Dear Nina,
I am hoping and praying that Grace is improving. Next time I am definately coming back as the kitty, not the caretaker!
I am literally sprouting white hairs! They aren't too noticeable because I'm blonde, but I see them in the harsh light of day. And I am not amused.
Love and hugs to you and Grace, Julie
Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Thank you Julie for your wise and kind words. Your's and your husband's
logic about decision making is impeccable. Of course, I have been
second guessing myself about not taking Grace in to the vet. I think
she's slowly improving, but it's hard to tell.
As far as doing the biopsy on Mandy... In hindsight it appears to you
that you should have just tried steroids first, and maybe that would
have been the way to go. But what if you had tried the steroids, seen
no improvement, and then had to do further exploratories anyway? We
just never know. I spoke with Hideyo after she lost her sweet George.
She was upset at herself for having had to crate him the last days of
his life, (in order to administer meds). But what if she hadn't? She
would have thought that he passed because she wasn't able to give him
his meds! When we take on the responsibility of an animal we are put in
the position of having to imagine that we have control over these
situations. How else could we make any choices at all? Ultimately, we
know that we don't have the control we think we do. All we can do is
follow our best instincts, pray for guidance, do our best to not add to
the suffering of our loved ones and not add to our burdens by beating
ourselves up over the decisions we are forced to make.
Much love to you and yours my dear,
Nina
Julie Johnson wrote:
> Dear Nina,
>
> Healing wishes and prayers on the way for Princess Grace, and for you,
> too. It's sometimes so hard to know what is best to do and we have to
> weigh so many variables when making these decisions. My husband has
> always told me (because I have to re-think and re-live every choice I
> make!) that if you believe what you did was right at the moment in
> time that you did it, it stands in time as the right choice. So much
> of what we do for our animals (I think more so than making choices for
> ourselves) is based on instinct, yet we've been told over and over in
> many ways that instinct is wrong and we need to concentrate on facts.
> I think as a culture we've learned to devalue our instincts. Right
> now, I am wishing I hadn't done the biopsy on Mandy. They needed so
> many samples and from so deep under her tongue, that the surgery for
> the biopsy has left her tongue crooked and is making it that much more
> diffult for her to eat. I knew that if it was an oral cancer that
> treatment options were limited. If it was a granuloma it would have
> started (most likely) to respond to steriod therapy. So why didn't I
> just try the steroids first? I just have to focus on having done what
> I thought was best at the time I made the decision.
>
> I know that Grace could not be in better, move loving hands.
>
> Love, Julie
>
> */Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/* wrote:
>
> Grace and I could use your prayers and good vibrations. She has been
> feeling poorly the last couple of months. Usually when she feels
> crummy
> I put her on a round of Dox, and she feels better almost immediately.
> Not so, this time. I put her on Dox and she didn't improve
> significantly. I took her off of Dox and started the five day
> protocol
> of Virbagen Omega, (injections of feline interferon, 1x daily).
> Again,
> she improved slightly, but not significantly. After the 4th day, I
> stopped the VO and put her back on Dox. She's been getting the Dox
> again for about a week, she continues to improve, but is still not
> herself. I've also been giving her oral interferon (chasing the Dox
> pill with it), transfer factor, Lysine, Co-Q10 etc. Her appetite is
> off, so I had to stop the supplements to get her to eat. I'm going to
> try some transdermal Cyproheptadine to see if it helps her eat more.
> You may think I'm crazy, (so what's new?), but I talked to two
> different
> ACs that told me they did not think there were any tumors
> involved, or
> problems with any of her internal organs, just a feeling of general
> malaise. I had an appointment with our Internist today, but Grace
> seems
> to have improved more in the last couple of days, so I canceled
> it. It
> was a difficult decision to make. Grace suffers greatly from the
> stress
> involved in a visit to the vet and knowing that there would be
> several
> different tests involved to determine what is going on with her...
> Well, I just decided not to put her through it. There's been too many
> times that after the trauma and expense, nothing new has been
> learned.
> I don't feel completely confident in this decision, but if she
> doesn't
> continue to improve I can still bring her in later. I'm waiting for a
> call from the vet to discuss a different antibiotic in case Grace has
> finally built a resistance to Doxycycline. For heavens sake, we don't
> even know why Dox has worked for her! Anyway, if you could take a
> moment to think of my Grace and wish her well, it would be greatly
> appreciated.
> Nina
>
"I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is
to protection by man from the cruelty of man. "
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Paws Come WITH Claws!!!
If you're thinking about de-clawing your cat, you need to re-think your decision to acquire a pet.
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