I second that! It makes such a difference to work with a collaborative, progressive vet.
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Ultimately, we are only sure of the one life and we can only base our actions on how well we know how the little ones in our care are feeling. It's impossible for someone on the outside looking in to gauge whether another living being - human or other animal - still has enough things going on to give them a measure of happiness and quality of life. Sometimes the care one receives from a loved one can make up for shortfalls in dignity. (I'm thinking very much of my uncle who had chronic emphysema and who was bedridden for quite some time before he passed. He may have needed others to provide care for his nutritional and hygiene needs but he still had a very significant measure of happiness in his life despite the loss of independence and some of his dignity. In truth, some of my most precious memories of spending time with him were in those days - especially when he laughed and smiled and sang.
Indeed you do. I lost two cats to bad vets, the second one to hepatic lipidosis despite the fact that she had been hospitalised at the vets in question for almost a week. I didn't know as much as I do now about measures that can help an anorexic cat to overcome inappetence so I trusted the vet's advice that there was no hope for her and that it was best to let her go. With what I've learned since then about feline health and medicine - and about cats' extraordinary powers of recovery - that decision now haunts me because I don't think they knew enough about feline medicine to treat her successfully: instead they just threw in the towel on her. My Danú was only seven and had no underlying illness. I firmly believe now that she could have survived if I'd known what treatments to ask for or if she had been under the care of a better vet.
Hi Mogs. re The vet that just won't listen! Two years ago our dog had some minor weight loss so it's off to the vet. She had a needle biopsy (no anesthetic needed) which was inconclusive, then $1,000 for the travelling ultrasound tech, and finally another ultrasound by a specialist. Diagnosis was cancer. I did some research and found out some stomach ulcers can mimic her symptoms. In reality I was in denial and grasping at straws but then her weight came back and after we counted 100 days we stopped calling her the Miracle Dog. It was NOT cancer, she lived another year and finally what got her was....The ulcerated stomach she wasn't supposed to have. The lesson is, if you don't know, DON'T GUESS! I had a series of minor strokes 10 years ago and my first emergency room visit ended with a diagnosis of a sinus infection. Maybe they thought I was looking for drugs. Very dismissive and condescending!I suppose all that any of us can hope to do for our little ones is 'the best we can'.
Ultimately, we are only sure of the one life and we can only base our actions on how well we know how the little ones in our care are feeling. It's impossible for someone on the outside looking in to gauge whether another living being - human or other animal - still has enough things going on to give them a measure of happiness and quality of life. Sometimes the care one receives from a loved one can make up for shortfalls in dignity. (I'm thinking very much of my uncle who had chronic emphysema and who was bedridden for quite some time before he passed. He may have needed others to provide care for his nutritional and hygiene needs but he still had a very significant measure of happiness in his life despite the loss of independence and some of his dignity. In truth, some of my most precious memories of spending time with him were in those days - especially when he laughed and smiled and sang.
Indeed you do. I lost two cats to bad vets, the second one to hepatic lipidosis despite the fact that she had been hospitalised at the vets in question for almost a week. I didn't know as much as I do now about measures that can help an anorexic cat to overcome inappetence so I trusted the vet's advice that there was no hope for her and that it was best to let her go. With what I've learned since then about feline health and medicine - and about cats' extraordinary powers of recovery - that decision now haunts me because I don't think they knew enough about feline medicine to treat her successfully: instead they just threw in the towel on her. My Danú was only seven and had no underlying illness. I firmly believe now that she could have survived if I'd known what treatments to ask for or if she had been under the care of a better vet.
My worries over that particular practice were confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt when, four years later, they completely missed my Saoirse's diabetes when I first brought her for treatment. Saoirse was a poster kitty for FD but they refused point blank to run ANY diagnostics and simply put her symptoms down to being an "old lady." Saoirse was only 14 at the time. Six months, a different vet, and education at FDMB saw my girl in remission and climbing trees. It troubles me when I wonder how many other cats have been through their doors who might have had longer lives had they been treated at a different practice.
Mogs
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I've typically found that professionals with this type of attitude are often covering for gaps in their own knowledge and/or understanding of the subject in which they are supposed to have significant expertise.
Chalk it down, Paula.
I did wonder the same thing, but my friend had both the parents and there were 4 other kittens in the litter who were all unaffected (she kept them all!)