Neala's Legacy

Already, a week after Neala's loss, I received an email from a wonderful Bengal breeder who has a little boy who has the symptoms of PRAA. She has had him to the vet already, but no barium xrays were performed, so that is her next step.



Unlike Neala, Johnny has already had a close call or two with death. His Mom and Dad have lavished a lot of time and care on him to nurse him through those periods- and they will continue to fight the good fight, as long as Johnny has the strength to keep going.



Please keep Johnny in your thoughts and prayers! I'm going to ask his Mom for a photo of him...



The funny thing with PRAA is that it's preferrable to have PRAA with mega-e then just mega-e. There is NO fix for mega-esophagus; there are medications to help with it, but no 'fix' per se. PRAA corrective surgery is THE fix for kittens that have mega-e secondary to PRAA. The surgery may not completely fix the mega-e, depending upon the chance of nerve damage, but oftentimes, with surgery, the animal will eventually be able to eat normally after enough time has passed, the esophagus healed, and the kitten is weaned from slurry to wet food to even possibly kibble.



We are going to a cat show next weekend- a big one. We had paid for it about a month before Neala was diagnosed and then decided we couldn't go because Neala would need hands-on care and one of our Queens was pregnant and due the week of the cat show as well. Neala went to the Bridge and my Queen miscarried while we were in Utah, tending to Neala- so I have no reason NOT to go.



We will be passing out very basic flyers to the cat show participants about PRAA- what to watch out for, how to diagnose it, how to treat it. It might not sound important, but it is- the sooner PRAA is recognized, the sooner it can be treated. And more valuable data can be collected on it if more people realize it for what it is.