My special friend is Yogi, 17 years old.
He has had 6 vets in his lifetime and each has been different in their
approach to diagnosing and treating any illness he has had.
I would just like to say that in his last days I have done a lot of soul
searching and net searching...latterly, hopelessly, thinking I would find a
wonder cure for him. He had a lot of abcesses in his earlier years as he was
a 'defender' (not a scrapper), was often sick although it usually turned out
to be furballs. When he was 12 he was hit by a car and I nursed him at home,
as no treatment was given by the vet as she said he had fractured his hipand
not to let him jump up or down. So spent the week on a mattress/floor all
day and night with him.
When he was 11 I was told not to bother with leakemia vaccine for him as if
he hasnt contracted it by now he never will.
When he was 14 he had started being sick and having diarrohea and lost
weight. Took him to the vet,(after a lot of searching in Manchester trying
to find one that seemed to have time,let alone care, large practices seem to
be in it for the turn over! ..some with vets that cannot speak english well
enough) to whom we said money is no object!! what a cheque to write eh?...
but this was my friend whom I love deeply. He did all the tests and showed
us X rays that showed Yogi had thickening of the bowel walls and that he has
hypothyroidism. So three times aday Yogi was to have 5mg of
Neomercazol....this vetr was adamant this dosage could never be reduced
(although I have read since that it could be) and never explained further or
treated further the bowel wall thickening.(Having since read that this could
lead to lyphoma I wonder why he didn't) All I ever hear from Vets oh! he's a
good age...after all he's such and such an age....age is in my opinion only
relative when they get to around 19-20.
Yogi had in the last year had bouts of sickness once again and diarrohea,
this last spring was pretty bad his faces being yellow and very smelly. The
vet we currently have(and we live on an island so its not easy to say change
your vet) didnt respond until i pushed him for blood tests and faces test.
The latter he didnt want to do, so I found a specimen bottle at our doctors
and gave him that...nothin forthcoming for up to ten days and then
eventually I was told oh there was nothing. Blood tests all ok, only what
you would expect in a 'cat of his age'...what does this b...well mean for G
sake! Anyhow some probiotic mix later his tum settles a bit although it
continues to give problems from time to time...then....he is losing weight
and his appetite is slowing. You might think this is an older cat and so his
appetite will lessen and I would normally agree but I know my cat and I know
when his appetite is lessening due to 'age'...this wasn't. The same vet
examine him and said ,due he says to him being an FELv cat...as I confirmed
he had not been vaccinated against leukimia as the previous but one vet had
said not to bother,....he has alimentary lymphosarcoma. No tests no nothing
this is by feel of his abdomen alone. Nothing can be done he says. No
referral to Glasgow nothing.To top it all he told us to take Yogi off his
neomercazol. SO I find another vet who treats with Homeopathy, having read
in magazines etc about these vets thinking they can help him even if its
palliative...this one seemed pretty vague about what to do...nothing like
you see on the TV or read in the mags etc...(is it my fault for believing
these things...why is it all these other animals seem to be treated well
....am I just angry am I a bad judge of 'vet'..) when I asked of a nosode of
lymphosarcoma she treats him with phosphorus...which doesnt seem to be about
his immune system as she said but since finding out that this is more about
helping his symptoms of digestion/diarrohea/vomiting...he hate sthis one I
can tell you. However, she did dispense a muchroom based tablet which is
being used for HIV in humans and is apparently helpful in cancer in cats.
This does seem to have helped Yogi in palliative treatment. She at least
was willing to refer us to Glasgow.When we finally get to Glasgow...there is
such a waiting list!...after an examination we are told that Yogi should
nopt have come off his neomercazol and that either form of treatment
....chemo or surgery would be difficult in Yogi's case, his kidneys have
seeds on them and are small....due to previous kidney traumas. His weight
loss hasbn't helped...due in part ot weight loss after being taken off the
thyroid drug...she told us to put him back on his thyroid drug, which we
have done and he seems ok for it. Basically nothing can be done as she said
he has either adenocarcinoma or alimentary lymphosarcoma. The former would
require surgery adn the latter would need chem.
So here we are at home and I am desolate and devastated....all I wanted was
a vet to treat Yogi properly at each and every occasion...not to consider
the cost....but to consider all the possibilities each time adn follwoing
examinations to treat properly...not be lackadaisical or take short
cuts...some of these vets never did an initial exam...such as listening to
heart/lungs, atking temperature or smelling this breath.....
The worst part is I know that I will have to argue with this vet to get him
to do a home visit when the time comes for Yogi to pass on.
If any vets ever read this...please remember these aniamls are not 'Just
cats' as one vet said to me....they hold a special place in their human
friends hearts, mean a great deal to them, ...all we ask is you treat them
with respect, care and pay attention to each animal being uniquely different
so look at their symptoms and pay attention to detail....if need be ask
whether money is an issue...you may be surprised that there are some of us
out here for whom we would spend whatever it takes to make our friends feel
well again and whole....or at least help them to feel good as we would our
human friends and relatives. For me Yogi has been my friend, confidante,
surrogate child and soul mate and I know that in the next life I will see
him again....that will make up for the pain I am going through now feeling
that I didnt fight enough for him or find the right vets to take proper care
of him.
Please if you are going to be a Vet ....you must like animals and continue
to like them throughut your career as one...never for a moment forget these
ar sentient beings.
Apologies for those of you who think I am nuts but I care passionately about
animals...who cannot speak up for themselves..so someone has to.