Strange story...opinions please

rec.pets.cats.health+behav, AJ
) said,
I would have
gladly dished out more money had I known that she had a fighting
chance!

That changes things.

Now I'm confused again. :-S

Laura
--
So am I. The original post said:
"He stated that she was not reponding to antibiotics, or IV fluids, and wanted
to continue with more tests. At this point my husband and I decided to have her
put to sleep. Our bill was already escalating, and there was no improvement."
I had interpreted this to mean that the escalating bill factored into the
decision to euthanize. Later posts indicate that it did not.

Sherry

That changes things.

Now I'm confused again. :-S

Laura
--
So am I. The original post said:
"He stated that she was not reponding to antibiotics, or IV fluids, and wanted
to continue with more tests. At this point my husband and I decided to have her
put to sleep. Our bill was already escalating, and there was no improvement."
I had interpreted this to mean that the escalating bill factored into the
decision to euthanize. Later posts indicate that it did not.

Sherry

Well of course the escalating bill was a factor. BECAUSE she was
showing NO signs of improvement.She was still not eating, she was
still vomitting, she was still lethargic, and wasting away. Its kind
of like keeping a human on life support. He was trying to offer me
hope by offering to continue tests, BUT he told me this was not good
and that she was very sick. BUT had I known that she had a turnaround
the very next day I most definately would have brought her home. He
had already performed numerous tests all which revealed that without a
doubt she was very sick. Was money THE deciding factor? No of course
not and if I made it sound that way it was a mistake, was money A
factor? Of course, I found it hard to pay this man thousands of
dollars for the treatment of my cat when I was led to believe that she
was going to die anyway. I myself have liver disease, AND four
children to support. I made a tough decision that I felt was right for
everbody involved. There are people that opt to have animals pts for
minor illnesses, I could understand why a vet would want to break the
rules on this one (not that I agree with it)I do not fall into this
category though. The bottom line is on Monday this man admitted to me
that he agreed with my initial decision to put her down, and that she
was VERY ill and things looked bad. If she had a turnaround I can
honestly think of no reason he wouldnt inform me.
Amy

That changes things.

Now I'm confused again. :-S

Laura
--
So am I. The original post said:
"He stated that she was not reponding to antibiotics, or IV fluids, and wanted
to continue with more tests. At this point my husband and I decided to have her
put to sleep. Our bill was already escalating, and there was no improvement."
I had interpreted this to mean that the escalating bill factored into the
decision to euthanize. Later posts indicate that it did not.

Sherry

Well of course the escalating bill was a factor. BECAUSE she was
showing NO signs of improvement.She was still not eating, she was
still vomitting, she was still lethargic, and wasting away. Its kind
of like keeping a human on life support. He was trying to offer me
hope by offering to continue tests, BUT he told me this was not good
and that she was very sick. BUT had I known that she had a turnaround
the very next day I most definately would have brought her home. He
had already performed numerous tests all which revealed that without a
doubt she was very sick. Was money THE deciding factor? No of course
not and if I made it sound that way it was a mistake, was money A
factor? Of course, I found it hard to pay this man thousands of
dollars for the treatment of my cat when I was led to believe that she
was going to die anyway. I myself have liver disease, AND four
children to support. I made a tough decision that I felt was right for
everbody involved. There are people that opt to have animals pts for
minor illnesses, I could understand why a vet would want to break the
rules on this one (not that I agree with it)I do not fall into this
category though. The bottom line is on Monday this man admitted to me
that he agreed with my initial decision to put her down, and that she
was VERY ill and things looked bad. If she had a turnaround I can
honestly think of no reason he wouldnt inform me.
Amy

If he is a computer technician, master of broadcast media, and protector of
cats, then why is he on the newsgroups instead of actually working? It seems
he has plenty of time to spend online.



ROFL!!

Sherry

If he is a computer technician, master of broadcast media, and protector of
cats, then why is he on the newsgroups instead of actually working? It seems
he has plenty of time to spend online.



ROFL!!

Sherry

So am I. The original post said:
"He stated that she was not reponding to antibiotics, or IV fluids, and
wanted
to continue with more tests. At this point my husband and I decided to have
her
put to sleep. Our bill was already escalating, and there was no
improvement."
I had interpreted this to mean that the escalating bill factored into the
decision to euthanize. Later posts indicate that it did not.

Sherry

Well of course the escalating bill was a factor. BECAUSE she was
showing NO signs of improvement.She was still not eating, she was
still vomitting, she was still lethargic, and wasting away. Its kind
of like keeping a human on life support. He was trying to offer me
hope by offering to continue tests, BUT he told me this was not good
and that she was very sick. BUT had I known that she had a turnaround
the very next day I most definately would have brought her home.

Amy, I'm not criticizing your decision *at all.* I do understand and you
certainly have my sympathy for the emotional rollercoaster you've been put on.
The decision to euthanize is an agonizing one.
In all the debate here, (and I could have missed a post)...I haven't read how
your kitty is doing right now. Are there any improvements? Have you had a
chance to see a specialist?

Sherry

So am I. The original post said:
"He stated that she was not reponding to antibiotics, or IV fluids, and
wanted
to continue with more tests. At this point my husband and I decided to have
her
put to sleep. Our bill was already escalating, and there was no
improvement."
I had interpreted this to mean that the escalating bill factored into the
decision to euthanize. Later posts indicate that it did not.

