Strict Bed Rest!?!? HELP!
 

Hi guys :)

I have a beautiful little YT girl, she's three and a half months and a few days ago decided to leap out of my Dad's arms. He's six foot six, so it was quite a leap for such a little thing. (I told him to hold her properly, she just made a jump for it unfortunately)

Anyway, we went to the emergency vet's and they kept her in for two days for observations and xrays as they thought her leg might be fractured.

£400 later and it turns out she just has some really bad soft tissue damage and we've got medication. We've been told to keep her caged for four weeks on strict bed rest but that seems impossible!

She's never been crate trained, but she is toilet trained. I don't have a crate, so we've fashioned a large box with all the comforts she might need including pads as she can't support her own weight. The issue is she won't stay still! She's jumping constantly and whining when she hurts herself. I know I shouldn't but I just keep picking her up and cuddling her for a few hours.

Does anyone know of any way to calm her down or make her sit still in the box? I've taken a month off of work to look after her (it's only two days a week) and my partner is home as much as possible but there is no way we can hold her all night.

Any suggestions would be great!
Sorry for babbling on, just so worried about my baby :(

Do you have a stroller. You could move her around with you and even go on walks. They can also be enclosed so she could not jump out.

I'm afraid not :( I'll ask around though cause a lot of my family have YT as well so they might have one :)

Thanks

Can you keep the box in your lap or buy one of those little airline carrier with the hard shell and wire-door and put her in that, keep it in your lap when she frets? You are probably going to have to buy a crate and sit on the floor beside her and keep sticking little chew sticks through the cage to keep her trying to chew on them, sticking toys through that she can lie down and paw at, sticking your fingers in to quieten her. I am sure your vet has some ideas about how to achieve the state that he needs for her. I think I would ask the vet for a tiny bit of tranquilizer to help take the nervous edge off her as it's probably awful for this baby to be so amped to play and can't. Getting some of the raw edge taken off with a very mild sedative might help a lot. With the airline carrier, you could put that in a stroller and take her for walks outside and to the mall, etc. and carry it from room to room with her in it. Taking her in it to the bathroom and kitchen, out in the yard, etc., and give her lots to look at could help keep her busy looking. That's all I can think of right now. I hope this little one feels better but do whatever you have to keeping her as inactive and quiet as possible so she won't have a weak or gimpy leg.

You can look up how to make a baby sling with or without sewing,online. You can keep her on you,in a sling for most of the time. I think I would be holding my baby all of the time if she was hurt,so personally I dont see a problem with it,unless it compromises her healing.

I fashioned a sling and carried Jasmine around in it when she was little. I did this bc she was so little when we brought her home and I always wanted to keep an eye on her. No matter where I was Jasmine was with me due to the sling and it worked for us.

If you put her in a sling, be sure she cant bail out of it! You perhaps can get some medication that will sedate her JUST A LITTLE SO SHE ALLOWS THE INJURY TO HEAL PROPERLY....pain medication should sedate her enough to slow her down just a tad.

When Pixie was on strict bed rest after knee surgery, I kept her with me alot. I confined her to a small animal ex-pen. I could easily move it where ever I was. But Pixie is not a jumper so she didn't try and jump out. I kept her in a carrier on my bed at night. I hope she heals quickly.

I'm right with you. We are at the 2 two week mark of a 6 week crate restriction due to a simiar incident but ended up with a broken bone. She had surgery after the first vet screwed up.
It is really hard. You feel bad but rest is best. I have pain meds and a tranquilizer for when she is really stir crazy. It just takes the edge off. My surgeon told me pets dont get adddicted like humans so its safe. It would be hard to dose yours because its so small but they can do it. They also told me after about two weeks they settle down and kind of accept it as the new norm. He also told me to be very rountine as to when you take her out or she will start really whining to get out if shes out all the time. (we arent so good at that but we are trying) They tell me it goes by fast and we are at the two week mark and she is already putting weight on her leg (she has a plate) Please message me if you want the name of the medication or any other questions....:)

Thank you so much for your suggestions everyone.

I've made a sling and she seems to just sleep all day in it which is awesome. Thankfully I don't really have to go anywhere so I can keep her with me :)

Kimp5 I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope your baby gets better quickly :)

Biscuit has actually started to try and hobble today. I suppose that's great that she feels she can do that, but I'll definitely discourage more attempts for a few weeks just in case.