So angry, so hurt... my poor little friend

[aharris2]

Harry is on the couch with his brother, sleeping. He is in a half-body splint and a diaper and cannot move his legs. I am allowing him to go through 4 weeks of treatment day by day as long as he appears to tolerate it in the hopes of getting some improvement. But I wonder if I am doing right by him...

Harry is my beloved cat who has been sleeping on my pillow every night for the last 15 years. Over the last several months he has developed high blood pressure and lost his eyesight. It was also determined that he was in the earliest stages of kidney failure.

It is a time I had been dreading -  what would take him? A stroke? Kidney failure?

Saturday night two weeks ago, Harry got out. He had never left his front yard, but this time he disappeared. I found him Sunday morning lying in the grass of the 15th hole across the street from the house wet with dew and barely able to walk so I carried him home, dried him off, looked for damage, fed him and gave him a drink. He was walking, but barely able to get his hips halfway up. I wanted to give him something for pain but figured I should take him to the emergency vet for xrays first. I did, and she assured me that nothing was broken and that the night out was probably hard on the old guy's body. She encouraged me to get bloodwork done, focusing on the chronic conditions.

I took him home and he got progressively better - not right, but headed there. But, he was staying close to the litter box and not putting out what I thought he should. So I shared his story, brought records and dropped him off at his regular vet. It seems the regular vet ignored the acute condition - weakness in his legs and possible intestinal issues and instead pursued the chronic condition. He did over three hundred dollars of blood work and a urinalysis, then recommended that I take him to a specialist. Harry was returned to me in his cat carrier. When I got him home, he never got up. I figured he had been medicated for the testing, so I kept him comfortable overnight. He did not recover and, for the first time in his life, wouldn't eat. The next day, I got him to the specialist (an internist of course because everyone was focused on the chronic condition.)

This is what they missed:

That Saturday night, Harry broke his back. That's why he had weakness in his legs. He has a fractured vertebra in between his shoulder blades. Vet #1 missed it on Sunday. Vet #2 didn't even consider the acute condition - he took in a cat who was improving - walking, eating and drinking and returned to me a cat who was paralyzed from a mishandled spinal fracture.

If only this had been caught, if only the acute condition had been the focus instead of them wasting their attention on the chronic condition, perhaps Harry would have been spare this. Now I don't know what to do.

Alene

[jessup]

What the .....................
 
This is absolutely terrible for the vets not to diagnose a broken back
Geez mate
Poor Harry
 
I don't have any advice
but you will know what to do and what is best for Harry
My dear ol Gemma had kidney and liver failure
She fought long and hard but I was very worried about her suffering the pain
My vet told me "just look into her eyes and you will know what to do"
It was so true
Lots of love mate
 

[glitter]

Oh I am so sorry for your kitty! That is horrible for your pet to have to go through. I dont know what to say....bastards..

your poor kitty...

[G-Ma]

I am so sorry for you and your beloved pet.  As said you will know what to do when it is time.
Ann

[Rerun]

You have my prayers.  My hugs go to you and your furbaby.

                                     

[Sluff]

OMG I would be so pissed off. I'm so sorry your little baby is suffering.  I don't know what to say but if he is not in pain maybe he will heal but I don't know. Maybe having him put to sleep while showing love would be better. What is life expectancy of his specie? My heart goes out to you because you ultimately have to make a tough decision and I know it will be hard, but know that he depends on you to make the decision. He senses your grief and love.   

[pelagia]

Sorry Alene, I've lost two cats in the last year and I know how hard that is.   I don't have any advice.  It's so hard to tell sometimes how an animal is really feeling.  I agree with Jessup about the looking in the eyes part.  Are his eyes still bright?  If he is not eating, that's not a good sign. 

[Sunny]

I am so sorry for your poor cat. Sounds like a terrible situation. Just make sure there is no pain and do your best to care for the little thing. In a day or two you should be able to get a good sense of what kind of outcome your kitty will have and how best to take care of her.

[okarol]

Oh Alene, I am so sorry! Harry sure hangs tough regardless of the challenges.
What kind of treatment would he have to go through over the 4 weeks?
I am not sure I told you about Woody, our cat who severely damaged his leg, tore the ligaments in his knee when he got caught between branches after a dog chased him up a tree.
This was 5 days after Jenna's transplant - I was 2 hours away and my kids were calling me because Woody couldn't walk.
I had my husband drive to La Jolla to stay with Jenna and I came home to take him to the vet.
The vet said he would need surgery. The cost was over $1000 and would have to be confined for a month. I was stunned. I took Woody home to decide what to do.
My mom encouraged me just to wait and see how he did. Amazingly, he got better. little by little. He cannot jump the same as before, but he has adapted to the situation. Two years later he is ok, still catches mice and lizards.
My point is, we don't really know. Do what makes sense, in your heart. Treat him gently. Sending lots of love to you and Harry. 

