Hi Belinda, Thanks for writing. I totally understand how you feel and just wanted to respond. My vet has worked with my leuk positives for several years now and is amazing. I've spent years working at different veterinary offices and I do know how lousy some of them are. I also know how cold and heartless some of them can be when it comes to caring for our babies. Lucky for me, that is not my vet. She takes amazing care of our kitties and I have all the confidence in the world in her. They don't push me to do things just to make money but they also will stop at nothing to help my kitties when they need to. I have spent so many thousands of dollars trying to help these guys. We've done chemo, we've done ultrasounds, steroids, antibiotics, fluids, etc., the list goes on and on. I have always tried to save my babies in the past, sparing no expense and doing everything possible. The problem is, in my experience, I always lose them to the leukemia eventually. Then sometimes I feel bad that I put them through those last couple weeks or days and wonder if they suffered. It's a personal decision and one everybody must make but Maverick was miserable and for us we just knew when we found him sleeping in the bathtub and not wanting to be bothered anymore.
I am listening to everything you have said and I will ask my vet about these things because more knowledge is always a wonderful thing. She always goes and does research on anything unusual we come across and I always do the same. She spends hours with my cats and hours on the phone with me. With this cat, things came on very quickly. I'm still left with unanswered questions because I wasn't expecting this and I didn't see it coming. However, I do know there weren't any signs of liver failure two days ago when we saw the bloodwork, both chem panel and CBC. As far as food goes, she told me he needed to eat. She gave me tons of ideas for trying to get him to eat and I asked about force feeding. He couldn't keep anything I gave him down. He just kept throwing it up. My only other choice would have been to hospitalize him and try bringing him back but he's just not that type of cat. Way too much attitude, spirit, and personality to handle that. Hard to explain but totally not an option for this guy. I'll always wonder if I did everything I could for him but I have to trust that I did. These cats mean the world to me and this one was actually rescued by my vet. He started coming around her barn and she brought him in to neuter him. He tested positive and she called me. We've all been very attached to him ever since so she had as much interest in saving him as I did :( Thanks again for all the info and I will make it a point to read and learn even more about this disease. I owe it to Maverick and I just hope I didn't let him down or fail him in any way. Amy > Amy, > I don't think your vet is very good, yellow is a > sure sign of liver failure and it doesn't happen > overnight. Blood tests should have shown there was a > problem and if your vet didn't mention it I'd run to find > another vet. > > If Maverick wasn't eating well he probably developed > hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease, this can happen > after only a day or two of an cat not eating enough. > Even if a cat is eating but very little this can happen, > this is curable by syringe feeding or a feeding tube, in > other words food is the cure, no cat should die from > this. Too many vets don't pay attention when we tell > them our cats aren't eating very much or at all, this should > be a huge red flag to any vet to investigate further but so > few do. > > I am writing this email because too few people understand > just how deadly it is for a cat to go without food, it can > kill them quickly. That on top of the anemia was just > too much for Maverick's compromised body to deal with. > Any vet who doesn't make a point of letting a client know > they need to get food into a cat that isn't eating enough > isn't worth anything in my book. > > Please, please people, if your cat is not eating, syringe > feed, spoon feed, put food on your finger and put it in > their mouths, get a feeding tube put in ... fatty liver > disease is almost always curable even when a cat looks like > it is on deaths door, food, enough food will almost always > bring the cat back .... > > Many people think when a cat is sick and stops eating it is > letting you know it is ready to die, this is not always the > case, think about it, when you are feeling very sick do you > feel like eating, I know I don't. And with a cat, they > feel sick, they don't eat, they don't eat, they get weaker > and feel sicker, they feel sicker, of course they aren't > going to eat. This cycle is going to obviously kill > the cat if there is no intervention. I will never > understand why this is so hard to fathom. > > All that said this is my own personal opinion and up front > I am one of those people who will go to extreme measures to > try and save my furkids, in some peoples minds maybe too > far, but that is how I am and would want the same for myself > ... I have seen enough miracles happen when I have been told > my furkids aren't going to make it and I wouldn't give up > and they lived years longer ... that is why I have to keep > trying. I know not everyone is of the same mind and > that is fine because we all have our beliefs but when I see > animals miss a chance because of a vet that isn't very > knowledgeable about something it just kills me. > > I sorry for your loss Amy, Maverick is in a better place > now. Take care ... > > PS. I'm mad at the lack of care Maverick received > from the "professionals" not at anything you did, just > wanted to make that clear. > > -- > Belinda > happiness is being owned by cats ... > > http://bemikitties.com > > http://BelindaSauro.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
