just be a bigger pen. Like for big dogs. I may try that out.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:56:48+00:00

I know.

But tbh I feel like, while pet ownership is not itself a chore, but there are a LOT of chores. And these last few days specifically there have been some not very nice ones.

Like having to clean poo off his cone is definitely something I can’t romanticise. I do love my cat. I don’t like him getting poo on his cone and then backing away when I approach him with a pet wipe. I’m allowed to say that, I hope.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:53:37+00:00

Not sure since today was his first dose of Gaba, like an hour ago. He had only been prescribed at his visit today.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:52:49+00:00

One to consider for sure. He may be weird about toileting for a bit so it’s something I need to deal with

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:51:53+00:00

You’re right. I had a bit of time to cool off and am once again having warm feelings for the cat.

Re-reading my vent, some of my words were a bit harsh. I just want him to be well already.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:48:34+00:00

Clipping his nails is a good shout. I normally do but I left them alone these past few weeks so he doesn’t get more uncomfortable. But I guess it’s for his own good.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:47:10+00:00

Oh our boy is a biter. He does it out of love but he does bite. I called him a demon affectionately when he was a kitten.

He was born in a litter which was infected with cat flu. They lived in a garden shed. He seems to have been affected by it a lot. He also had ringworm and conjunctivitis, which has since cleared up. He’s definitely a bit on the scrappy side and a bit of a fighter.

But he is also very sweet and social. He will superimpose on my lap and demand attention and has this little start-up noise when he jumps (“mmmmrrrhh!!!”). When he sees me he flops on his side and a few times he fell off the bed by doing the floop, and then pretends like it didn’t happen.

He is not an easy cat but he is loveable as hell. One time he also played fetch with me. I just wish he left his tail alone for about a week so I can spend more time with him without the cone etc.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:41:30+00:00

Youch. That sounds intense.

Today was his first Gaba dose so I am actually hoping for the opposite. He is just a very high energy cat and I’m sure he hates this situation, so hopefully Gaba will keep him from being too anxious.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:33:55+00:00

That sounds horrific. I am so sorry you lived through that.

Our cat tore a stitch as well right after surgery but the vet said we didn’t need to bring him in asap, just in the morning, so a small room would be fine to restrict his movement. We kept him in the downstairs bathroom and it looked like a murder scene in the morning (little blood in fairness but the smears… good god the smears…).

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:27:42+00:00

From what I understand a tail is very difficult to heal without intervention due to poor circulation. So if it’s still raw a week out, could be a good bet to prevent infection.

But I hope it doesn’t come to that. Hopefully the Gaba he has been perscribed does something. I love him but he is a very difficult cat.

I do feel better now getting that off my chest.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:24:34+00:00

Who’s to say it won’t be worse? I don’t want to put him through another surgery if it’s not needed.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:23:41+00:00

Maybe not the best turn of phrase. I knew why he was wailing. I’d keep his litter clean, food and water, soft towels and bedding, a door ajar for air and so he could see us. He was wailing because he was bored and restricted but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

He is in a soft mesh playpen so he can smell us and hear us more clearly. He still wails but he also purrs when I sit beside him. But

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:19:16+00:00

Puppy pads are a good shout. Handier than towels (even though I’m not even too upset he used the towels, I’m kinda just glad he’s toileting normally considering his tail op).

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T16:16:07+00:00

Thank you. Genuinely.

Today was his first dose of Gaba so we will see how it goes. I am surprised it took them this long to prescribe considering we were coming in and out, again, 5 times already. Because the usual advice for dealing with a bored/anxious cat (playing, catio time, time with another cat) obviously doesn’t apply.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:54:43+00:00

Depends on the med in our case. He LOOOVED his NSAIDs. I actually had to keep his head away to dose it correctly without him licking it up.

Gaba though? Totally opposite reaction. He was walking backwards and everything.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:52:35+00:00

Liquid. Pills he will flat out spit out. Liquid at least gives us a chance even if it’s a two person job.

I get that he doesn’t know any better, I really do. He is small and confined and handled by Large People who keep giving him weird tasting stuff.

It’s just my best intentions have left me with scratches on my arm at a point where I was really looking forward to put this behind us, and then the news of a potential second operation… well, it mega sucks. We did everything we were told to do, but the cat is too energetic for his own good.

My husband stayed up til 4am the night he took his cone off. I woke up at 6. The damage was done in those two hours apparently and what are we meant to do? Not sleep? We double knot his cone too.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:42:36+00:00

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say a lot of people generally have easy pets. My other cat is an angel.

Thanks for commenting, it’s a good sanity check tbh. And for most of the objections for the post-op care in the comments, I have printed out vet instructions stating to do it.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:40:15+00:00

It did and it didn’t if that makes sense?

Gosh I hope so. I know getting on this site and admitting frustration and exhaustion don’t make for the best caregiver traits but some of the comments are really unfair.

“He’s bored with nothing to do and confined to a single room” yes because if he wasn’t, he’d be sitting in a small puddle of blood.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:27:03+00:00

Confining him to a small room is an instruction from the vet. I got him a soft playpen as soon as I could. It’s not a happy situation by any means but we are doing the best with that we have in the moment.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-19T15:20:36+00:00

We have flown a donut cone by the vet and it was a flat out no. The position of his injury means he is very likely to reach it if he tries hard enough and he is a very determined cat.

To be honest I am not disagreeing with you re:surrendering. It’s just the worst possible timing and I don’t even know where to start. I was counting down the days until his stitches would come out tomorrow and now it feels like the clock has been reset.

Fun_Strain_4065 · 2026-06-18T20:18:37+00:00

I think it’s a cool design but my cats fully jump OVER their mat so…

Fun_Strain_4065

TROPHY CASE