Looking for a little hope.

[oafydude28]

My male cat George was neutered a few days ago.  The procedure did not go well.  The vet said he had an alergic reaction to the penicillin that caused his lungs and heart to shut down.  They were able to revive him but he looks like he has brain damage.  The first day he just layed there and had for be fed by seringe.  

Now we have him home and the vet has us feeding him jars of chicken baby food.  It takes along time to get him started eating.  He can not find the food him self because it looks like he can't see or smell.

We can let him out and he will just walk and walk and walk and walk.  He is running in to every thing.  

What can I do to help him along?  Is there a chance that I could get my old George back? He is only 6 mo. old.

  

[Jade59]

George and Grace have such beautiful markings.  My husband and I were wondering if they are pure breads of a sort?  In any case, they are both gorgeous cats!

[opus88]

marvelous job for sure!!...............remarkable the improvement George has made, imagine just all he will be capable of soon, he has personality and confidence +++ and Gracie is a little doll too...
I'm reading a bio of a man born without arms....and his quote is "I don't concentrate on what I cannot do, only on all the things I am capable of doing"....George will do wonders....:)

[Jade59]

Oh, and we loved Gracies little tiny squeaky meow.  Too cute!

[Jade59]

Hey!!!  Thanks so much for those videos!  My husband and I watched them together.  I had told him of George's plight so he was already familiar with his situation.  Loved the squeaky toy with the food inside to make George work for it.  George is really making great improvement from the first video.  Your stairs are wonderful for exercise - at least Gracie sure thinks so.  I hope George will be running up and down them soon!

I agree with Pip, 100%  You and your wife are doing an awesome job working with George.  Gracie, too : )

[Piparskeggr]

Looks like a happy family.  The work you and the wife are doing with George is marvelous, and it's really cute that Gracie is pitching in...

[oafydude28]

I took some video of George playing now and one of Gracie.  Here are the links of them on youtube.  You can really see the amazing progress he has made in a months time.  I really hope you all enjoy the videos.  Every one here has been instrumental in giving me and my wife a sense of hope and encouragement facing the challenges of this situation.  Thank you all and enjoy the videos.

This is the first video I have of George after the surgery.  This was the 2nd full day he was home.  In this video we are just working on his walking and following the sound of our voice.  You can see he had some balance issues at this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-TgRg2t7wk

This is George following my wife by the sound of here feet just 5 days after the surgery.  He is following her in to his padded room that he had because he would have manic episodes were he would run full speed in to every thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnl7V1Vmld0


This one is George trying to tell me some thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwHNFSm01Rk

This is the first toy we got George to play with.  Its a chirping bird that i was able to put one of his favorite treats in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mOc8Brcfy0

This is one of my wife playing with George you almost cant tell he is blind.  If you look in the background you can see our temporary gate for the railing of the stairs so he doesn't fall down to the basement.  I have now replaced it with Plexiglas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBxwBP3CGg

I have to include Gracie with a video of her playing fetch.  You can hear her chirp to tell me to throw the mouse.  We do this about 3-5 times a day and she will keep at it for 20-30 min each time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFi7hilOJjk

[Jade59]

Except for the biting, sounds like George is coming along well.  That's so sweet Gracie is helping him.  The hide and seek game with her quiet little meow is too cute.  

I hope you can get the biting under control.  Maybe George will grow out of it the more he adapts to his new way of life.  And there is still a 30 - 50% chance his vision will return so I will continue to be very hopeful. Opus provides great sites and I hope some suggestion there will help.

You're doing a great job, oafydude28!

[opus88]

I am so happy to read how well George is doing, darn I wish he would regain that sight...he is so lucky to have such a good mommy to care for him...they do adapt amazingly well but he will need that extra bit of guidance thoughout his life and its so good to know he will get this from you!!
the biting is a behavioral thing, and could be a protection factor for him b/c of his loss of sight. I'm not sure how to go about it, I am sending you a site that does give a few tricks...I would really guard against getting to drastic and causing George to become with drawn b/c of fear...its a hard call, but this behavior does need to be corrected.
please keep us posted, I sure hope you find some solutions.....♥

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/punishment.html

[oafydude28]

UPDATE

George is doing good.  his eye sight has not returned yet.  He is learning to navigate the house very well.  He is able to get him self on to all the beds and couches.  He is using the litter box though he does still use the puppy pads here and there but for pee only.  Him and Gracie are now doing the indy 500 through out the house it is amazing how well he can follow her by sound.  She has started to play this game with him were she will go and hide and she will give the quetist meow and he is able to find her rather quick.

There are a few things that we are still struggling with.  He now knows how to bite and he does so often.  I know he is not bitting in a mean way but he has drawn blood a few times.  How can I teach him not to bite?  When he was a young kitten we used the high pitch ouch and pulled away and ignored him routine but that is not working.  His biting is some thing I am having a hard time with as I have gotten very frustrated with him.  I don't think he is trying to bite to hurt us but i feel that any discipline would be cruel as im not sure he can associate it with the biting.

