I'd make the drive to a specialist. It is worth the peace of mind. If it
helps, I've made a 3 hour (one way) drive more times than I can count. Just
having someone in the field say what he/she thinks is important. However,
the ones I have gone to often argue for aggressive treatment. You need to
talk to Paassht and see what she wants to do re chemo, radiation etc if this
proves to be the case with her.
If you have men who will
exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of
compassion and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with
their fellow man.
St.
Francis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Becca DuBose" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 3:27 PM
Subject: Fwd: Paassht
Hi,
I've just been lurking and reading for a few weeks. My little one,
Paassht, is 7-1/2 and tested positive for FeLV in 1999. She was very
healthy with nothing more than occasional URIs until September '05, when
she started losing weight. It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride
since then, back and forth to the vet, on and off antibiotics etc. About
10 days ago I took her in because she seemed dehydrated and they gave her
some fluid SQ. Within 36 hours or so she was almost back to her old self
but we went back this morning because the fatigue returned and I suspected
she was dehydrated again. She is eating very well but not regaining any
weight. I have been afraid it was cancer and sure enough, she has a
palpable intestinal mass. The vet doesn't believe she will recover and so
has recommended comfort care only. I had them give her fluids again since
that helped her feel so much better last week. The vet also sent us home
with very low dose prednisone to try PRN and we are continuing her
amoxicillin. I'd like to get a second opinion but our phone book lists no
specialists on veterinary oncology or internal medicine, just a handful of
clinics advertising cancer care (all of which are a 30-45 minute drive
away). There are some others billing themselves as cat specialist but
they are a similar distance away. The closest option is to take her to
see another generalist. She does OK in the car, but I don't want to drag
her all over town if it won't really help her. Even with the fluids this
morning I had to ask myself was it for her, or for me? What would you do
if Paassht were your kitty?
Becca & Paassht