Sherry

Well of course the escalating bill was a factor. BECAUSE she was
showing NO signs of improvement.She was still not eating, she was
still vomitting, she was still lethargic, and wasting away. Its kind
of like keeping a human on life support. He was trying to offer me
hope by offering to continue tests, BUT he told me this was not good
and that she was very sick. BUT had I known that she had a turnaround
the very next day I most definately would have brought her home.

Amy, I'm not criticizing your decision *at all.* I do understand and you
certainly have my sympathy for the emotional rollercoaster you've been put on.
The decision to euthanize is an agonizing one.
In all the debate here, (and I could have missed a post)...I haven't read how
your kitty is doing right now. Are there any improvements? Have you had a
chance to see a specialist?

Sherry

AJ wrote in om on 28 Jan
2004:

The bottom line is on Monday this man admitted to me
that he agreed with my initial decision to put her down, and that she
was VERY ill and things looked bad. If she had a turnaround I can
honestly think of no reason he wouldnt inform me.


Amy, I've been deliberately staying out of this one other than to silently
wish your family and Abby good thoughts and purrs that she pulls through.
While not having the exact same situation as you, I did have a very sick
cat who I had made the decision to have PTS several times over during his
ordeal. The one that stands out the most is a few days after he had to have
surgery to correct a problem botched by the internist (at her expense) he
suddenly threw a blood clot and his PCV was 4 (IIRC which value - it was
the one they said was normally way above 24) and he needed a blood
transfusion to save his life. The poor cat had already been through so much
and there were no guarentees that the BT would even save him. She (the
internist) flat out told me that if my decision was to PTS that she or one
of her techs would take him home and adopt him. Of course this was because
his problems were all his fault and she couldn't bear for me to make that
decision without letting her try to save him. I was torn, too. Let her
save him at her expense (or TRY to) and put him through so much more, just
because of her ego, or let him go to the bridge. Well of course I wasn't
going to let her take him so I felt I had no choice but to let him have the
transfusion which did save his life, but now he is infected with FeLV. I
could have taken him to another vet to be PTS. This could have been a
clear lawsuit situation, also, but I never did it because mainly I was just
plain too worn out emotionally to go through court battles just to get my
money back. Though I should have had her board investigate her to make sure
what she did to Shadow she didn't repeat on any other animals.

Sorry so long, just my own story of malpractice and if it wasn't nearly two
years ago, I'd report her now. Yes, he is still alive and kicking. A
real fighter. Take care and I hope Abby recovers.

--
Cheryl

Trapped like rats. In a chia-pet.
MIB II

AJ wrote in om on 28 Jan
2004:

The bottom line is on Monday this man admitted to me
that he agreed with my initial decision to put her down, and that she
was VERY ill and things looked bad. If she had a turnaround I can
honestly think of no reason he wouldnt inform me.


Amy, I've been deliberately staying out of this one other than to silently
wish your family and Abby good thoughts and purrs that she pulls through.
While not having the exact same situation as you, I did have a very sick
cat who I had made the decision to have PTS several times over during his
ordeal. The one that stands out the most is a few days after he had to have
surgery to correct a problem botched by the internist (at her expense) he
suddenly threw a blood clot and his PCV was 4 (IIRC which value - it was
the one they said was normally way above 24) and he needed a blood
transfusion to save his life. The poor cat had already been through so much
and there were no guarentees that the BT would even save him. She (the
internist) flat out told me that if my decision was to PTS that she or one
of her techs would take him home and adopt him. Of course this was because
his problems were all his fault and she couldn't bear for me to make that
decision without letting her try to save him. I was torn, too. Let her
save him at her expense (or TRY to) and put him through so much more, just
because of her ego, or let him go to the bridge. Well of course I wasn't
going to let her take him so I felt I had no choice but to let him have the
transfusion which did save his life, but now he is infected with FeLV. I
could have taken him to another vet to be PTS. This could have been a
clear lawsuit situation, also, but I never did it because mainly I was just
plain too worn out emotionally to go through court battles just to get my
money back. Though I should have had her board investigate her to make sure
what she did to Shadow she didn't repeat on any other animals.

Sorry so long, just my own story of malpractice and if it wasn't nearly two
years ago, I'd report her now. Yes, he is still alive and kicking. A
real fighter. Take care and I hope Abby recovers.

--
Cheryl

Trapped like rats. In a chia-pet.
MIB II

Sherry, I thought I posted the update, I have been posting to a few
NG's.
I took her to a new vet yesterday. According to the physical exam the
vet said she looks good. She is eating regularly and keeping her food
down. She had blood taken and we will not have all the results back
until Monday. The vet offered to keep her there for me (yeah right) I
will not be letting Abby out of my sight! The vet also seemed a bit
suspicious, who could blame her after all this story sounds like some
kind of urban legend! Good thing I have the humane society to back me
up. They scanned her microchip to be sure she was my cat. They had a
hard time taking blood from her. All the veins in her legs were shot
and bruised :-( so she had to draw blood from her neck. They made me
wait outside but I could hear Abby crying in the room, my God it was
awful. I did not tell the new vet who the original vet is. The vet
also told me that if this is kidney disease the tests may come back
normal unless she is having a flare up, also she thought maybe there
was a chance that Abby had gotten into something that made her very
ill, but then she recovered, but this is just speculation of course.I
guess it will be a mystery for now. The best part of all this is that
Abby is just so happy to be back home, she has been super
affectionate, purring constantly.
Thank you all so much for responding, it has helped me SO much posting
here.
I will continue to update. I will be out of town next week from
Mon.-Thurs. unfortunately, but as soon as I get back I will let you
all know how she is doing.
Amy