When you are not conflicted and at peace you will have the right decision.
As long as you are struggling you have not found the answer that is right
for you and Olive.
Further, if you make the decision to do nothing and it is an informed
decision (one I have made and I know it is hard to accept) you are in fact
doing something. And you are not a murderer.
Give Olive the longest, best quality life you can. The operative word is
quality.
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: "Megan Heikkinen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "felvtalk" <[email protected]>; "wendy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 1:07 PM
Subject: RE: Update on Olive: Dilemma...
I am endlessly conflicted. I think I'll have resigned myself to something,
then I'll change my mind, then I decide to do something else, and then I
get
on here and feel horrible for not doing anything, so I feel like I really
need
to now. I have to admit, the list has been helpful, but it's also been
causing
me a lot of stress. If I had never known about this group, then I could've
just accepted the vet's word and been better able to cope with Olive's
death.
Now I feel like I'm little better than a murderer. It's no fault of you
all. I
just sort of wish I hadn't joined the list sometimes... It's making it so
much
harder to not do anything.
I don't know why you brought up the doxy shot. That was never offered to
me as
an option... The problem with putting her on any meds is that she is going
to
have to have another transfusion, and it will probably have to be today. I
don't know if my vet called around for blood--I think he might've called a
few
places--but a lot of the vets around here don't seem to have donors. I
called
about five other ones, and only one actually had a donor cat, and they
didn't
even know its type. The vet school has blood, but they won't send it to
other
vets. And I cannot afford going there.
It's getting to the point where I'm going to be too late to help Olive. I
want
to help her, I really really do, but this is something that I obviously
can't
handle. I don't have tons of money, and I don't have tons of time because
of
classes. I'm also inexperienced in matters like this. Nobody is helping
me,
really, and it's making me have a nervous breakdown.
===== Original Message From wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> =====
Hey Megan,
Make sure you do research on the doxy shot. The protocol for
hemobaronella is
3 weeks of consecutive treatment with pills (not sure of the dosage). How
long will a doxy shot last? I would pill her instead, especially if your
vet
doesn't know much about hemobart. I've never heard of just doing a doxy
shot
and nothing else. If he is doing the doxy shot in conjuntion with pills,
and
the treatment will last AT LEAST three weeks, that might be ok.
Immunity doesn't always develop with Epogen. If it's hemobart, and the
doxy
works which it should, is Epogen necessary? Anyone have any ideas on
this? I
would do research on this as well. The stats for immunity to Epogen I
think
are 1 in 3 cats, but not sure on this. Still, if Olive needs it and is
going
to die without RBC's, I think a 33% chance of reaction is not a bad
statistic.
Why is it up to you to find a blood donor for your kitty? We don't go
looking
for a donor when we need blood. Can't your vet call around and see if he
can
find some blood at another vet's? Or can you call around and see if any
vet's
have a donor cat that they keep around? Many do.
I can't say I'm 100% positive on this, but the chance that your other two
are
still at risk is small because one, they all came from the same litter,
and
I'm betting Olive got it from momma, and two, even if not, chances are
they've
already been exposed and I'm pretty sure they can't be exposed twice to
the
same strain. Not enough is known on strains yet.
:)
Wendy
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can
change
the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade
~~~
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