Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
Hello! I imgine that this is akin to how I feel when family members are ill. Im always encouraged when professionals are prepared to admit they dont know - your vets, I mean. It sounds as though they know how they want to move forwards, but of course there's a cost attatched and there's a chance they still won't see the culprit with standard vet imaging equipment. Sensibly, they have been honest about this also. Sometimes, faecal incontinence is caused by a lump etc, which might be obvious with simple imaging, but it can actually be hard to see that sort of thing in a poohey area. I wonder whether contrast radiography has been completey eclipsed by the MRI machine now. Of course, there may be muscle or nerve-related factors - which might not be so easily pictured. They might even see a lump or wall thickening that they cannot identify (as you'll appreciate, its a risky area to biopsy and not something Id attempt). I'm not sure what level of vets are working on this case at the moment and whethr a neurological exam would be useful. If resources were available, I might be wondering abut referral to a multidisciplinary centre, with surgeons, neurologists, medics and imging specialists all in one place. However, your vets can see more than me so may have a clearer idea of their next steps. It sounds as though there are still boods they'd like to check, for instance, and they may prefer to do this themselves before eg referral / further tests. Asking a) what are the top five things it could be and b) what needs to be done to rule the out? Might provde a good basis as to where to go - please will you keep us posted?
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