Thanks, Nina. Timely advice (sorry you had to go through it!).
Patches does seem better today, knock on wood. I work an hour away, so difficult
to come home mid-day to check, but my mom came and checked for me. I am
hoping she will be completely better within a few days.
Why would I jump to thinking about a tumor? Just PTSD, I guess, from
losing my others to lymphoma, especially Ginger who was fine and then a bit off
all of a sudden, turned out to have a huge brain tumor and was gone within 2
days. I have no idea how long she had the tumor. When it started affecting her,
it was really fast. Patches is probably about 6 years old and positive, so
it's just what I worry about as worst case scenarios (short of FIP).
Michelle
In a message dated 7/17/2006 1:06:11 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Why
would you jump to the idea of a tumor on her spine?? It seems much more
likely that she's injured herself somehow. Is she putting any weight on
it? She's still eating, so that's a good sign.
Let me tell
you a little story about spending yet another late night at the vet's, (the
second night in a row). On Friday night I went to feed the ferals and
one of the "stray" friendly kitties, Royal, that always comes to meet me was
holding up his right front leg. He wasn't putting any weight on it and
he wasn't bending the leg at all, just holding it up in the air and hoping
around on his three other legs. I elevated his food to make it easier for him
to eat while I watched and tried to access the damage. He seemed
interested in the food, took a sniff, one lick and then went and crawled under
the deck. Not normal behavior for him at all, so of course I ran home,
got the carrier and ended up at the ER. By the time we had been waiting
in an exam room for a while, I was able to see that he could bend it, was
putting a little weight on it, and it didn't appear to be as severe an injury
as I first thought. He had a temp of 104, which was troubling, but the
vet couldn't tell what was wrong with it just be feeling it, (I was still
hoping for an abscess, even though it seemed like a more "all over" type of
swelling. Long story, just a little longer... I went ahead and
okayed radiograms and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his
leg. While I had him there, we tested him for felv/fiv, (happily neg,
he's from the same colony as Ceasar), got an abx shot and with a bill of $400
we were on our way. I put him in a crate in my garage and he ate like a
piggy. The next night he was walking without a limp and the only thing
that appeared to be wrong with him was that he had a shaved leg! Now,
I'm not saying that Patches is fine, or suggesting that Royal's limp has
anything to do with what is ailing Patches, but I very much wish I had
followed my intuition and waited and watched just a little bit longer.
The fact that Patches is eating and moving around tells me that the pain is
not too terribly severe. With this latest episode with Royal fresh in my
mind, I would suggest putting her in a large dog crate, with the cat tent
she's chosen, a litter box and some food. That way you'll be able to
keep a better eye on her and she won't be able to cause herself further
damage. If she doesn't get worse, I'd go to work and come home to check
on her in the middle of the day, can you do that?
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