Oscar lives!!

Oscar's prognosis is looking up: Dr. Marks is the 1st of 4 vets to finally figure out the underlying problem (4 vets, 2 years, and maybe $2,000).

She took an x-ray and found that he has several fused vertebra from some old spinal injury. (The minute she said that , I knew what it was: his previous owner's pit bull grabbed him by the throat and shook him like a rag doll). Anyway, one of the fused sections has enclosed the bundle of nerves that communicates with the digestive system. Hence his repeated "episodes". She also suspects his back hurts to posture, which adds to the problem.

Unfortunately, the $5,000 surgery she first mentioned would not be helpful, because he would just need it all over again in a couple of years. Also, the fused disks cannot be repaired. However, she can remove the part of his digestive system that is "incommunicado" - a sort of bypass, if you will. It will unfortunately result in life-long incontinence, a trade-off I am totally willing to make. Also, the surgery will cost about $2,000 and my Dad has offered to loan me the $ till next summer when I earn the big $$.

Oscar will go into surgery next Thurs and should be recovered by the time we move to Vegas mid-May. Phew!