Tail Pull Injury; hope for Nismo

[LittleMo]

I'm new here, one of our three lively 10 month kitties was involved in an accident (no idea for certain how it happened), Nismo was found on 19th December with a limp tail and walking low on her rear legs. The vet confirmed a "Tail Pull" injury, she spent the Christmas period at our local vets, before we pushed for a referral, she was taken to SCVS on 30th December and her tail was amputated the same day (we were told the tail was dead and little Nismo had already licked it raw as it had no feel!

Nismo returned home on 6th January, and much to our delight her brother and sister (Same litter) accepted her back into the "circle of trust" straight away. She currently has fairly good anal tone although she does lack some sensation, she sometime poop's in the tray although this is hit and miss. She drops urine patches and wee's when she licks herself or in her sleep. We are currently managing her at home, which I have to say in one of the hardest things we as a family have ever done, myself and my husband both work f/t and we have two young child (6 & 10), We are currently waking at 6am every morning to give her meds (2 x 5mg Prazosin) before expressing her 30 mins later, then giving her breakfast with 2.5 Lactolose, cleaning her cage (vets thankfully in a way recommended cage rest for at least 4 weeks), then same process repeated each evening. The expressing in horrible and very hit and miss, I'm completely useless, my husband is far better but this is tough as she hates it, I have tried getting her to wee by stimulation which again is hit and miss.

I feel that she's beginning to hate us, as she's certainly a more wary little soul than before, although does still love to play with her sibling and our children which is lovely to see. Realistically though I am not sure how long away 6 weeks at home we can give her and I am beginning to question if we made the right choice when we refused to PTS as the vet suggested on 22nd December!

She started Acupuncture last week with a qualified veterinary acupuncturist (lucky the cost is yet to be an issue as we have good pet insurance and lifetime cover, up to 7.5k per year). I just wish I could see some light at the end of this tunnel. I just hope she realises we are doing this all because we love her and want her to get better, my nightmare is she believe we are punishing her and being mean

Are there any signs (positive) I should be looking out for? Our acupuncturist, who was fantastic and very patience with Nismo said it was a good sign that there is still a degree of pain present, as this means there is still healing to take place and room for improvement, but with everyday that passes I become less hopeful and more worried that we are doing this for us and not her.

[Clarabow99]

Nismo is so sweet and I think you're doing fantastically well by managing her at home. I know it's difficult but just take each day as it happens and try not to think about the bigger picture as it will overwhelm you.
You've already come this far and thinking about 6 weeks seems dreadful so just focus on each day. I think as long as there's a shred of hope that she'll get better then that's what you need to focus on. When there's no hope then that's a different situation. Just think if you'd PTS on 22 December you'd probably be feeling guilty as #### for not trying, so just remember you're giving her every chance possible and that takes courage and belief - you've got this far..... just keep going a little more
The acupunture sounds a great idea - how well does Nismo tolerate it?
Keep us updated with her progress,
x Claire and Harvey

[LittleMo]

Hi Claire,

Yes we are trying to take everyday as it comes it just tough (as you know) when you feel the kitty you love is feeling grumpy due to being expressed twice daily. Nismo has in fact been a little happier over the past few days, even looking for attention last night rather than shying away from it, which had been the case. We also have a little break through in that whilst shut in our utility room ready to be expressed after her meds for a little longer than usual (my husband had to take a call) she went in the little tray scratched around a did a little wee, the majority of it missed the tray and went on the floor but I am taking this as a positive sign, as well as this when she self expresses (licks her private bits then pee's) she currently seems far more aware that she has peed and tries to cover it over as she would in the litter tray or outside, on hope things glimmers of hope are not just flukes and one off's! She also seems to be getting more used to us expressing her (although she stills dislikes this and protests loudly!) I feel the improvement maybe down to the following..........(a) Husband getting better at expressing, (b) me getting better at holding her and (c) us only doing this in the utility room, somewhat where she has always peed, we now do nothing in terms of feeling her bladder or expressing in "her room2 (in fact the kids playroom) this is now kept for sleep, cuddles and play only and lastly (d) we always express before for breakfast and dinner and once we're done she gets feed and a treat.

In terms of the acupuncture she seemed fine with this during the first session. The vet is very patient and the surgery is more like a lounge, the vet doesn't use needles only a light beam baton (using light waves to stimulate the nerves), Nismo isn't expected to sit or stand still and the vet follows her round whilst doing the treatment, I think the pack of kitty treats I took also helped. It not cheap at £46 per session but will be worth it if it works (hopefully the insurance will cover).

How's Harvey doing? I cannot imagine how tough it is doing this on your own! The tough bit for us has been making sure your girls are aware that we are trying everything but ultimately if it doesn't work there no plan B. Thought I give you a couple more pics, its hard to believe that Healey the Tabby boy is from the same little as the girls as he is huge compared to them now!

[critters]

All of my tail pull boys have ended up very high functioning; the worst one, who it looked like pulled his tail off to get out the the entrapment, got a UTI on occasion. It's still early on, so I wouldn't give up yet!

[Clarabow99]

Hi, that's fantastic news and very positive. Harvey has done the same recently, wee'd while licking his bits. He's also had lots of visits to his tray and in the last 2 days I've noticed some clumps of litter slightly larger than grape-sized. Im going to ask the vet today about getting acupunture as I have £1,000 on my insurance for complementary therapy - may as well use it consider I've gone so far over my max cover of £4k

I love your kittens, these pictures are gorgeous! The 2 little girls look like twins!
The names are great also, I assume you're into your cars? Nissan, Mustang and Jensen
x

[critters]

Oh, HERE you are! Microsoft ate everything, and I just posted on the Neuro bb. Here's the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatsWit ... ?ref=br_tf

[Clarabow99]

Oh, HERE you are! Microsoft ate everything, and I just posted on the Neuro bb. Here's the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatsWit ... ?ref=br_tf