The night we brought Sweet Pea home after her surgery she was interested in food, not eating like she was famished, but definitely more interested than she had been and it was good to see her ‘wanting’ to eat. I think she was really happy to be home and we were definitely happy to have her back home. Unfortunately her interest in food didn’t last and so we had to start syringe feeding her. She also found the kitty tent/bed to hide in and at first I was ok with it if she felt more secure, but after a couple of days it seemed that’s where she wanted to stay all the time. In fact when I went to get her out of it one night I realized she had peed in it and was just laying in the pee……..{heartbreak moment; big frown}. I realize now that that incident was a blessing in disguise as I decided to throw out the tent and after that Sweet Pea just started laying out in the open on the bed, which is what she did prior to her surgery. I was happy to see this and it hit us then that we needed to encourage her along and not let her hide away. Understandably all that she has been through in the last several weeks had taken its toll and her confidence and her “normal” had been greatly shaken. We needed to make her feel extra loved, spend extra time with her and give her lots of praise for all that she did do and let us do.

I contacted the vet to ask about the amount we were supposed to syringe feed Sweet Pea since we had never done it before. I also mentioned the pee incident as well as asked if we should “strongly encourage” Sweet Pea to be out and about. The vet confirmed our thoughts on getting Sweet Pea up and about and she gave us a suggested feeding amount via syringe. She also suggested that we put Sweet Pea in the litter box about every 4 hours. I was happy to have some better direction on caring for our senior girl and I’m happy to say that all has gone well. What I found was that if the litter box was close by, Sweet Pea would go in it and use it. This means that during the night when she is sleeping on the bed, there is also a litter box on the bed (I know, some might cringe), and if Sweet Pea is laying in her favorite chair in the living room, there is a litter box within 3 feet of her. She has used it every time since making this adjustment.

This past weekend (Labor Day weekend) we have seen some baby steps. She comes out of the room when the door is open and will hang out with us in the living room. Her walking is still a bit unstable (it’s still so soon after surgery and she’s a bit weak from all the weight she has lost) and she will stop and rest after a handful of steps, but she is getting better about remembering to take her time and that her one leg is no longer there for support. I feel that this will continue to improve the more she is up and about and as she regains some weight/strength.

Another baby step is that she has begun drinking out of the water dish on her own again. My hope is that she will move on to the food dish next!!