Concerned...

Its has been a whirlwind 24 hours with Phoebe.  We had a follow up appointment with her vet last night - basically, the ear drops haven't had much, if any, effect on her equilibrium.  On the upside, she no longer has whatever bit of infection she had in the ears.  He took a good look in her right ear and felt that he saw what could be a mass - he suspected a polyp on her cranial nerve (very similar to the type of brain tumor I had 11 years ago, ironically), and scheduled her for a procedure first thing this morning to remove it.

Alas, when he got in, there was no polyp.  What he discovered was swelling on the membrane to her inner ear, so the next step is either a CT scan or MRI to analyze soft tissue.  And, of course, that is beyond the scope of any of our local veterinary hospitals.  So, we brought her back home, got her situated in sick-bay and got on the phone.  I promptly had a meltdown, so Hubs took charge and we now have an appointment at an imaging center about 40 miles from here at 7 tomorrow morning.  

The good news is that her appetite is good and she is alert and does not seem to be in any discomfort.  However, she takes several steps and falls down which is obviously a problem.  So, let's hope that the scans tomorrow lead us towards some sort of diagnosis and cure.  It's been two weeks now that she's been in sick-bay, harrowing on all of us.  

Today's shot was taken from the hide before we got the news that Phoebe was out of surgery.  My heart wasn't really in it, so I was happy when both of my favorite cardinals showed up.  This one the male who apparently didn't finish his complete molt from juvenile plumage last year.  I think he's quite handsome, however, and always worthy of a shot.  And, if I'm not mistaken, he's growing some new feathers.

If you are so inclined, please send some good kitty juju our way tomorrow.

xo
Debbi