We had quite a scarey moment involving Ivy the other day. I was at school and LadyRanger was here. Ivy visited the Litterbox, which sits right next to the computer upon which LadyRanger was working. Nothing unusual to begin with, but then Ivy stumbled about 5 feet from the box. Ivy was alternately walking a step or two, then dragging her back legs, which seemed to not work. Poor cat was leaving skidmarks across the floor and was nonchalantly trying to get to the kitchen for a water-bowl raid, pausing only to throw up in the hall. LadyRanger immediately alerted the vet she was incoming, scooped Ivy up, ensconced her in her carrier and defied traffic regulations for the short trip to the office. Ivy was seen at once. (note: Ivy is a favorite at the vets' office since she's shown such courage since being found 2 1/2 years ago. That and she's a pretty gentle patient) When Dr G. took Ivy out of the carrier to see how bad the back legs were acting, Ivy simply toddled around the office with a perfectly normal (for her) stride, giving off an aire of wondering what the fuss was all about.
No cause was discovered, no impairment was noticed, no discomfort or disconsolation was witnessed. Dr G. said that Ivy had good circulation in both legs, so it wasn't a blood clot. She also ruled out this being caused by any of Ivy's other conditions.
Bizarre.
We really don't know what to make of this episode. Was it just a spasm or other temporary issue? (I mean, who here hasn't had a bathroom trip you were lucky to walk away from?)(Ick!) Or is it all a piece of the general deterioration of old-age? Is this just another step on the final downward spiral? LadyRanger and Dr G. spent some time talking about end-of-life issues for Ivy. We've got another appointment scheduled for tuesday to discuss this again. We are now in that terrible position that I suppose we all have to face: when do we make the decision for Ivy?

Oh for God's sake...I'm staying in here 'til you get this out of your system...
We don't want her to experience fear or pain near the end, but we *certainly* don't want to (almost literally) pull the trigger too early. We'd love some advice from anyone who has it to offer.
The interesting? confusing? reassuring? thing about all this is that she doesn't seem to have lost any capability to enjoy life. Once home from the vet, she immediately did what Dr G told LadyRanger to *not* let her do: get up on the bed by herself:
What?
Ivy had a nap on the bed too, and kept getting up and down on her own with no sign of discomfort or futher impairment. Go figure.
Even did the favorite "Cat Leaning into the Sunlight" thing:
In short, Ivy seems to be every bit her usual self. Dr G. didn't want Ivy jumping around on her own, simply because she was afraid Ivy would hurt herself. Our experience over the past three days is that you simply can't stop Ivy. Certainly can't stop her from napping in the sun:
or being extremely cute when she does so:
Anyways, thanks to LadyRanger for pics 2-4. And thank you for stopping by. If you have any words of wisdom for us, let us know. We'd appreciate any purrs and prayers. We are a bit scared, but Ivy keeps giving us courage.
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