[David13]

I am so sorry to hear about the situation with your cat. 

It seems as though Harry is a tough little guy, and I believe he deserves every chance to get better. 

Other than that, my only advice is to let those first two vets have a piece of your mind.  Hopefully they will be more comprehensive in their future examinations and spare some other animal in need the pain poor Harry had to endure. 

[paris]

Aww, Alene.  Poor Harry.  It is so disappointing that two vets missed the problem, especially something like a broken back.  And to have spent all that money just to have Harry in worse shape than when you brought him in.  Makes me cry.    I had a similar experience as Okarol.  Our cat his limping bad, probably hit by a car.  Took him to the vet and he said he had broken bones in his leg.  It would take surgery to fix and cost about $2000.  I asked what would happen if he didn't have the surgery.  "He will have a limp and someday may have arthritis"  We kept him quiet for a couple of weeks and Vinnie went on to live a happy life.   Your patient, loving care may be just what Harry needs.  You are a wise woman and will know what to do if Harry doesn't improve.  I'll be saying lots of special kitty prayers for your sweet boy.  

[twirl]

it took the vet longer to put Sad Sack down because she was so swollen - and I thought Bubba was going to come undone - but the vet was so loving and by the time it was over the vet was in tears - Sad Sack never complained or growled or anything -- I looked into her eyes and knew it was the right thing to do - we could have drained her tummy but it would have filled up again in a matter of days -
I was wishing I would have had them drain her tummy and she would be here with me now at the computer -- but she is better off - we aren't but she is -

[okarol]

 

[G-Ma]

 

[MIbarra]

I'm so sorry for you and your poor kitty, Alene!

 What stupid vets!   

[Jess21]

Poor kitty!
Sadly, like human doctors, vets don't always see the things they should.
Heck, I'm becoming a vet tech..my dog seemed to be having spine problems, but when I took her to the vet in October, she showed no pain.  Last week she was in so much pain I made an appointment for 3 days later.  Of course, Tuesday she showed no pain.  The vet gave the option of taking xrays but didn't say they were necessary.  I said give xrays.  Turns out she has broken her pelvis in atleast 2 places in her life.  No wonder she's in pain sometimes!  She probably shouldn't even be able to walk! I would be in pain too!  He told us to put her on exercise restriction.  Today she was romping around like a puppy.  Animals have an amazing ability to heal!
Suggestion: If he's not eating, get some soft food (the stinkiest you can find) and heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds.  Cats tend to love that.  That is what vet offices try to get cats to eat!

[kitkatz]

Love and kisses to you.  I hope your cat can get stronger. 

[willieandwinnie]

twirl 

Jess I hope your kitty improves. 

[thegrammalady]

poor kitty and poor you. that's not the way to treat either of you. i hope things start to get better.

[lola]

 

[Chris]

I am sorry to hear about this Alene and a decision on what to do is very hard But you don't want Harry to suffer if you can help it with intervention medically or physically. Loosing a pet is hard and what to do is no easy answer especially with the cost of medical care.

I hope Harry improves though.

[paris]

Checking in to see how Harry is today.  And to see how you are doing.  Love you 

[2_DallasCowboys]

So sorry to read about your poor kitty.
 

I will pray it will all be ok,

Anne

[aharris2]

Paris, Harry is hanging in there. He may be depressed, certainly confused by his immobility, but I gotta remember that his favorite activities have always been sleeping with me and waiting for me to sit down or go to bed so that he can sleep with me. He did sleep with me all night last night.

Okarol, His treatment is the splint on his back. They were originally talking 8 to 12 weeks, but now they're talking 4. Can he take it? I don't know. They also have no basis for talking 4 weeks - they haven't seen him since putting the splint on.

There might have been an operation to stabilize the spine. But, they did xrays and quoted the price for the operation - doable, then they said he needs dye injected into his spine because the problem wasn't clear... add that price on, still doable. I implored them not to take me to the point where all my money was used on testing then leaving nothing for the operation... Then they needed a CT scan because the problem still wasn't clear. Not too expensive, so I let them do it. It told the whole story (might it have as the first test? I don't know.) So they knew what to do. But they were unwilling to continue his sedation that night. They wanted to bring him out of it and do the operation the next morning. I told them to give me the quote in the morning. Well because they had kept him under so long the previous night, because there would be additional days of hospitalization, some in ICU, because it was a more complex operation, and because of the additional testing, THE COST OF THE WHOLE PROCESS HAD DOUBLED. I could have handled a 50% increased cost, But doubled is not attainable. They did what I asked them not to do - testing to the point where I could no longer afford treatment. When I realized it, I started screaming at them but to no avail (although, get this, I did uncover a $1000.00 error in my bill in their favor - how dare they! How many times is stuff like that missed?) Harry will be treated conservatively, the displaced bone chip will remain displaced.

Thank you all for your good wishes.
 

[Sluff]

Hope he gets better soon.