Woburn - Oct. 3, 2007 – Some stories are unusual, yet have happy endings. This is one of them:
A Bedford, MA resident found a stray cat with no collar or tags. The cat’s front leg and neck had shaved areas that implied it had recently undergone a veterinary procedure. Not knowing what else to do, she brought it to a local veterinary hospital. The orange and white Domestic Medium Hair cat was not recognizable to Dr. Leavey at VCA City Cats in Arlington.
However, she did recognize the shaved patches as being indicative of a cat who had recently had a catheter placed, and possibly undergone a spinal tap. Armed with this knowledge, Dr. Leavey called local board-certified neurologists to see if this cat matched any recent patients.
One of the calls reached Dr. Mark Troxel, DACVIM (neurology), a board-certified neurologist at Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn. Both of our boarded neurologists, Drs. Gena Silver, DACVIM (neurology) and Mark Troxel, DACVIM (neurology), had worked on the case in August 2007. Dr. Troxel had performed a spinal tap to look for signs of inflammation, infection and some forms of cancer. Cerebrospinal Fluid analysis (CSF, or “spinal tap”) is a very commonly used diagnostic tool to help diagnose many conditions affecting the brain and/or spinal cord.
Dr. Troxel immediately called Waffles’ owners to see if they were missing their cat. The owner (and Waffles) are Lexington residents. Waffles had been missing for the last few days and the owner was very concerned. Dr. Troxel put Dr. Leavey & the owner in touch with each other. Waffles is safe and sound and back at home where he belongs.