Their best guess is damage to her back or spinal cord. They have her on prednisone and pain killers and we are waiting to see if that will make a difference. If it doesn't, the only other option is further diagnostics which include an MRI and a CTScan with contrast (dye injected into her spine to see if there's a blockage) but they say that this is so uncommon and rare in cats that even if they find a blockage, they can't tell me whether they can do anything about it.
She's been a super trooper and being sweet despite it all. I've been bawling for a week. I called and talked with U.C. Davis and they pretty much confirm what the vet is saying -- that even if they do the tests and find out there is a blockage, the rarity of this happening in a cat means that they can't say whether they can fix it.
So, I don't know what to do. The diagnostic tests will run between $3,000 and $4,000 and the surgery (if the diagnostics show something which requires surgery) will run between $4,000 and $6,000 -- and . . . with absolutely no idea whether it will all work.
It took a few days to figure out how to deal with all of this because she will just pee or poop whenever and wherever she is when it comes on her (she's not actually controlling it, it's her body forcing it out - says the vet) so I spent a day scrubbing and cleaning up after her (and cleaning her) and then my sister came up with the idea of pee pads and that helped a log but was still a mess and then I figured out pet diapers. This has been the biggest help. Here's a pic of the sweet pea in her diaper:
The sweeter she is, the more I bawl my eyes out. My husband has been supportive but he just keeps telling me that she's going to be okay. He really believes it but sometimes I want to scream at him, "NO! SHE MIGHT NOT BE OKAY!!! STOP SAYING IT LIKE IT'S A FOREGONE CONCLUSION!!!!" but I don't . . . I just say thanks and tell him that we need to start thinking about the option that she might not.
What to do? What to do?
