So last night I took Wampi out of the cat cage and put him on our bed to give him some exercise. He limped around a little bit. He didn't cry or meow but he seemed agitated. He kept trying to go to the edge of the bed and jump off. The vet said that I was to absolutely NOT let him jump for awhile but there he went, jumped off the bed about a foot off the ground.

I was horrified. I held my breath waiting for him to cry or scream (his kitty scream is bone-chilling) but nothing. He stood there for a second, then sat down.

Whew. I took a deep breath. My nerves were already rattled!

I let him stay on the floor because he seemed to be happier there. I pet him a bunch and my husband pet him a lot (while I took photos) and I tried to coax him into walking. He wasn't too interested in that but he did walk a little bit when I brought out the food!

Now, he doesn't really seem to be in too much pain. He tried to scratch his head with that paw (the formerly cast one) but couldn't do it. He'd bring his leg up to his head and it would hover there, then he'd put it down. Too sensitive.



But then something weird happened. My husband was sitting at my desk and messing with my things (no big deal) and he was teasing me about my house shoes that stay planted underneath the desk (hey, my feet get cold while I'm sitting here!). These are pretty silly shoes ... ones my mom bought for me when I was pregnant because they each have a little button on the side that you can push to activate a vibration (it runs on AA batteries). I never wore them when I was pregnant kuz my feet were too swollen and I still don't use the vibration part, but they are warm. Anyway, my husband was playing with these shoes and he pushed that vibration button.

And Wampi freaked out!

He didn't hiss, or cry out ... his eyes got big and he backed up quickly on the floor dragging his leg and looking TERRIFIED.

Now, I know a lot of you may say, "hey, don't worry ... cats get spooked ... it's just the way they are."

But not Wampi. Or at least not before the accident. Wampi used to be very inquisitive, friendly, happy, purring and coo-ing all the time. Just amazingly social for a cat. But I guess he has some post-tramautic stress going on ... hopefully he'll get through it with time.

Rich put the shoe away quickly and I quickly tried to reassure him with lots of petting and gentle talking. He was shaking ... shaking like the shaking he does before going to the vet (and he's terrified of the pain of the cast chamge).

Why is he so afraid? And why NOW?

After that, he limped over to the stool that sits in front of the table where his cat cage is sitting on. The cage is up there level with the window so he can look out.

He put his front paws on the stool, holding up his back leg and balancing on the other. Then he meowed while looking at his cage and turned back to look at me.

He wanted to go back to the cat cage.

=(

Well, I guess he associates the cage with safety.

*Sigh*

Little bit, by little bit.