Any advise appreciated - Broken Pelvis

There are a few members who have had their cats on complete cage rest and may be able to give you some tips.  Poor kitten, it must be so hard for her.  I think you are trying your best with her.  I don't think it will hurt her to be on her own in the cage for some of the time - it will help her healing if she is quiet.  Make sure you give her lots of attention inbetween.  Have you tried a Feliway diffuser? this really helps stressed cats calm down.  Please keep letting her out on your lap as this is so beneficial to her - you could buy a Mynwood jacket online, which is a really good harness type jacket and you fix a lead to it - that way if she manages to get off you lap you will still have hold of the lead and can pick her up again.  Or you could buy a cat harness and lead available from Pets at Home and some supermarkets.  Don't keep it on her in the cage though, just get her out and then put it on her.  Keep us informed.

We had to keep our Roman in a cage for several weeks due to the fact he was limping on a hind leg & they couldn't find out what was the problem. We were loaned one size by the vet but there wasn't room for him, bed, litter , water & food. So we go the next size up but even then we had trouble as he likes to sprawl. We then exchanged that one for the next size again which had plenty of ground space but also increased in height, which did allow him to rear up. He was not a happy cat, shredding the newspaper, spilling litter & water etc & when he had the larger sizes reaching up & out the crate. However, after a few days he did eventually settle. How big a crate are you using?

He's a fairly relaxed cat & does seem to recognise when you are doing things for his own good. He did get upset again, when he finally had an investigative op (they found an inflamed tendon) & had to have a cone on to stop him pulling the stitches.

When we were giving him his meds - Metacam & antibiotics we had him on my lap & gave him fuss and he did tend to relax a bit.

We put the crate in the living room - to be honest it was the only place we could practically put it when we got the larger size but would have done anyway. When he was frantic we had to ignore it until he stopped & then we cleared up!! We learnt quickly to use the clip on water bowls that came with the cat carriers we had but if you don't have those then there are ones available as they use them for show cats in cages. Not sure where you get them from though. Our house, despite having 4 cats is relatively quiet so he wasn't being constantly disturbed etc. I think the spare room is probably the best idea for you, just checking on her every so often. I'm sure that some lap time would be appreciate so long as you can keep her immobile as jumping around etc will not be good for a broken pelvis - perhaps gentle grooming. It is difficult but as far as I;m aware its movement that stops the pelvis healing as thebones are not being given time to kit together.

Cleaning out the crate can be a problem. If possible we did it with 2 of us, so that one cuddled Roman & the other did the crate. When it had to be done with only one available (me) it was done very carefully so he didn't escape & the door to the room was definitely shut even if there were 2 of us. Luckily the larger crates & 2 doors so the litter was by the one in the narrow side & the bed at the opposite end with his food & water in the middle. Once he'd calmed it was only the litter that needed dealing with & maybe food & water replenished when I was on my own.

This hot weather would not be helping either.

As lotsofcats suggested Feliway or Pet Remedy plug-ins may well help - we had a Pet Remedy one near the crate.

I've also read that covering the crate can help calm the cat.

Hope someone else can be of more help.

I have only just seen this thread, so sorry for the delay in answering...

Alfie was in a cage for 12 weeks following his broken leg. Apart from cuddles and physio times he had to stay in there for his own good.

We pinched an Idea from Fitzpatricks and had a television tuned into Childrens TV on for the whole day. He loved it. His favourite was Timmy (a little lamb with a lot to learn). He got to know that after Timmy he got put back in the cage for the day while mummy went to work.

I also bought an activity cot bumper which I tied to the cage, which he liked playing with. We had to encourage him to use his leg/foot and seeing him paw the mirror and the rustling bee was very reassuring.

It was Autumn so we bought him a sheepskin to sleep on, very comfy. Poppy uses it now.

We used bird bowls that clipped onto the cage to save room, and he still prefers to have his biscuits in them.

To clean the cage I used to put him in his carrier. He was comfortable in the there and SAFE.

Although it is not ideal to keep cats in a cage, it's better than when Sausage got run over. I had no way of containing him and he was incontinent for about 2 months. All very messy.