Is there a reset button?
Nov. 28th, 2010 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunchofgrapesSo this morning started out fairly normal. Got up, stripped the sheets off the bed, noticed Tucker had something on the edge of his e-collar. It was poop. Don't want to know how poop got up around his neck but it did. However, I didn't realize it was actually a cat litter encrusted piece of poop until I tried to wipe it off. Then it smeared and it smelled. No getting around it, the collar had to be cleaned. I had a plan. I have an extra hard e-collar that I could put on him temporarily. I thought about letting him just go without for a bit but Tucker is not a good kitty when it comes to stitches.
Got the soft collar off. No problem. Tried to put on the hard collar. Big problem. Tucker freaked out. Big time. Next thing I know, he's off and hiding and I'm having this vision of him pulling out his stitches (he's done it before). So I go after him and he's not a happy boy. No hissing but some growling. I don't tug or pull at him. I actually want him to go outside. If he's on the patio, he'll be so into all the cool smells out there, he won't pick and lick. I finally annoy him enough that he runs out from under the bed and as we exit the bedroom, I shut the door. Tucker runs to his next safe place, my bedroom. This one is pretty easy because there aren't many places to hide. I find him and he runs out. I shut the bedroom door and head downstairs. After a little bit of back and forth around a chair and under a table, where I find him licking at his stitches, he heads up the stairs. But with the door shut, there's no place for him to go. So I start up the stairs very slowly and he's glaring at me with his ears almost flat and his very angry eyes. I go slow and stick my hands out so he can see there's no collar. He's skeptical but he doesn't run. I reach out and rub his head and his ears and eventually he rolls onto his side and lets me rub his tummy. I'm forgiven but I can tell by his expression, he's still not completely trusting me yet. At that point, I could have grabbed him but I figured he needed to come down stairs on his own. If I grabbed him, he definitely wouldn't trust me. A couple of minutes of showing him some love and he was finally downstairs and outside. Now I could clean the soft collar. Is there anything stinkier than cat poop?
With the collar clean, now I have to get it on Tucker. At least when he sees it, he doesn't freak out. At some point he heads upstairs again but the door is still closed so he just lies down on the landing. I can tell this whole ordeal has taken a toll on him and feel bad. He did have major surgery after all. So we have a few more minutes of me showing him some love and he's now a lot happier so I slip downstairs for the collar. The fact that he didn't take off tells me this really did tire him out. Got the soft collar back on him no problem but he still wasn't buying anything I was selling. Every time I came near him, he went in the other direction.
About a couple of hours later, Tucker was asleep on the stairs. I come over to the railing and start to pet him and all of a sudden, he's head butting me and chirping. He comes downstairs and is immediately following me around the house.
Funny how a little nap completely erases all of the bad feelings. If only that worked for humans. Think about it, every war, every disagreement, could be settled with a nap. I think cats are on to something.
Got the soft collar off. No problem. Tried to put on the hard collar. Big problem. Tucker freaked out. Big time. Next thing I know, he's off and hiding and I'm having this vision of him pulling out his stitches (he's done it before). So I go after him and he's not a happy boy. No hissing but some growling. I don't tug or pull at him. I actually want him to go outside. If he's on the patio, he'll be so into all the cool smells out there, he won't pick and lick. I finally annoy him enough that he runs out from under the bed and as we exit the bedroom, I shut the door. Tucker runs to his next safe place, my bedroom. This one is pretty easy because there aren't many places to hide. I find him and he runs out. I shut the bedroom door and head downstairs. After a little bit of back and forth around a chair and under a table, where I find him licking at his stitches, he heads up the stairs. But with the door shut, there's no place for him to go. So I start up the stairs very slowly and he's glaring at me with his ears almost flat and his very angry eyes. I go slow and stick my hands out so he can see there's no collar. He's skeptical but he doesn't run. I reach out and rub his head and his ears and eventually he rolls onto his side and lets me rub his tummy. I'm forgiven but I can tell by his expression, he's still not completely trusting me yet. At that point, I could have grabbed him but I figured he needed to come down stairs on his own. If I grabbed him, he definitely wouldn't trust me. A couple of minutes of showing him some love and he was finally downstairs and outside. Now I could clean the soft collar. Is there anything stinkier than cat poop?
With the collar clean, now I have to get it on Tucker. At least when he sees it, he doesn't freak out. At some point he heads upstairs again but the door is still closed so he just lies down on the landing. I can tell this whole ordeal has taken a toll on him and feel bad. He did have major surgery after all. So we have a few more minutes of me showing him some love and he's now a lot happier so I slip downstairs for the collar. The fact that he didn't take off tells me this really did tire him out. Got the soft collar back on him no problem but he still wasn't buying anything I was selling. Every time I came near him, he went in the other direction.
About a couple of hours later, Tucker was asleep on the stairs. I come over to the railing and start to pet him and all of a sudden, he's head butting me and chirping. He comes downstairs and is immediately following me around the house.
Funny how a little nap completely erases all of the bad feelings. If only that worked for humans. Think about it, every war, every disagreement, could be settled with a nap. I think cats are on to something.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 11:57 pm (UTC)As for the poop, there's a chance he might have accidently gotten it while digging in litter--collars are tricky in those boxes!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-29 05:42 am (UTC)As for the poop, you're probably right. He gets a little overzealous sometimes when he's digging.