This is
Isabelle. My 11yr old buff tabby cat. She was born with bilateral patellar luxation. (Her kneecaps do not stay where they should... they slide all around) So she has always walked funny, kind of wobbly and not quite balanced, but she made it work. These past several months, it really seemed to be taking a toll on her. Losing balance more frequently, falling over a lot, unable to jump off of things without completely wiping out, head over heels.
My vet asked if there was any particular reason I did not get her knee(s) surgically repaired when she was young. I had no good answer other than "since she was born with it, she had never really walked like a normal cat and she had gotten used to it." My vet recommended doing at least her right knee, because that one was the worst. I was shocked. I mean... she is 11 yrs old! "Yes but cats live quite a long time these days, and it does seem to be negatively impacting her." I went home with my head spinning, trying to figure out what was the right thing to do.
I decided to get a second opinion at the vet school at Virginia Tech. They are the experts in their field, after all. The specialist evaluated her, and confirmed that her right knee in particular was very very off. The kicker that made me decide in favor of surgery: He also strongly believed that her ACL might be torn.
Two days later I dropped her off at the vet school for her surgery. I cried and cried into her fur before finally letting them take her in the back. 12 nerve-wracking hours later, they finally called me to say that she was out of surgery and waking up, and that everything had gone well. Huge sigh of relief. I got to bring her home 2 days later.
Once I got her home, she didn't quite seem herself. But I chalked that up to being in pain and still stressed from the surgery. However, she would not eat. Or drink. 3 days pass. Still no eating or drinking. I got home from work on the 3rd day, and she was just laying there, barely lifted her head to look at me. I pinched her skin and it stayed pinched. Dehydration bells going off in my head. I brought her to my vet where they immediately hospitalized her and started her on I.V. fluids and antibiotics since she had a fever and was showing signs of infection.
On the 4th day of hospitalization, she still had not eaten a thing, and her liver and kidney numbers were worsening on her bloodwork. My vet noticed that her abdomen looked distended. Turns out her abdomen was filled with fluid that was ridden with bacteria and white cells. They did an ultrasound. They saw what they thought was an intussusception (sp?), which means the intestine telescoped inside of itself, and can only be corrected through emergency surgery. I spoke with my ex-husband (a veterinarian up in NH. She was his cat, too, for 7 years) and he wanted the surgery done at the vet school, so that she could have constant monitoring. Off to the vet school we went, at 1a.m.
They took her back right away and evaluated her. The vet came back to the lobby at 3a.m. to tell me that her condition was very very serious, and that he was calling in the radiology team and the surgical team. I then headed home so that I could get at least 2 hours of sleep. They called at 6:15a.m. to say they would be taking her to surgery within the next 30 minutes, and re-iterated how dangerous and percarious her situation was. (I probably don't need to mention that I had been crying non-stop that entire night and continued to do so even when I got to work)
They called me at work at 9a.m. to say the surgical team got in there and instead of finding an intussusception, they found a hole in her intestines. Which had been leaking all sorts of intestinal nastiness into her abdomen. Hence she had very very severe septic peritonitis. He speculated that the cause had something to do with the steroids she was given following the knee surgery. I didn't completely understand his explanation for that. I was told flat out her chances were slim. Her liver and kidneys were showing damage, her lungs were damaged, her blood was too acidic and didn't have enough protein... the list went on. They have given her 2 blood transfusions and she has been hooked up what seems like hundreds of machines and she's been in an oxygen cage since the surgery. They've been feeding her intravenously.
The emergency surgery took place this past Tuesday morning (9/16). She has spit in death's face this entire week. The vets have gone from telling me she will most likely die, to being cautiously optimistic. Her stats have improved, her bloodwork is promising. She even ate a little food completely on her own. $4000 later (on top of the $1300 for the knee surgery last week), they are tentatively saying I can bring her home tomorrow! She is a fighter. It is truly a miracle that she is still alive today.
This week has been an emotional NIGHTMARE. I'm not sure I've cried this much in my entire life. And I am still scared! Scared that she might start to decline and I won't notice in time to get her help. Scared that she'll suddenly crash while I'm at work and I'll come home and find her dead. There are so many things that could still happen. If you have managed to read my ramblings thus far, I thank you. I just love her so much and wanted to share her story with other fellow animal lovers. If anyone has any good thoughts/vibes/prayers to send her way during her recovery, it would be very much appreciated.
