Thursday, March 6, 2008

The Good and The Bad...



Moki's appointment at UC Davis today, lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. The neurologist did a progress check, took two x-rays, one of the thorax and one of the tibia/fibula. He then consulted an orthopedic surgeon. We decided to have a thorax x-ray taken to check for fluid in Moki's lungs since he has been coughing. The good news is that the thorax x-ray came back good. No fluid was present. The tibia/fibula x-ray was taken because Moki's back leg is showing signs of being twisted outwards. (Basically he is walking on the inner side of his back leg.) We decided to take an x-ray and have the orthopedic surgeon look at the structure of Moki's leg to see if he could determine the cause. We suspected that structural damage to his leg was occuring either as a result of Moki's neurological disorder making it difficult to walk, or possibly being a secondary symptom of some infectious disease. After reviewing the tibia/fibula x-ray, the orthpedic surgeon concluded that the structural damage was most likely a result of the muscles being pulled/shorten because of the impact the neurological disorder has left on Moki's ability to walk. In other words, he does not believe the damage to Moki's leg is a result of an infectious disease.


The neurologist is now referring us to a physical therapist to see if they can show/teach us some exercises to prevent further damage to Moki's leg. Unfortunately, the orthopedic surgeon believes that the damage which has already been done to Moki's leg, may be irreversiable. The x-rays where the good news, now for the bad. Since Moki developed new symptoms every time we take him off an antibotic, the neurologist has recommended the following, we are to keep Moki in the antibotic for another month. At the end of this time, we are going to take Moki off the antibotic and see which symptoms develop. If Moki's coughing returns, we are to have another chest x-ray taken. The neurologist mentioned that Moki's chest x-ray taken today may have come back clean as a result of being on the antibotic. Where as had Moki not been on the antibotic, they may have spotted something which could have given them a further clue as to what Moki is actually suffering from. Now as for further dianostic testing. The neurologist is still at a lost as to what is behind Moki's neurological disorder. He and the other team of Doctors he consulted with at UC Davis have never seen anything quite like Moki's case before. After doing the neurology progress check, the neurologist concluded that the most likely causes of Moki's condition are either an infectious disease, the dry form of FIP being the most likely, or a congenital birth defect in which case, Moki may have been born without a fully developed cerebellum. The MRI will allow the neurologist to take a closer look at the size of Moki's cerebellum and rule the congenital birth defect out if the cerebellum appears fully developed on the image. The CSF Tap (spinal tap) will help them rule out possible infectious diseases, including dry FIP as much as possible. If the MRI and the spinal tap turn up no answers, and given the fact that UC Davis has never seen anything quite like Moki's case before, the neurologist also said that it was possible that we could also be dealing with a new disease which has never before been seen. If we turn up no results with the MRI, and spinal tap, and this does turn out to be some new form of disease, the best we can do is treat whatever Moki's symptoms may be, and do an autopsy after Moki's death to hopefully learn more about the disease and prevent other animals from being inflicted by it. So for now we are back to square one. Other than meeting with a physical therapist to help Moki's leg, there is nothing further that the neurologist can do until we raise enough money to cover the cost of Moki's MRI and spinal tap. With all of that said, I want to end this post on a happy note. To our favor, the neurologist said that Moki is receiving the best of care and that he cannot recommend my doing anything different in regards to the way I have been taking care of Moki. He said that whatever I have done and been doing seems to be working, and I should continue down the same path, since it seems that in doing so I am providing Moki with the best possible care!

18 comments:

michico*Adan*Lego-小芥*阿丹*樂高 said...

Moki, that is really brave you do so many tests.
I hope you will have great treatment and recover soon. I am praying and purring for you!

admin said...

oh Moki you'll be just fine with the tender-loving-care from your beloved humans...we'll purrs & pray furr your well-being.
-------------------------------
btw, have you ever heard about Reiki healing, with your permission of course, my brother could help Moki's health progress by sending Reiki for Moki, we just need Moki's latest picture; Please inform us if you're ok with this. we're sorry that at this moment we couldnt help with the financial support for Moki medication, our members here now are 12 feline & well you know how's the economy condition we're facing here in our country.

Wish all d best furr Moki...

(((hugs)))

felinesopher & the gank, meaouwy troops

Angel Junior, Orion and Sammy said...

Meowm and I just want to give Moki and you beans some big hugs! You are all being so brave and working so hard to make everything okay. We will also keep purraying and purraying! We haven't forgot about a donation, we just need a bit of time to get some money together to help out.

Alexi said...

We is all purrin' for you. That's the best we can do at this time.

Artsy Catsy said...

Oh, Moki, my mom and all of us kitties here at Artsy Catsy are so touched by your story and your courage and happiness in the face of such adversity.

My mom and aunt are artists and we often have benefits to help kitties in need. We're going to check our inventory and see if we can't hold an auction to help you pay for your MRI and other tests.

In the meantime, we're sending you and your wonderful mom all the purrs and purrayers we can muster up. I was rescued and raised by my mom when I was just one day old, so chin up, Moki - having a loving mom is half the battle won!

Hugs & Purrs,
Rocky
& everybody at Artsy Catsy

Tara said...

Poor Moki! UC Davis is the best, you are in good hands.

Tara

Parker said...

Moki, you are so brave - smooches to you and to your Mommy for the love and care she gives to you!
You are in our prayers!

Samantha & Mom said...

Moki you are in our purrrs and purrayrs! Your Mom takes very good care of you! We are sending healing vibes your way!

Meowers from Missouri said...

hi, moki!! you are a furry brave kitty to put up wif a lotta nonsense from all those beans. you must know that they are tryin' to help you. we has sended some green papers on paypal an' will continue to send purrs an' purrrayers your way--not forgetting you good mama an' the vet team!!

nels, ed, nitro, & xing lu

Hot(M)BC said...

Moki yoo are reely reely brave to do all those tests. We will purr and purray for yoo efurry day.
Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!
Alla Us

The Cat Realm said...

We think lots of love is part of that care and what helped Moki so far!!! We know that cats are extremely sensitive to love and can be healed by it!
We think Reiki is an excellent idea too! That is so wonderful that felinesopher's brother would do that for Moki!
Moki is very special in finding such devoted humans to take care of him!
Lots of love and purrs for you, Moki!

Karen Jo said...

Moki, you are a very brave kitty. I hope and pray that things will get better for you and the vets can find out what is wrong with you, so they can fix it.

Poppy Q said...

Moki I is hoping for good news for you my friend. Sounds like you were super good for all the vets.

Purrs
Poppy Q

admin said...

dear Moki, healing vibes furr you is on the way...

ps. i prefer your previous 'template' blog, this one kind of hard to read with pale color, hope you dun mind

Anonymous said...

Hi Moki you brave little fella. I have sent you a couple of links which may be useful to you and your carers via the MokisFriends site contact page. There's a big network of vets/carers out there who might be able to shed some light on your problem.

Hats off and cheers to you and your carers Moki!

Jan Price said...

Oh, Moki, we are sorry you are having to go through so many tests to find out what is wrong with you. We hope they find the problems SOON and you can recover quickly.

Jan's Funny Farm

Rosemary B❤️ said...

Moki.
I just want you to know that I am purring for you. You are an eager, lovable and sweet boy and I am thrilled to know you.
I hope you can live with all of us for a long long time.
we are here for you.

Java's Coffee House said...

It's just awfuls that you hased to keep going through all this Moki but lucky for you you hased a good human to takes good care of you. At least if it is a new disease they can name it after you and you can be famous! Maybe your story can helps other kitties with the samed things wrong.

Java