I have news, but it isn't good.
Yesterday we drove 1.5 hours to the state veterinary college to have her checked out. We got there at 10:30 and didn't leave until after 5. It will take 2-3 weeks for the culture to grow to test to see if it is the slightly better bacteria, but based on looking at it they think it is.
Sadly, slightly better isn't much better at all. Her blood work and other tests showed that the bacteria has invaded her entire body and she is in bad shape. She is still a happy cat, albeit not herself. We decided we wanted to take her home and just keep her comfortable until the time comes. We couldn't bear the thought of putting her down after such a terrible day for her. This still means 3 antibiotics a day. There is a slight chance they could help her to improve drastically, but the antibiotics are also known to reduce liver function, which is already low on her. The vet doesn't think she has long to live. Even if she does do well on the medication, eventually they will stop working and the vet thinks given her history that will be sooner than later. We suspect we will be making a very difficult decision in a few days.
Then there is the other part. If she does have the bacteria they think she has she is safe around most people, but not the very young, the very old, people with a suppressed immune system, and pregnant women. Obviously that is a problem for us. I have already been exposed so we decided taking her home wasn't going to change much, but I am calling my OB today to find out what he recommends for testing for me. We're just hoping we haven't already lost the baby from this. We don't know how long this has been in her system. Her blood work in January was clear, but we conceived in February so she could have had this from the start of the pregnancy. My husband is handling her medication and everything else with her to limit my exposure. Once she dies we need to sterilize the entire house just to be safe. The good news is the likelihood of either of us having this is extremely small and the chances of passing it on to someone else are even smaller. It's true that people in the groups I listed above are at a higher risk, but typically this bacteria cannot transmit from animal to human or human to animal.
I have lived through a lot of difficult situations: sudden deaths of close friends and immediate family, disabilities and diseases in my immediate family, etc. This, however, has been one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. Not only are we losing our cat, but we don't know how or if we or our baby have been affected.
My husband is a medical resident and has talked to the attending doctors at his clinic about all this and they are all confident that we are safe, but this bacteria is extremely rare so we won't know for sure until they figure out a way to test us (they're still researching the best way to even do that). At least we are all fairly certain it is not TB. I suppose that is the silver lining.
Thank you for the support. It means so much to know there are people out there thinking about us. I am having lunch with a friend today and telling her about my pregnancy. I need to be able to share all of this with someone and I just can't do that to our families just yet.
DH and I are really anxious to know what it is 
So sad and sorry to hear this Karoolia. As Sunbeam says, with 5 cats of our own, I understand the emotions involved in them being unwell and losing them. You're under such a lot of stress at the moment; I hope you can find some ways to relax. Lot of love! x
