Obviously, this week was tough as nails.
For whatever reason, I wanted yet another opinion. My wife was unhappy with my decision to put Precious through another ride to the Vet given the fact that it creates an obvious level of discomfort for her.
We opted to go to a 25+ year Veterinarian for one last opinion. So on Wednesday, I made an appointment for Thursday. This doctor is the one that my mother uses for her Dog, and is located Cromwell; honestly I didn’t expect a miracle solution out of the visit, but I wanted to feel comfortable knowing that a doctor of his years had looked at Precious, and if anything at all – we would have a chance to pick up additional food and medicine since the drops were close to running out.
The doctor was detailed and thorough, but he couldn’t provide specific answers, but did create some clarity around our remaining choices. He recognized the neurological symptoms, but it was also one of those good days for Precious. She seemed more alert than usual, and was unusually vocal because of her anxiety about going to the Vet.
He read all of the information from the previous vet visits, and Tufts case write up. He tested Precious for dexterity and noted that she was very responsive (more so than in the past three days).
He reviewed what he believe to be three valid options available to us. And he assured us that all three were reasonable options given everything that we have done and been doing.
1. Provide her comfort at home, continue feeding and administering food and water, let things take their course.
2. Bring her back to Tufts for MRI and CAT Scan and full work up, and try to get to the bottom of it. But understand that based on their diagnosis, that if it were a brain tumor or cancer, that they were correct in that not a great deal could be done to remedy the situation. And there was also a chance that the Scan may not show anything at all anyway.
3. He offered to run additional blood tests and x-rays to see if something else may show up, but he also said that if we were going to think of spending the money at his office, that we might as well go back to Tuft’s. He was right in stating that Tufts was “God” of Veterinarian Care, and he was more of the family style doctor. So by coming to him after Tuft’s, was sort of like having someone question the highest authority. He was very nice about it, and incredibly sympathetic and empathetic, and he acknowledged that the larger hospitals can be a little less personable due to the number of cases they handle and their size.
The biggest and most important comment from him was that based on her level of activity he DID NOT recommend euthanasia at this point. We felt a sense of relief after hearing him say so.
Lastly, he offered to call Tufts to speak with Precious’s attending Neurologist. And offer some of the insights he saw and see if he could deep dive into the prognosis to see if they thought additional action was really warranted. He left and came back having left his phone and cell number for them to call back. We thanked him, and he prescribed additional food and refilled the clini-drops medication. He moved the doses of drops to twice a day to expedite remedy of an infection, if one existed.
Thursday evening arrived and Precious seemed to reach a high point again. We had already been down this roller-coaster ride before but were pleased to see her licking and cleaning herself, walking straight lines and although still wobbling around, at least acting with some sense of recognition and “normalcy”. This time, we knew better. We knew it was only temporary.
And Friday came. I awoke at 5:30 am hoping to find Precious in the same spirits as I left her before I went to bed. No luck. She was back to a very lathargic state of being. Feeding her was more of a chore as she seemed less willing to cooperate when I tried to use the syringe. It was another sad start to the day.
Late Friday afternoon, the Doctor called with his impressions after consulting with Tufts. He underlined the fact that the three options were still viable and none were wrong or immoral. He suggested that we take the weekend to monitor her and then decide whether or not Tufts was back in the cards, or if we would let nature take its course.
We also asked about the rationale for Precious’s apparent mini-recovery. He told us that this was due to how pressure was affecting the brain. As the pressure grows, Precious appears less responsive, and during the times when the pressure dissipates or moves, she resumes a level of normal functioning. He described it as the waxing and waning of the pressure on the brain (if related to the brain).
We thanked him for his follow up, and he wished us well. He offered that if things changed that we should call him. Again, I can’t stress how pleasant and helpful Dr. E was. I recommend him very highly to everyone.
Another long Friday night with our Precious girl. But I was damned if I was going to give up.
It was sometime between Thursday and Friday that I started this blog. A week ago I thought about putting it together and may have even signed up for the page. I didn’t really think that she would be still with us through the weekend.
Just wanted you to know how helpful your blog has been tonight. Our 2 year old huge tabby was acting strange when I came home from a weekend away. This was just last night. A trip to the vet today and vestibular syndrome was diagnosed. It’s so hard to watch and I keep wondering if Fred is going to make a recovery. We, of course, do not have the money for scans and such and after just one day he seems to be getting worse. He’s stumbling around a lot more. He is not walking in circles but has a bad head tilt and strange distant eyes. The vet gave him a shot of antibiotics in the event is is a middle ear infection. I’m hoping and praying that God will spare our sweet 17 pound kitty. Just as I know you did, I agonize over him and his inability to be the normal kitty he’s always been.
If you get this please pray for him.
thanks
julie
Hi Julie: Just caught your email as we just got back from vacation today. I will certainly pray for him and for you as you go through this painful period. Selfishly, I wish I had waited longer as I still wonder if time would have cured it, even through Tufts said no, and the vets said no. We didn’t go the brain scan route either, but I think I would have slept better knowing that the brain scan would have revealed cancer or not. In the least, try a few different vets to get their impressions. I was just talking with my wife – she reminded me that Precious was neither eating or drinking on her own, which obviously didn’t help her strength to move. We also found her sitting in her litter box in the mornings which really didn’t help either. But I do want to stress, that having talked to people (after having put her down) that people and vets have encountered this behavior that you are seeing, and then the cat suddenly returns to normalcy. There were short moments where she did have short bursts of normal movement, but the vet attributed it to the idea (no hard evidence) that there was tumor that could have been up against the brain that through the normal course of blood flow could have have had peaks and valleys of pressure that made it appear as if Precious was getting better when the pressure was low.
I don’t know if this is helpful or not, but I really understand what you are going through. I pray it is short lived, and he returns to his old self. Feel free to keep in touch. I would like to know how he makes out.
Christian