I read the extra wiki article on Cipro. My doctor mentions this to me in positive light, citing that he believes I got PN because I was prescribed NSAIDS along with the Cipro antibiotic. Essentially, he thinks I would NOT have gotten PN if I was not taking naproxen/Alieve along with it.

I don't know if this is true, but it seems to make sense.

The odd thing about this is that she feels certain that I will slowly heal, as she believes the damage to my nerves was interrupted when I stopped taking the drug.

Indeed, I did stop taking the drug once I felt the side effects. Basically that my nerves were damaged but notto a point where it's irreversible - or as she put it "not xtreme or severe".

Sometimes I get really depressed and I don't listen to their advice, (this coming from 2 neurologists) but I have to admit that their stern prognosis seems to be coming true.

A long while back, they told me that the severe pains would fade away as the weeks passed. That did happen. They also said that I would suffer from "mild-intermittent" pain for some months before they lightened. That has also occurred.

They also warned me about flare-ups and circumstances that could aggravate them - they were right about that, too.

Lastly, their prognosis and advice for me is as follows: "You will continue to heal as your nerves repair themselves. But bouts of depression can cause anxiety which causes excessive activity in the brain, which causes pain."

I think they mean that depression actually causes PN pain, which I thought was silly when I first considered it, but from other peoples' stories, I'm starting to believe it.

My neurologists say: "You've healed about 70% already - and you now only suffer from light pains and some bad flare-ups from time to time. If your nerves were damaged badly, you would not have felt this well in such a short amount of time no matter what meds you are taking."

She followed up with this last sentiment which I feel is probably the truth of it. "You'll eventually heal up, by next summer you'll most likely be healed to a point where you won't notice the pain much, if at all some days. But you'll probably always get some flare-ups from time to time that will be fairly painful, before returning to a normal health cycle. As someone that can initiate nerve pains from depression -it's best to take a better attitude about it."

Whether depression "induces" PN pain, I don't know. What is she saying, that PN is partially psychosomatic?

It seems she means that I will always have PN, but eventually at a level that will be far less painful and much more controllable. I have to agree with her, since this seems to be the level I'm already at right now. If I do get to the level she mentions by next summer -I'll be more than satisfied with that outcome.
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By the way, your cat looks a lot like mine. But mine is now 11 years old. She's still in fine health, though I feel she spends too much time out in my yard at night. (I think she's too old for that stuff now-a days. LOL) And I'm finding myself spending extra money for healthier cat foods and such. My cat has also been a long time freind to me, not just a pet....Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.