Re: FeLV

[Wheezercat42]

In a message dated 1/8/2005 3:51:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Regretfully, I was not thinking straight and I had him cremated before I could even suggest an autopsy. I did mean the way he past, seems to be a bit odd as far as I can tell my case is a rare case with the bleeding, so am I sure my vet did everything she could....NO. Am I sure it was only FeLV...with the help of this site I would have to again say NO. Am I sure that waiting until Monday was best, maybe that day could have helped him.....again the answer is NO, I have major guilt that I can not shake. The vet's skills and opinions aside, do you feel that you did the best you could for him (knowing what you knew at the time - not what you know now)?  Keep in mind that hind sight is 20/20 - it's easy to see mistakes or things you missed after the event - especially if you've never experienced the event before.  In situations like this, there are no easy answers, and decisions we hope we never have to make can be taken out of our hands - it sounds like nature took the decision about Snowball's survival out of yours.  His passing is not your fault.  Sometimes, we don't know why people or animals pass.  Many people die from "failure to thrive" which is basically a diagnostic phrase meaning "this person is dying and we have no idea why".  I work for the second largest hospice in Ohio.  Most of the patients I get called out to care for have the diagnoses  of either "cancer" (of varying types), "failure to thrive" or a specific organ failure.  The vast majority are from one of the first two.    When my Pasu died, she looked fine all day.  Around 4 p.m., she threw up and looked a little queasy, so I made an appointment for the vet for the next day, she looked like she just needed a little amoxy and centrine.  At 6 p.m., she had explosive watery diarrhea, so I called off work and took her to the ER vet.  By the time we got there, she was starting a mournful howl.  By 8 p.m., it was obvious she wasn't going to make it through the night, so I had them help her to the bridge by 8:30.  We know that she had no food in her digestive system, she had no blockages, her blood work showed that her glucose was out of whack, but her BUN and creatinine were within normal limits, and there was no sign of thickening of the walls of her intestines - so an inflamed or irritated bowel were unlikely.  We know she had FeLV, but there was no explanation for why she crashed.  I've had to get used to the idea that sometimes, the best answer as to cause of death is "complications of FeLV" (or whatever other underlying illness they had).  Pasu was 5 years old and had been FeLV+ for 3 years and a month, and had not shown any symptoms before that night.   As long as we do the best that we can for those that are in our care, as long as we stay alert to changes (weight, appetite, drinking, condition, etc.) in those that are in our care (and act on it), as long as we learn from our mistakes and try to teach what we've learned to others, and as long as we remember that many serious diseases have very similar symptoms as minor bugs and some animals are extraordinarily good at hiding medical problems until they're at deaths' door, then when one crosses over to the other side, we can honestly say we did our best and forgive ourselves. Because they already have.   Where there's life, there's hope. "Chance Favors the prepared mind." ~ Louis Pasteur Kathy