[Jade59]

I missed this last George update.  This is all such great news!  I sure hope his eyesight will return. Please keep the updates coming!

[nancyjac]

I'm glad George is doing so well.  Just a comment on the puppy pads.  Since is is not seeing he is relying even more on his sense of smell.  If you want him to use the litter box, next time he uses a puppy pad, put that pad, or at least the part of it he used, in the litter box.  Since he can't see, he is relying on smell to find where he is suppose to go.  If the litter box is clean and no longer has his scent, he will continue to favor the area where the pads have been.

[opus88]

I second that Pip!! Well said....♥

[Piparskeggr]

Good on George, and gooder on you!!!

[oafydude28]

George update: I took George to the U of M yesterday and he is healing well. His loss of sight is due to damage to the vision center of the brain. The neurologist gave him a 30-50% chance of his vision returning. He has been adapting very well and is learning were every thing is in the house. We had a friend over this weekend and she thought he had some of his vision back with how well he navigated the house. We been working with him every day and he is starting to play again. Its funny because if he gets to excited he will forget were everything is and start plowing in to things. We open the whole house to him and he is using the stairs like a pro already. He is not using the litter box yet but he goes to the right room and is using the puppy pads next to the litter box. I thing he will make a full recover with the exception to his vision that may or may not return.

[oafydude28]

George and Gracie are getting along now and have started napping together.  I uploaded some pics in to my album of George and Gracie as young kittens and some of George after the incident and you can really see his improvements from day one to day 5.  We have our appointment for George on Monday to see if his eye sight will return and to see how his recovery is going.  I will update once we get the results.

[opus88]

oh I sure second those words....what a wonderful loving and patient mommy you are, George can't help but to continue to do well with your help.........yeah for the both of you!!!!

[Piparskeggr]

Thanks for the update on George; sounds like he has a good grasp on life and is willing to fight it out...and big kudos to you for being there to help him.

[zodiacqueen]

What a great update!!  I'm loving it!!  I'm sure that he will continue to improve!!

ZQ

[aligator79]

How is Gracie acting towards him now?

[LindaTX]

I have to commend you for being such a good caregiver for him.....he is so lucky to have you.  It sounds like he is making good progress daily and you are getting your kitty back.  Good luck to you both! :)

[oafydude28]

GEORGE UPDATE.

  He has made a lot of improvements.  He can now find his food and eat on his own.  He is not using the litter box yet but he will meow at us when he needs to go and we will walk over were we have the litter box and puppy pads and he will follow us there by the sound of our feet and use the puppy pads.  His manic out bursts have stopped and he now is using all of the different meows that he use too.  His sight has not returned yet but he is learning the layout of the house.  He started playing last night for the first time and did not want to stop I ended up playing with him till 2am.  I would walk some were in the house and scratch the carpet with my finger and he would find me by the sound and when he would get closed and go into his stalking stance and when he would get about 3-4 feet from my hand he would then pounce and would get my hand almost every time.  I can believe how accurate he is by using just sound.

Again that you for all of the support and I will keep everyone updated on his amazing progress.

[oafydude28]

George did use a litter box. He used the litter box for the first time last night.  He has been peeing on his bed or anywhere else but he will not sit or sleep in the pee. Our vet is sending the referral over first thing tomorrow and they should be calling us soon afterward.

[Jade59]

Good Morning.  Interest in cleaning is a Very good sign his brain is healing and instinct is there.  The member who's link I gave you, the sight of her kitty slowly returned with first seeing shadows so I am very hopeful in hearing this.  The pacing may be frustration - this is all new to George and I'm sure he's wondering what on Earth happened to him.  

I'm wondering, does George usually potty outside or litterbox?  Our last kitty had a brain injury also and while not nearly as bad as George, she was was an outdoor kitty so we ended up getting a harness to let her walk outside, do her business and sit in the sun.  Would that be a possibility for you?  Unless he's an inside only, of course.

I am very encouraged with your news this morning.  Naturally, the only thing to do is kennel him when he's so agitated.  I know this is heartbreaking to see.  Will you making the appt with the Neuro tomorrow?    

[oafydude28]

A few things that i forgot to mention that I thought I had in there.  As of right now he is almost completely blind.  We think he can see shadows in very low light.  We also think that his sense of smell is very diminished as he has to be shown were the plate of food is in front of him.

UPDATE:  This morning was very hard to handle.  He ate just fine but he then became very manic.  He would not let us hold him and he just wanted to walk.  These are the moments that we have the hardest time dealing with as it breaks our hearts to see him like that.  When he is in this mood we cant find a way to calm him down other then kenneling him up were he just paces and cries.

After his nap we let him out while we were taking down the Christmas tree and he was walking good again and was stopping to find solutions when he would get stuck.  His hearing seems to be really good because his head would follow every sound we made.  

We did have one moment that stops us in our tracks that was when we saw him cleaning his paws and a little bit on his body.  This was the first time we have seen him do this.