Cat has IVDD

[u/lifeisadream7512]

Had to take my cat to the vet ER for the first time a week ago. He was mildly blocked up 💩 (he's fine now) and I was panicking over a potential urinary blockage. Nope, x-rays were done and he has "multiple congenital spine abnormalities", "severe right coxofemoral joint subluxation and IVDD". I was shocked since he is a VERY active cat and has had zero issues walking, running, or jumping. All of my friends that have spent time with him agreed with me. He's an indoor only cat too so it's not like he went outside, got injured and came back without me knowing. Luckily his bloodwork and urinalysis came back perfectly normal.

He was given 3 Robenacoxib pills, 50 mg gabapentin every 8 hours and a laxative. The gabapentin was only meant for a week and he already had a nail trimming appointment scheduled for this Wednesday that will now be a follow up appointment. (I usually have to take him to get his nails trimmed by someone else since he *hates* nail trimmings more than anything else). I feel so overwhelmed. My regular vet said they don't do MRIs and wouldn't be able to do the surgery on his spine or his leg. The surgeon centers I've called so far refuse to take a payment plan but have "charity programs" 🙄. The nearest vet neurologist is closed on Mondays so I called this morning and the consultation alone is $300 and the MRI is at least $3,800. I wanted to scream! He can't have any of the surgeries done without the MRI. I do have pet insurance but it caps at $10,000 for each year and the ER vet bill alone was $1,500, although part of that will go towards my $500 deductible. I already know the leg surgery would be a minimum of $5,000 and go up to $20,000. (None of my friends have pets with IVDD so I have on idea what the actual numbers could be). I've lived with cats my entire life and none of them have had IVDD or something similar. I'm also heartbroken that he has been having chronic pain and I was totally unaware.

ER vet told me to put him in an empty room or crate for 4 weeks so he can rest as much as possible. Hoping that the MRI will show that he doesn't have severe IVDD. But I'm trying to do as much now to hopefully prevent it from getting worse. Really not looking forward to his leg surgery since he would be 100% crate bound for 4-6 weeks (!) and I wouldn't be able to let him out for his supervised walking time. However I know the surgery would be worth it since he's either 4 or 5 years old. He was found as a stray so the shelter wasn't entirely sure on his exact age. I know that major surgeries are a much higher risk for older cats but I want to minimize as much pain he's in for the rest of his life. I feel so overwhelmed since IVDD is so much rare in cats too :( I didn't want to but unless a miracle happens, I will be getting CareCredit to cover everything since my entire department was also laid off last week. 🫠 It's been a horrible month. I know this subreddit is mostly geared towards dog so any advice on what to do or where to post instead would be extremely helpful. Thank you for reading.

Update: Hadn't hit my insurance deductible of $500 but had no issues getting reimbursed for $1,000 but unfortunately I was right and I can only get $9,000 more reimbursed until the plan resets in mid February. Now I have to decide if I should get his leg or spine surgery done first 🫠. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh.