This was what poor Elvie was saying to me a few weeks ago, when he was confined to the house. The discomfort of having to wear that horrible e-collar was bad enough, but then the indignity of realizing that he wasn’t allowed out was almost too much for him to bear. Those eyes said it all.
It got me thinking that it could be useful to share some tips on what to do when your beloved pet is confined indoors due to health issues / post operative care. I’m thinking specifically of those may be used to going outside, especially for toileting such as cats and dogs (I think my poor Elvie tried to ‘hold it in’ for a day before relenting to using a litter tray!)
Here are are few tips from my experience.
1. Have a plan.
Try and get their confinement area prepared in advance e.g. if surgery is scheduled in advance or you know they’ll have an e-collar. Elvie had the run of the house as his mobility was fine (it’s just too dangerous to let him out with the e-collar on in case it got caught in undergrowth). In other cases you’ll have to decide what is suitable e.g. if they are not to jump or over-use any muscles (when my Sally had her cruciate surgery we had to confine her to one room for several days in her initial recovery).
So, decide what best meets their needs, for example a crate or a spare room with no furniture to jump on. You could even section off an area of a room for them, or gate off the stairs and allow free range downstairs depending on the circumstances.
Also, talk to your vet to check how long their confinement is meant to last.
2. Play it safe and be vigilant.
Make sure their confinement area is comfortable and safe. Can they get to their food, toilet area and sleeping areas easily?
If they have the run of the house when wearing an e-cone, ensure that they don’t get it caught behind furniture and be prepared for them to take any opportunity to bolt for an open door (I never saw Elvie move so fast as when he’d hear the door open). I ended up having to come and go through the back door and close the other door to that room to ensure he wouldn’t make a great escape whenever I went in or out.
Ensure that the whole family is on board with the plan and explain to any children why that pet has to be confined indoors.
3. Be calm and patient.
Our pets pick up on and respond to our emotions.
You may find it hard to deal with their confinement. You could be worrying about them, the chaos it brings to the house / your ususal routine or you could just be feeling upset if they seem unhappy about it (it can be heartbreaking to see them look up at you with those big sad eyes, trust me).
If you can tend to your thoughts and emotions it will be of benefit to them, they’ll pick up on your calmness and be re-assured. You could use meditation techniques, breathing exercises or my favourite technique, EFT tapping, to re-balance, so you are a positive presence for them. Click here for a demostration of using EFT tapping for yourself.
Also, don’t be tempted to ‘give in’ and let them out or up on the sofa ‘just once’. Be aware that taking them out of confinement, or increasing their range too soon could set them back in the long term e.g. when my Sally dog damaged her cruiate ligament we were careful not to let her jump for several weeks, but after a month she did jump and damage it again and her healing was set back.
3. Respond to their needs
Take time to notice how your pet is dealing with confinement. If they want company, then take time to sit with them, or consider having them in an area of the house where they can feel part of the family still and see if they like that (you could find it’s frustrating for them to be near everyone but not part of the action).
If they want to be alone and rest, repsect that too and give them somewhere quiet to stay.
Take time to soothe them and let them know that everything is ok. Show them, using your imagination, how things will return to normal soon and how they’re doing really well. Even better, try some EFT tapping for them, as I demonstrate in the video below.
Video: Using EFT tapping for a confined pet
I made a quick demonstration video for you all, with my Elvie, to show you how you can use EFT tapping to help your pets when they are in confinement and feeling fed up. Please tap along.
Do you need some extra help?
If you want to learn more about how to use EFT tapping to help your pets to heal (and to help yourself cope with the stress of them being unwell) then click here or below to access my free video series entitled ‘Help Your Pet to Heal with EFT Tapping’.
If you want my professional help (I work worldwide via skype and phone with both my human and animal clients) then click here to see how I can work with you and your pet personally to get things back on track.
Over to you.
If you tried tapping along with the video, let me know how it benefitted you and your pet. I’d also love to hear your strategies for coping when your pets have to be confined.
Please feel free to share this post with those who need this information.
Thank you.
[…] post on helping your pet deal with confinement with some more tips that might be helpful for you. Click here to read that post (there’s a tapping video for it […]
Poor babies. The love we have for them is heartwrenching, especially when they aren’t feeling well.