Pandora and I went back to see TED this evening. I needed to talk
through all the options with him regarding her cruciate ligament injury
and I needed him to explain exactly what she had done and how it would
get fixed. Thank you all for your offers of support and purrs, they have
helped a lot.

I like Mike (TED) very much. He always has time for his clients and he
treats his patients with incredible gentleness and respect. He doesn't
differentiate between the scruffiest feral moggie - Pandora, and a top
Bengal Stud-cat, GCCF International Grand Champion Highways "Gonzo"
Peekaboo (who was getting his shots and who was STUNNING and knew it
;o)). This particular TED also tries very hard to keep up to date with
current research, and is very open to new ideas. I have a lot of time
for him.

Anyway, Mike explained at length what Pandora has managed to do using a
cat skeleton and diagrams. (She's knackered and torn her cruciate, which
I knew) and the treatment options. Apparently, although he's seen
hundereds of similar injuries, he's only ever operated on a cat cruciate
on one occasion, and that was because the joint had become so seriously
unstable there was problems with the muscles remaining attached in the
right place.

He went on to say that with 6-8 weeks rest, we *should* be out of the
woods and I should start seeing my little ballerina again. Rather than
stress Pan out with anti-inflamatories every day, he's given her a long
lasting depo shot into the joint to try and help the inflamation and
make her more comfortable. Pandora was as good as gold, and didn't
protest once apart from the obligatory hiss to let TED know how mean and
nasty she was ;o).

She's back for assessment in 2 weeks, and we'll see how she is doing
then. Please keep up the purrs, they do seem to be helping.

Helen M