Advice needed: Spinal tumor or pinched nerve

Hello everyone,

I heard about this site from a co-worker, and how friendly and helpful everyone was on here. I am here seeking advice for my beloved 8 year old cat, Sandy.

She is an indoor only cat who has been healthy her entire life. Recently she has displayed some issues with jumping up onto the bed. I didn't think too much about it, and figured maybe it was just "old age" setting in, so I put a cat condo next to the bed so she can jump up on that and then onto the bed.

She hasn't seemed like she's had any pain or been uncomfortable at all until this past weekend. Saturday morning, Sandy was lying on the bed, when my husband reached over to pet her, she swatted at him and hissed. She has NEVER done that before to my husband. I went over to check her out and she growled at me. Again, not like her.

I took her to the vet as a walk-in. The vet did X-Rays, only from the side (not the top). We looked at them together. First of all, Sandy appeared to be pretty constipated with a lot of stool insider her body.  The vet was concerned about one of her vertebrae at the base of her spine/tail. She said the edges weren't clearly defined like all the rest of her spinal vertebrae. She believes that Sandy has either a pinched nerve at that vertebrae, or she may have a spinal tumor at that spot. Either of these may be aggravated by her constipation and all the pressure, which may be why she won't "go" and why she's in so much discomfort.

My vet wants me to take Sandy to a imaging center to have an MRI done. The closest center is literally 100 miles away (so a 4 hour round trip from my home). The vet prescribed .15mL of Buprenex, to be given twice daily, to help with the pain until I can take her to the MRI center.

The vet told me to give Sandy some Mirlax powder on her food to try to get her to BM. Sandy will eat, but not much. I gave her some milk last night with the Miralax powder (never given her milk before but I want her to take this medicine. She drank about half of the milk) When I left the house for work this morning, she still hasn't had a BM. It has been 40 hours since her visit and still no BM.

My question is, do you feel that my vet did all she could to figure out Sandy's issue? Doesn't an MRI seem like a last resort, especially considering the long trip for a cat who is in discomfort (the vet knows how far away the center is), and the cost to me?

Should I take her to a different vet?

I'm so worried sick about my poor Sandy, I can't concentrate at work and I keep fighting back tears. I don't want her to be by herself at the house.

What should I do?

Welcome to TCS...I'm just sorry you had to join under these circumstances. 

First, I want to address the Miralax issue.  My Sven was on Miralax twice a day for years to help with his constipation.  How often are you giving it to Sandy?  Just once won't really do the job.  And she probably won't eat much while she is so back up, so having her lap her just a teeny bit of milk is probably a good idea.  Even a teaspoon is enough.  Or you can use tuna juice.  We gave Sven 1/4 teaspoon Miralax mixed in a 1/2 teaspoon of water twice a day and that was enough, although it took a few days to start working.  Then we just kept it up and he stayed regular.  BUT, he didn't have a pain issue with his back.

As far as the MRI goes, I'm guessing it will show in much more detail what an Xray can't see.  But the real issue is, can whatever is wrong be fixed.  Did you ask your Vet about that?  If it is a pinched nerve, can they do something about it?  Or if it is a spinal tumor, can they treat it?  If the answers are "yes", to one or the other, then it's probably worth doing.  If the answers are "no", then what's the point of getting it done?  You would know what is wrong, but still wouldn't be able to do anything but give her pain medication. 

As far as leaving her alone at home while you are at work...I know just how you feel, but she should be ok.    by herself.  As a matter of fact, since she is grumpy right now, she may prefer it (until she passes some of that backed up stool)

for your little girl.  Let us know how things go and what you decide on. 

Thank you so much for the advice. Regarding the Miralax, I sprinkled some on her food over the course of the weekend. She had a few bites but certainly not eating as much as she normally does. I put some more Miralax in a little bit of milk Sunday night, which she drank about halfway. Same thing last night.

I took her back to the vet yesterday afternoon because she still hadn't voided her bladder or had a BM. The vet doesn't seem concerned about Sandy not having a BM, but was concerned about her not peeing since at least her appointment on Saturday. She got her to void her bladder, and said there was a lot of urine. I asked the vet if perhaps the constipation was causing her pain, and the vet said that the constipation is probably making it worse, but that it is not the root cause of the pain. She said that if Sandy doesn't BM in two days, to bring her back in.

I called the MRI center yesterday.. $2300 for an MRI. My heart broke right then and there.

I decided to get a second opinion at a different vet's office. I have been there before with my other "new" calico cat and I really like the place a lot better than my current vet. Sandy hasn't been there yet but I'm hoping they can give me a more definitive answer than "We don't know, go spend $2000 on a test". If nothing else, perhaps they'll be willing to give Sandy some help with having a BM.

I'll update tomorrow after the appointment. A small part of me is hoping that all of this is caused by her constipation and that there really isn't a serious issue. I've heard of constipation in cats causing similar symptoms. If we can get her to BM I can take her off the pain medicine and see how she feels. Who knows, maybe she'll go back to normal...

Oh and here are her X-ray pictures. I'm wondering if the section of stool visible right at th end isn't what's blocking her up? Remember, these Xrays are from Saturday morning, it is now Tuesday and she still hasn't had a BM so there's more in there now.

The vet is concerned with the vertebrae located in her spine between her hips - the area that is brighter white in the first picture. She said the spacing doesn't look right and that's why she things it may be a spinal tumor or a pinched nerve.

Anxious to hear what the 2nd opinions was!  (I can't tell anything from the xrays, but I'm not in the medical field)

I am so glad I went in for a second opinion.  The second vet thinks that Sandy just has some arthritis settling into her spine, and that it is quite common in that area for cats her age. She showed me on the X-Rays where there is some "bridging" which is a sign of arthritis. She put Sandy on a special J/D Science Diet and gave me some capsules to sprinkle on her food (I can't remember the name of the capsules but it was a white bottle with a black and purple label).  She also gave me some pain pills to give Sandy on her "Bad Days".  Sandy seems to be slowly coming back to normal.  She seems to be happy again and I'm so grateful for that.

It just makes me sick to think that the other vet rushed into making the decision to have an MRI done.  A $2300 test (not even a treatment) is a death sentence to most pets because most families cannot afford it, so they put their pet to sleep. I cannot believe that was her first conclusion.  I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the head of the practice over there about this. I am also switching my cats to this other vet, she was so much better in every way. You could tell she really cared about my cat and that she knew her stuff.