Let's Give It A Few Days

I took a train home on Monday, trying to prepare myself for the possibility of having to put Binx down. (Note: There is no way to prepare for that, I just found myself crying a lot.) Sure enough when I arrived she was in rough shape. She could move her back legs, in that she would stretch them and pull them up if I tried to tickle them, but she had no control of her back legs or any strength in them. She had to drag herself places, which she did often because she hates being made to stay in one place. Trying to get her to stay in her bed turned out to be quite a chore. She slept a lot. She also recognized me and stretched out to me when I arrived, always so nice and so cute when that happens!

Tuesday morning my Dad and I headed into Port Dover to see the vet. I wanted to have a consult in the morning and then if she needed to be put down we would arrange for that to happen in the afternoon, I wanted a little more time with her. (So much crying.) The vet told us that it is very rare for a cat to have a stroke, as we had thought she had, since they don't get blood clots the same way as humans. After giving us a couple of options, I decided to have her X-rayed to help with a diagnosis. It was the right decision, as the X-ray showed that she had fractured her pelvis.

That is crazy, who has a cat that breaks their pelvis? Oh yeah, me.

The vet did say it was not very usual to see a cat with a broken pelvis who hadn't been in some sort of accident. Binx just jumped off a bed and did it, we guess. (She has never been all that graceful.) The vet was also surprised that Binx was not in more pain, she seems very unhappy and uncomfortable, but not in as much pain as would be expected from the fracture that she has. The good thing about it is that it isn't displaced much, meaning the bone can grow a bridge, over time, and heal itself, in theory. The way to do this with a cat is cage rest, and basically not let them move for 6 weeks. Fat chance with Binx, but it is worth a try.

I have left her with my parents at The Cottage and she is being given pain medication twice a day. (Note: So far this has been less than successful, anyone who has tried to give medicine to cat knows that it is near impossible.) She is staying in the walk-in shower, which restricts her movement. Though at any possible chance she frantically dives to get out and tries to escape, and it is only a matter of time before she figures out how to open the doors. In with her is a small tray of litter, which she hasn't been using. She just pees wherever she is at the time, usually in her bed. (This is quite gross as it gets all over her, and she obviously can't clean herself.) There isn't really a reason why she doesn't use the litterbox, she has enough maneuverability and it is just as close to her as her food.

If by Friday she is not showing improvements that suggest the fracture is on its way to healing itself, and if she is still not using the litter box, I don't want to put her through anymore time like this. I will take the train home this weekend and have her put down on Saturday. I hate this, obviously it is horrible. Sadly, I don't have a lot of hope that she will start using it, she has always been bad about the litter box and I think she has just given up on it. BUT, please keep your fingers crossed, pray, send karma etc. because I'm still hoping for a miracle.