Keeping Gideon calm.

[Easlethistle]

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I posted (life is busy :() but now I'm in urgent need of some advice!
I have a beautiful new kitten (7mths old), Gideon. She's a female chocolate tabby spotted Oriental and I love her to bits. Her insane, bright personality just compliments mine so well that even though I've only had her with me for a week I just feel like it's been a beautiful forever.
Except now we've run into a problem- Gideon got desexed, and all went fine until a week or so later, when all of the sudden her wound got puffy and huge- she has a seroma, a collection of liquid at the site of the wound. She's been to the vet and stayed with them for a few weeks (which was really sad for me, hearing "we'll just keep her one more day and reassess tomorrow..." over and over) but now even if we could afford to keep her there, they can't board her anymore. Seromas are not so bad, except they require cage rest and calm to reabsorb into the body, so I'm caught- Gideon is too active to cage even for a few days, let alone a few weeks. We tried for several hours and she was literally hanging from the roof by her teeth while the rest of her dangled. In my bedroom she tears around, running and jumping and playing with things that aren't even toys (like a mattress on my floor, and some power cables for my lamp). The vet strongly advised against sedatives for various reasons including drops in blood pressure that could be serious on a cat Gidi's size and activity level. I asked about catnip and he said it was a wives tail. I also asked about cat pheromones but he said that there could be negative effects and she's not aggressive so it may not do anything at all.
I need SOMETHING to keep her quiet- short of actually smothering her. Which I'm not going to do, obviously :p Can anyone give me advice?

[jblilbear]

Perhaps you have a small safe room for her to stay in with something comfy. I'm not sure how well they work, but there's tablets or air freshner type things called pet calm for cats. They're not real expensive or anything.

This link has a few tips.
Pet Calm Link (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=730)

[special]

I have heard of seromas at the spay incision site. I went ahead and googled it, and could find nothing to indicate that this should involve so much hospitalization ( a few WEEKS, you said?)

I can imgaine the diffculty of keeping a seven month old kitten "calm and quiet". For how long?

How was Gideon kept calm and quiet while she was at the vet?

I think you ought to find another vet for a second opinion. The few references I could find did not imply that this was a serious problem with such a long recovery time.

There was also mention of the seroma being drained, not left to reabsorb. Ask friends or co workes for recommendations for other veterinary clinics.

Please let us know how Gideon does.

[Easlethistle]

Well, we had her treated at the RSPCA, and she stayed there for some two weeks. It was drained, twice, but unfortunately when she's active it just keeps reoccurring, which is no good. It needs time and rest to reabsorb and resolve. I trust the RSPCAs judgement but I think I will look for a second opinion :)
Thank you for the link jblilbear, It's very much appreciated :) I'm going to look into those plug in oil burners and also the calming chicken (gidi loves her chicken :D) at the pet shop tomorrow. At the moment I've worked out a temporary measure; when she starts racing around, I give her a time out in her cat carrier for a minute or so (even though it's a short time, it works amazingly well!) after her horrible, torturous, inflicted incarceration she follows me back to the seat and settles down in my lap! I hope this keeps working... But I doubt it will =-)

[tiffers]

...first problem, the SPCA. Find an actual vet clinic/hospital. They'll be able to prescribe you sedatives for her as well as better treat the seroma. I, too, have not heard of hospitalization for weeks at a time for seromas.

[special]

At the moment I've worked out a temporary measure; when she starts racing around, I give her a time out in her cat carrier for a minute or so (even though it's a short time, it works amazingly well!) after her horrible, torturous, inflicted incarceration she follows me back to the seat and settles down in my lap! I hope this keeps working... But I doubt it will =-)

Actually it might. Cats are pretty quick learners. It's sad that she can't be her normal exuberant kitten self. Please do find a regular vet. There ARE sedatives out there for cats, safe if used with caution.

Has she been tested for FelV and FIV? These diseases can interfere with healing.

Do you crate her when you leave the house?

[Easlethistle]

...first problem, the SPCA. Find an actual vet clinic/hospital. They'll be able to prescribe you sedatives for her as well as better treat the seroma. I, too, have not heard of hospitalization for weeks at a time for seromas.
Well, they actually have a clinic at the headquarters, it's supposed to be one of the best vets around and they don't rip you off. Our family vet is a forty five minute drive (our aunt recommended him to us because he treats her dogs) and the RSPCA is just up the road. In an emergency, I trust them to do just as well as John even if they can be a bit... moral :confused: The vet said that sedatives can have serious negative effects, and the main one that they prescribe here is called ace and can cause permanent sensitivity to sound and paranoia if you need to use it for the period that we have to to treat Gidi.
She's been vaccinated against everything but when we got her she was sneezy and sensitive- the breeder had a little cat flu going around in some of the kittens not yet vaccinated and even when they're vaccinated they can catch a mild version. She's been on anti-biotics for that and it's all clear.
Bare in mind, I'm in Australia; some of the products around aren't available here, including, it seems, a wide range of sedatives :(

[Easlethistle]

Update:
I went to the petshop and purchased for a good price a product called Naturapetics "rescupetics". It's a natural feel good sort of thing with lots of flower essences and a bit of brandy. I assume the brandy is for flavour. So far it hasn't really been hard to get her to take it- Gidi licks it straight off the dropper, and when I added it to her water she suddenly decided she needed to drink more (which is actually convenient since she's been a little sick from the sudden change of diets from what the RSPCA fed her back to what we feed her here) I can't tell yet if she's calmer... the instructions on the bottle say four drops, four times a day, until noticeable change. She's not running around like mad, but we'll just have to see how long it lasts. I'm not sure how reputable this stuff is but it has some okay ingredients as far as I can see. Thanks for all who helped :) I'm still going to be reading in case there are further suggestions :)