This post sharing about crate recovery for your pet after surgery or illness. There may be affiliate links contained with that if you click through and make purchase, will earn me a small amount of revenue. These will be marked with * for your reference.
There are things that a pet owner may face in their journey with their pets but most of us hope to avoid circumstance where our pets are hurt and need surgery. We don’t plan for this.
Unfortunately as much as we hope to avoid that, sometimes that does happen.
When your pet needs surgery or requires a medical recovery after an accident or illness.
It can be a challenging time and you may be relying on support from your vet to help you look after your pet as they recover from what’s happened to them.
Crate rest is a period of time that you may be asked to manage, to help your pet heal, stay in one place, keep calm, and not ne able to move around too much so they don’t damage themselves, or open wounds, or to allow surgical sites to heal safely.
It sounds stressful, and I won’t lie, it can be. But if your vet says your pet needs to rest and be in a safe space, then you need to get that ready and set up. There are specialists who can nurse your pet back to health, in a recovery space, at a cattery or in their home, or your cat could stay at the vet, but unless you have a source of funds to cover the cost of this (and we are talking hundreds of pounds) the best way is to nurse your pet back to health at home. Home is where your pet will feel safe, comforted and should feel calmest. With you, and a familiar environment, they can recover.
We’ve experienced crate recovery and this is our basic set up for a cat on post surgical crate rest at home. This may differ if you have a dog or other animal but the basics are the same.
You need a space to enclose your pet, so they are contained but also protected. If you have small children or other pets, a crate is a good way to do both of these things.
We opted for a larger crate *, to give our cat space to move around safely and not make him feel cramped.
As you can see, this is the basic set up of our crate. We have ours in our living area so we can keep an eye, and keep our kitty company, but some pets may prefer a calm and very quiet area.
You will need to measure your pet or have an idea of their size and then make sure they have space to move around, eat, and sleep. It might be a good idea to chat this through with your vet too and make sure your crate is appropriate for your pet and their needs.
Your crate should
- big enough for your pet
- be easy to clean and keep clean
- be easy to open and close
- be sturdy
- not have gaps or holes your pet could get stuck in if they are trying to get out
- have a base, rather than just the top frame (this helps to contain mess and protect your carpets or floors) and it also makes it less likely your pet will be able to push the enclossure or knock it over.
- Easy to ventilate to allow fresh air to circulate.
You should also do a trial run to make sure your crate sets up easily and that your pet will be comfortable in it.
You may also need to think about how you keep your pet calm during their recovery time. Our vet recommends Feliway diffusers* which can help and are not noticeable to human noses and work really well to help calm down anxious pets, and are particularly handy for post operative care.
Inside your crate you will need some basics for your pet for the duration of their recovery time.
- a soft space to sleep or rest
- access to food and water
- a litter tray or mess area (if you have a dog you may be allwoed to let them out for walks)
- A way for the crate to be covered to give your pet privacy and a calmer environment
We have a soft sleeping area *, a litter area, a food area and we also used puppy pads * for an extra later on the base of the tray. You can get covers for crates and enclosures but they are expensive. A large blanket or sheet will work. If your pet is used to a warm area to sleep in (aka, like our cats, who prefer a human hot water bottle to cuddle up to) you can look at heating pads * to help comfort them and make them feel cosy.
Some cats will not eat if their food is near their litter tray, so you need to make sure that you can put their food and water bowls away from their litter tray or as far as possible.
We use a feeding timer set from Pet Safe for feeding when our cats are well, and this is handy for managing food dispensing if you are monitioring what your cat is eating as they revcover too.
You will need to keep your crate recovery area clean, both for your cat’s wellbieng but also to prevent infection risk or other illnesesses. We love Aroma Care solutions cleaning products for pets, which work well against odours and smells and are eco friendly.
It isn’t easy managing crate recovery but it can be done. Keeping your kitty or dog comfortable, calm and quiet may have it’s challenges depending on the temperament of your pet, but if you manage it carefully then hopefully it will be over as soon as they are well enough to be given a freedom pass by the vet to return to normal.