Wow Anne,
That is some story, and you have some kind of heart, kudos to you and Sophie for pulling through this, she is quite a cuttie, good luck to you guys. I will keep you in my thoughts.
Cherie
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sophie was freed in the last week of October, from her 6' by 6' exercise pen that she had been in for so long. (I will rewrite Sophie's history at the end of this message for those who don't know her and are interested, OK?) For the first week, it seemed like she was deliriously happy, playing and eating well and running around but soon she began to hide up in the rafters of the basement and seemed to be depressed. She would often not seem hungry and she rarely came down to play or come for petting. I would shine a flashlight on her rear end, though, and it seemed fine. She only needed one enema since I freed her.
I wanted to have her checked out by Dr. Stanley, her surgeon at Michigan State, because of her depression and because she wasn't getti! ng much lactulose, the stool softener, in her, so I was concerned that all was not right. She hid so well that I had to reschedule twice.
I caught her finally, with my son's help, and I took her in to see Dr. Stanley on Friday, Jan. 14th. Dr. Stanley was very happy with her physical shape and her rebuilt anus' condition! She was very happy to hear that there was no obstipation to speak of since she has been freed, too. She said that if the constipation/obstipation returns, that she could possibly do a rectal pull-through surgery or a colectomy, but that she would rather not have to go that way. She said she is just not sure she could help her with the surgeries so it is better that we work with her in other ways. She believes that if Sophie is doing well that it is possible that her rectum is becoming re-innervated! (Or regaining some nerve sensation there, as was explained to me.) Could it be that she is better now because she gets more exercise or maybe time has healed her! or maybe the methylcobalamin that I give her daily (which is supposed to help restore nerve function) is working? I am not sure what made the difference but am very happy, of course. I know you join me in wishing that her good stretch continues on and on.
Strangely, when my son and I caught Sophie on Tuesday, I had to put her back into her pen until the appt. on Friday and she seemed happy to be back there! She was lively and hungry and wanted to be petted galore and scratched behind the ears and she played a lot at night, like she used to. We decided to let her go free but to keep the pen open at all times and let her decide. It was open before, too, but I am not sure if she put two and two together before, that she could come and go in her pen. I guess we will play it by ear again.
I got a few pictures of Sophie at Michigan State and one of them is dear to my heart. It is of Dr. Stanley and Sophie. I have put them both on her website at:
http://annlmla.tripod.com/id1.html if anyone wants to see her now and also see Dr. Stanley.
Thank you for reading this long update and thank you for being there for Sophie from the start.
Hugs,
Anne and Sophie
(Sophie is a sweet 1 1/2 year old peach and grey dilute tortie who as a young cat was injured and had to have her tail amputated. She was a feral kitty and was taken to the vet by a lady who was feeding her. The vet destroyed her anus and surrounding tissue while amputating her tail, in error, with a cauterizing tool. I adopted her shortly afterwards from a kind foster mom in Delaware. She was driven to me by a kind young lady who drove 14 hours straight to get her a forever home. I had no idea of the damage that had been done to Sophie and she quickly displayed how her rear end was an open wound and when scar tissue formed, she could not pass stool easily and it became a very real and serious pro! blem. She was needing to be anesthetized and cleaned out every week and it was advised to put her down several times. I asked for a referral to Michigan State University which they obliged and there we met a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Bryden Stanley. Thanks to the efforts and love and donations of many people who opened their hearts and gave money and prayers and lots of good wishes, she had the reconstructive surgery needed to rebuild an anus and to strengthen her rectum walls. Unfortunately, the rectum rebuilding did not hold up well and she returned to being blocked every 4-5 days. Dr. Stanley thought perhaps she had nerve damage, too, that was showing up. That is where we were at last update.)
