My Yeti needs someone to love him

[ljulian]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old cat that my husband found in our back yard when he was a kitten. We believe he was born partially blind with neurological problems which makes it difficult for him to control his urine or bowels. We have taken him to the vet and was told there is not much that we can do for him. We have tried diapering him, but he only wiggles out of them. We then tried putting underpants over the diaper, onesies and plastic pants. Only to have him wiggle out of those. I bathe him regulary and try to express his bladder, but he still makes a mess on himself. The problem that we are facing now is that I have a disabled
daughter that gets around the house by walking on her knees and even though my husband and I try to keep a clean house and are constantly cleaning up after Yeti, my daughters hands and knees smell like Yetis urine. We dearly love our Yeti, he is the most sweetest, funniest and loving cat we have ever known, but it is getting to a point where we can no longer keep up with him. We have talked about having him put down, but cannot seem to do it. We were
hoping that someone would take Yeti and love him as we do. I have attached a link to some pics we have of him. Please contact us if you are interested, we live in the San Francisco area. http://cid-22f7b13eade32790.spaces.live ... E32790!355

[critters]

It sounds like he might have CH. Crossposting...

[cbsmemds]

I have a disabled cat too. She wears diapers. I use Huggies and cut a hole in it for the tail. She doesn't get out of them. Good luck with finding Yeti a home.

[ljulian]

Hi Critters,

Thank you for the reply. What is CH?

[ljulian]

Hi cbsmemds,

What size huggies do you use?

Thank you,
ljulian

[critters]

CH=cerebellar hypoplasia (critter cerebral palsy)

[ljulian]

Thank you Critter

[cbsmemds]

I used preemies, but my girl is much smaller than Yeti. I cut the whole in it for the tail by folding the back (the side with the tape) down about a third of way, cut half a moon or circle, and then put it on her, pulling her tail through the whole. Yeti might be able to fit the next size up from preemies. I have tried Pampers, animal diapers, etc... and nothing works better than Huggies. They stay on her no matter how much she moves around. Give it a try, it just might work and then you could keep Yeti.

Marcia

[mumpkees]

Hi!

You obviously love your little Yeti as you have tried many different options. Diapering a cat can be 'challenging' LOL. Over the years we have diapered about a dozen different cats with different issues. (critters - can you give her the HPBB link to diapering a cat, pls?)

In our experience, we have found we've had much better luck w/ human diapers. At one time, we had four in diapers and all four wore a different size brand, even though three of them weighed the same. Many will wear a bigger diaper than you think they would because they are 'long wasted' or bigger butted. What I would do is go to walmart and buy the smallest pkgs of several different brands or ask friends w/ babies to let you have a couple of diapers. Try different ones on him until you find one that fits tightly enough around the legs and comes up high enough on his 'waist'. One cat we had my sig other crocheted a diaper 'holder' with suspenders on it that went over the front shoulders cuz she was so small even premies slipped off. One cat we had was an ace at pulling the tabs so we fixed that by putting duct tape over the tabs or wrapping several rounds of masking tape around the top of the diaper.

Another thing you could do is restrict the areas of the house that Yeti has access to while he is not diapered. It is not cruel, it is adjusting your family life a little so that you can keep your baby and keep your daughter clean. It is much better that he have some restricted areas and get to stay with the family he loves and the family that loves him. When he is out with the family then he could be diapered and with the duct tape tabs or masking tape rounds it should take him awhile longer to escape his diapers.

Expressing his bladder several times a day would also help keep the urine leaking to a minimum. There are also pages here on how to express a bladder (critters.........). And there are many here who do it regularly. Tell us what problem you are having doing it and I'm sure someone will tell you how they solved that issue. You can go back to your vet / vet tech and have them show you again a couple of times also, but I'm betting that those here will be the most help.

I know you have done a lot to try to help Yeti, but I hope that you will stay here with us for awhile and see if we can help you further so you can keep your baby. Special needs babies bond very closely with their first parents and sometimes it is hard for them to trust and love another parent. Sometimes it can't be helped that they must be rehomed, but it is best if at all possible that they stay with those they bonded with.

Tell us the problems you are having with expressing or how the diapers fit and let us try to help you solve this problems.

He is certainly a handsome boy!

/mari

[critters]

This link has all the diapering, expressing, etc. info combined. My about-10-pound Buddy wore size 3 diapers for his long waist; mumpkees' suggestion to try diapers from friends, coworkers, or Freecycle is good; I ended up giving several too small packs away!

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4

[ljulian]

Thank you to everyone for your help and support. I have gone out and bought the huggies and have read the info that Critter has provided. I have express Yeti in the past, but he still dribbles everywhere. Hopefully I can get the diapers to stay on this time.

[ljulian]

Hi All,

I just wanted to update and thank everyone for thier info and support. The huggies worked like a charm.

You all are a God send

[TenHouseCats]

you have just made MY day, for sure!

you can't know how much it means to us when people are willing to fight for their furry ones, and don't just give up. it makes us feel that our struggles matter, and that we're giving back, and that really is a point to the whole thing.

you are NOT alone, and that may be the biggest gift we have to give one another.

MC

[SandyNY]

So, Do I understand that Yeti will remain home for now?
Since he has such an extreme personality, maybe be will be a blessing in your daughter's young years? Incorporating a pee schedule may help in even less cleanings. There are amazing affordable products nowadays and pricelss advice from people who have faced similar circumstances. So, if your hubby says he doesn't want the cat able to get into daughters bed at night, don't give up immediately - there may be a solution to these hurdles that everyone is comfortable with.

[ljulian]

Hi SandyNy,

Yes Yeti will be staying. Yeti sleeping with my daughter is not an issue, he can't jump too high so we have a gate in front of her room so he can't get in. The thought of giving Yeti up was breaking our hearts, but you all have given us such great help and support that you have made it possible for us to continue to love Yeti as he deserves. Thanks again.