The strangest thing I've ever heard

[Gremlin's Guesthouse]

Early this morning (like middle of the night) I was petting my cat and noticed a long strand of something stuck on her tail. Liza is an indoor-outdoor rescue, so I chalked it up to a twig or some such thing. I was half asleep and figured I'd brush her out when we were up and around. When we woke up, I reached to pull the twig out of her fur, however, found that it wasn't a twig but a 6-7" strand of what looked like lightweight monofilament fishing line. I pulled on it and she yelped a bit. I attempted to feel her tail to see if it had gotten wound around, but it didn't seem to go around her tail. I then tried to see if there was any kind of lump under the skin, thinking it might be a fish hook, but she again yelped, so I knew it was somewhat painful for her.

The vet was able to get me in this afternoon, and we were seen by a fill-in vet. After examining Liza, the vet came in and said she had never seen anything like it, and thought it was a spinal cord nerve sticking out of Liza's tail. Of course I'm thinking this is the craziest thing I've ever heard and just could not be possible; no injury, no open wound, how does a spinal cord nerve work it's way through the skin? Nuttiest thing I've ever heard. She said she wanted to clip it off close to the skin and then watch and wait, and return on Friday for follow-up. I asked that they please x-ray Liza's tail to confirm that there was no foreign body present.

I'm now sitting here waiting to go back to pick her up. After 30 years in cat rescue, I still can't wrap my head around this one. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

 

[Alldara]

I have no clue, but also curious to see what comes from the x-ray.

 

[neely]

Honestly I've never heard of this either but good for you to ask for an x-ray. That was very proactive. Can you ask the fill-in vet to consult with your regular vet? That might give you a little peace of mind.

 

[Gremlin's Guesthouse]

Vet office just called and x-ray showed no foreign body present. However, there is actually a wound present, which they shaved and cleaned. I asked the gal if she had ever heard of anything like this, and she said one of the other vets was familiar with it (not that it's all that common), so I guess it's a real thing. I'm still researching online, and below is something that offers a bit of explanation. I sure hope amputating the nerve doesn't cause some kind of paralysis, but can't imagine the nerve could be put back inside the tail????

These are the things you have to accept when you have an outside cat. We have one aggressive cat in the neighborhood, as well as raccoons, so I'm guessing she had a run-in with one of them. Liza began life as a feral kitten and there's no keeping her inside during the day. I just feel fortunate that she'll come in for the night.

ttps://www.spine-health.com › conditions › lower-back-pain › cauda-equina-syndrome
Cauda Equina Syndrome | Spine-health
The Cauda Equina and Its Function. The cauda equina gets its name from Latin for "horse's tail," because the nerves at the end of the spine visually resemble a horse's tail as they extend from the spinal cord, through the lumbar spine and over the sacrum, and down the back of each leg.. The cauda equina consists of about 10 pairs of nerve roots, some of which combine to form larger nerves ...