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Adjusting to Daily Life

Posted by: | August 4, 2014 | 4 Comments |

Grooming and the Litter Box

Smore looking inside door at husky

Smore (pre-amputation) introducing herself to my dog, Pebbles

I made sure Smore could not climb up on much because I was worried she’d have trouble getting back down. Aside from that, I made very little changes to anything in her life. I also did not remove the lid thing to her litter box. She has one of those guard rails as it were to help keep the litter in, but it is not covered completely. Hopefully that makes sense?

While she was recuperating, it was obvious that she needed some help in, uh, certain areas.

Covering her poop was not something that came right away. She would sometimes try, but I think stoned kitty was pretty stoned from her meds. I think after 3 days she was able to do that again.

Grooming herself though was no easy task. I would see her lick her shirt, and I would see her lick her front paw. However, I never saw her groom the rest of her body. After pooping, her butt was sometimes covered in poop.

I invested in some between bath cat wipes to help out with that. She surprisingly tolerated it quite well, but I highly doubt she enjoyed it.

I fed her wet food because she wasn’t pooping every day; a combination of meds and worms made it sometimes rather, uh, slick. To the point that she once scratched her ear with a back leg and pooped in the process. Yeah, so not supposed to happen…

Anyway, I cannot tell you how excited I was when she finally resumed cleaning her own butt. It was a joy. I’d say she figured it out by the end of the first week. So don’t be alarmed if your cat has problems with this.

cat on curved scratching post

Smore in the middle of playing on her curved scratching post

Scratching

I had heard that cats amputations have trouble using a normal scratching post. I ended up buying the curved one thinking that Smore would enjoy it. She enjoys lying on it and using it to hide from her “prey”, but I hardly ever see her scratching on it unless she’s going for a toy I’m dangling above.

She took it upon herself to scratch at a piece of wood we had lying about. She also scratched at my jeans. While I was standing. I took that as a sign that a normal scratching post would be just fine.

I bought one that had a feather attached to the top, and Smore immediately fell in love with the feather. She kept licking at it and just stood there with it for like five minutes. She still enjoys it, and while I usually never see her go after the post just for the sake of scratching, her nails do get some work done while she plays. And boy, does she love to play!

Smore scratching on scratching post

Smore and her one true love

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4 Comments

  1. By: kazann on August 4, 2014 at 12:31 pm      Reply

    Hey Smore, those vests look so great on you, great choice!
    My kitty Mona also lost her front left leg and she immediately went back to her scratching post and especially likes her cardboard scratching box which she sits on while scratching with the one leg. I think Mona would also like your curved scratching post.
    Some kitties scratch and others don’t. My male has only scratched on a mat and Mona always scratched on everything (including furniture aaargh!)
    Smore, you are doing so well. You are one lucky kitty by choosing a home with such a loving cat mommy.

    • By: tinav323 on August 4, 2014 at 2:47 pm      Reply

      Thanks. I thought it was adorable on her too. I liked the blue side better than the red on her, but my favorite color is blue. 🙂

      I’m glad Mona went back to scratching normally. It’s amazing how quickly they adjust, isn’t it?

      And thanks. I do my best for her. 🙂

  2. By: sebastian on August 4, 2014 at 9:20 pm      Reply

    Sebastian’s attempts at scratching are kinda silly now, but what can you do. He reaches up to his scratching post and sticks his claws in it, gets in a good stretch, pulls it a couple times, and that’s it. I do think the regular scratching post is good even if purely for stretching and fulfilling Smore’s instincts.

    Also, Sebastian doesn’t really succeed at sharpening his claws anymore which is AWESOME. Before those things were deadly weapons!

    • By: tinav323 on August 5, 2014 at 12:24 am      Reply

      That’s more or less what she does. Or it’s just something she gets her claws in as she plays.

      I need to trim her nails. They’re deadly weapons too, and my skin tends to get in the way a lot!

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