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Dear Anne
It's so good to hear that sweet Sophie is doing so well--you
and she went through such a lot together. To know that she's thoroughly
enjoying life now is just wonderful!
Unfortunately I can't see the pix of her on this (old)
computer right now but I'll look forward to seeing them tomorrow on my work
computer.
Thanks so much for updating us---as you know we always can use
good news!
hugs to you both, Kerry
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 1:52
PM
Subject: Update on Sophie
Hi everyone,
I tried to send
this update yesterday but it failed, I guess because I embedded a picture in
it so this time I will send it without the picture. There is a link to
see her pictures on her website, if anyone is interested. Here is the
update I sent out:
Hi everyone,
I wanted to post an update on
Sophie. For those of you who are already familiar with Sophie, I would like to
let you know right off that she is doing just great. She has not needed an
enema in over 4 months. When she seems to be having trouble, it is not long
before she figures out how to take care of it herself. I think she has
regained enervation in her rear quarters. She is a happy, healthy, active,
loving little girl. She pads around the house chirping and singing and talking
and is interested in everything around her, it seems. She seems to love me so
much and I do her, too. She is mixing with the other cats pretty well, too.
For those of you who are not familiar with Sophie's story, here is a
recap, if you are interested. Sophie was a sweet, peach and grey tortie kitten
when the caring person who was feeding her noticed her tail looking broken.
The vet determined that Sophie needed to have her tail amputated as it
appeared to be "dead". While amputating her tail, the vet also destroyed
Sophie's anus and surrounding tissue, in error.
Sophie did well at
first but soon developed scar tissue over her anal area which prevented her
from passing stool well, or at all. The stool would become impacted against
her scar tissue and would make her rear end bulge out with stool grotesquely.
It was awful.
Sophie quickly became obstructed to the point that I had
to take her to the vet to have an enema under anesthesia. The vet recommended
that I put her down because she would require frequent cleansing enemas under
anesthesia and would be miserable between enemas when the stool would begin to
build up all over again. I knew she would have to have so much anesthesia and
worrying about the effect of all that on her and the cost was more than I
could afford as they charged about $90 for each cleansing enema with
anesthesia. I thought her quality of life would be very poor because the vet
hammered home that idea.
I asked if possibly Michigan State University
Small Animal Clinic could do any kind of reconstructive surgery. The vet
replied that he did not know but doubted it. He did give me a referral,
grudgingly, and there a wonderful surgeon by the name of Bryden Stanley said
she could create an anus for Sophie by using a tendon from her leg. She was
also going to strengthen the rectum and do a spay, per my request.
Dr.
Stanley estimated the surgery to cost $2000. I had only $700 in credit from
Care Credit but the rest was raised from donations from incredibly caring and
generous people from the feline leukemia group and by Timothy Meeker of the
Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program and his group and also private
donors. There were so many wonderful people who rooted for Sophie at every
stage and who sent prayers and positive thoughts, too.
Sophie did very
well following surgery and for two months was doing wonderfully. She had did
have some trouble again after two months with more bulging of stool protruding
from her rear, just like before surgery, but that was mostly taken care of at
home with home enemas. Gradually, these enemas were needed further and further
apart and Dr. Stanley believes that Sophie regained enervation to her hind end
over time, which is allowing her to manage her own stool passing now.
I am going to try to embed a recent photo of Sophie into this email
but if that doesn't work, I did post some new pictures on her webpage. Here is
the address, if anyone would like to see them. I hope to get better pictures
soon. http://annlmla.tripod.com/id1.html
Bye for now,
With much
gratitude and purrs and hugs,
Anne and Sophie
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