Decisions, decisions

We had a great visit with our local vet today for help deciding what to do next with Kayla (aka The Money Pit).  


The blood work came back and it's not her thyroid (the easiest thing to fix of course, so it's not that) so we have to figure out what's next. We are hesitant about going back to Aurora for the MRI/Spinal Tap/nerve & muscle biopsy/EMG not only because of the cost involved, but also because we are not of one mind about what we'd do if they found something.


For instance, if the MRI indicates a disc problem, surgery seems like a non-option because it's spinal surgery, which can be dicey anyway, and after we brought her home from their ICU, she'd have to be on strict kennel rest with limited trips outside to potty and NO stairs for two weeks, and then less strict kennel rest but no stairs for another few weeks.  We live in a bi-level, so unless she lives in the garage or on the landing by the front door (which is of course no option) we'd have to carry her up and down the stairs (and by we I mean Bob) every time she went outside.  And she would not be allowed to jump up on her beloved couch or love seat, and she'd basically just lie around on the floor bored, unable to do much of anything, without understanding why.  And she'd probably be in pain.


If it's neuritis or meningitis, they'd treat her with steroids. Not sure for how long -- a lifetime?  She's already got persistent bladder infections, which evidently steroids increase the chance for, and probably will be on antibiotics the rest of her life for the UTI's anyway.  So we aren't sure if that's an option or not, but it's a maybe.  

We went over all of this with Dr. A and she was such a great listener, and she agreed that spending thousands of dollars for something that might not fix the problem, and if it did, would require crazy "bed rest" for Kayla, might not be a good option.  For Kayla more than for us, because it would be a tough recovery for her.  So she called and spoke to the neurologist and they both agreed we should wait a bit before taking the next step.  We are going to try her on a limited dose of steroids and see if that helps -- if it does, then it will give us some answers about what it is.  If it doesn't help, then it's likely one of the non-treatable degenerative conditions and we'll know that too.  And we'll take her back to Aurora for a repeat neuro exam in three weeks (minus the MRI).


Confused yet?  Yeah, welcome to our lives! Fortunately she remains her happy calm content self, and for that we are so grateful.