Atresia ani ??

Hi all,

A shot in the dark with this one. I took a 2-year old female semi - feral (our neighborhood sadly has a large colony)  to the vet yesterday because I thought she had an abscess on her back side. The vet said she had Atresia Ani. 

At that point I didn't know what to do, so I brought her home and released her. The vet didn't have much in the way of useful information in terms of prognosis. How long can she live with this? What are the potential complications? I had planned to have her wormed and her shots updated, but I was so stunned I didn't. It occurred to me the worming might cause problems. I think it may have caught the vet off guard as well.

My neighbor and I have been teaming up to TNR the colony. This was a cat my neighbor had taken in to be spade about a year ago. Nobody said anything about a problem at that point. I think she was done at our local Humane Society.

From what I understand she has no sphincter or rectum, just her colon with a direct line to the outside.

Is this a problem associated with inbreeding?

I had to look this up as I'd never heard of it. Sounds quite rare and from what I read about humans, there are accompanying problems such as constipation or bowel obstruction. Poor kitty. I'm very surprised the vet didn't notice this went she was spayed as it's a congenital defect. Seems surgery is the only option for this condition, but it sounds like the cat can actually live with it.

I am surprised the Vet didnt suggest euthanasia to prevent the cat from suffering if she is feral.

I asked the vet point blank if I should put her down. All he would say is she had managed that long. I asked him if she were his cat what would he do. He didn't answer.

I am concerned that since she does not have the ability to close her sphincter things could in and cause problems. 

The little I have found out about atresia ani doesn't seem to quite fit. From what I can tell, the only way the animal lives is if it is corrected by surgery. He did give her a bit a gas, so he could take a good look at her.  She carries her tail in kind of  loop. It is always up at the base. Could she have nerve damage?

Part of me is afraid to change anything in her environment, because she is still alive. She has managed somehow.

Poor Baby. The vet is probably right, she has lived this long with it.