Diane, Please don't feel like a slime about the money issue. The reality of the situation is that if you don't have it, you don't have it. And what good will you do ANY kitty if you're bankrupt, right? Everyone here knows exactly how you feel and we all understand, and have talked about (if you want to read in the archives) the reality of money being a deciding factor in our cats' care.
:) Wendy --- "Rosenfeldt, Diane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks so much, Nina and Maggie. > > The vet was nonspecific, just said he was running a > fever and had an > infection. I'm 30 miles from the antibiotics, but > know it isn't > Clavamox or any of the usual suspects I'm familiar > with. I think our > vets are fairly "up" on FeLV. They did mention > euthanasia as one > option, but I think it was because they knew Patches > was a stray who > fell into our lap and weren't sure if we were up for > the challenge > rather than considering it the best way to go per > se. They also offered > a couple more ways to go, one of them being what > we're doing, isolation > and *trying* to get him back in shape after whatever > he went through out > on the streets. > > Re: Luc. Actually, we really only nursed him > through the fatty liver > part. The pancreatitis was only diagnosed after the > fact as a cause for > him stopping eating after the fatty liver was well > under way. We have 5 > cats who eat communally so we don't always notice > right away if one of > them is off its food, and it took a few days to > notice that Luc was > spending a lot of time on the couch, curled up as > opposed to sprawling > anywhere he felt like a lie-down. So we didn't get > him to the vet right > away when he stopped eating, and by then his liver > values were really > bad. He had an ultrasound but I'm not sure if it > was even worth it, > except that it's the step they take before doing a > biopsy. It showed > "something bright," LOL, most conclusive. > > I completely HATE that money has to play a part in > the decisions we make > for our babies. I feel like the biggest slime on > earth when I have to > decline a much better option for them because it's > too pricey or > requires time I don't have. It was so hard, with > Luc, wanting > desperately to get him through this because Gail and > I both love him so > much, and having to gamble with huge amounts of > money (for us) on an > uncertain prognosis. As I said, it was successful > and therefore worth > every penny (though we really thought $600 was a lot > for an overnighter, > but this vet was our only option at the time) but if > it hadn't worked > out I'd have been bitter forever about the money. > And this is just me, > a private person who is apparently a cat magnet. I > can't even think > about those of you who do rescue, all the expenses > you incur and the > decisions you have to make because of them. You're > all heroes. ;-) > > Diane R. > > ________________________________ > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Nina > Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 10:18 AM > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > Subject: Re: Patches > > > Hi Diane, > I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear Patches > hasn't been feeling > well. It's a very good sign that he's begun to > improve, but you're > right, it's critical that you get him to eat > something and keep as much > weight on him as possible. It would be a good idea > to find out what > kind of abx you are giving him. Unfortunately, most > of us have had to > take crash courses on veterinary care to insure our > babies are properly > diagnosed and treated. We don't have time to mess > around with even > "educated" guesses. Felv, in and of itself, is not > what our kids die > from, it's the secondary, opportunistic, illnesses > that are able to take > hold because of their weakened immune responses that > cause the problems. > You're doing great in keeping on top of the illness, > it's good that you > went to the vet, but you need to know exactly what > is wrong in order to > treat Patches quickly and help him fight whatever is > going on. You've > had experience with lack of appetite before, so you > probably know a lot > of tricks to get them to eat. When they don't feel > good you have to > keep switching foods because they tend to "blame" > whatever they're > eating on how crummy they feel. Of course if he > can't smell, he won't > want to eat either. Have you tried warming his food > to bring out the > aroma? Sometimes they'll lap, but not chew. > Sometimes they want a > bowl, not a plate and visa versa. Try offering a > bit of food, (make it > small portions, large amounts seem to intimidate), > right after the first > attempt at syringe feeding, sometimes it sort of > kick starts them > eating. > > I'm sorry to hear about your Luc. Are you saying > you nursed him through > Pancreatitis and fatty liver disease?? Talk about > the power of love and > dedication! Most of us on the list have had to deal > with money becoming > a factor in our kid's care. It just sucks. My > credit cards still have > room, and so far I've been fortunate enough to find > a way to pay for the > things my guys need. What I try to keep in mind is > that no matter what > I can do for them, it's better than what they would > have faced without > my love and care. Sometimes all the money in the > world is not enough, > usually money is not the deciding factor anyway. > > My prayers and good thoughts are with you, Gail and > Patches. Please > keep us informed and let us know exactly what > Patches has been diagnosed > with. If your vet tells you, "it's just the felv > kicking in", you need > to educate him, or find a different vet. I always > advise finding a > board certified Internist. You can ask your current > vet for a referral. > Keep your chin up and give Patches a head bump from > me, > Nina > > > Rosenfeldt, Diane wrote: > > > > I'm worried about Patches. The little bugger just > won't eat > enough. He's been sickly since we got him, with > runny eyes every day, > but it's been worse in the past week or so. We took > him to the vet > Saturday, and he had a fever, so the vet put him on > antibiotics (I don't > even remember which one, it's kind of a gray pill > that we give 1/2 per > day) and gave us eyedrops and set us up to > syringe-feed him and give > fluids as needed. We think the fever is down, he's > somewhat more active > than he was a few days ago, and his eyes are looking > better, though > still runny. I haven't seen him sneezing, though > sometimes it looks > like he's got the same dried gunk in his nose as in > his eyes. We've > been syringe-feeding him, which he of course hates, > but we can only get > about half a can down him which isn't enough, and > he's probably down a > good pound by now. My housemate is on 3rd shift, I > work days, so the > only time we can syringe him is at night. We tried > KFC, warmed, and he > showed an interest the first time, but not so much > the two subsequent > times. Tonight we try baby food. When our Luc got > pancreatitis > followed by fatty liver and stopped eating, we had > to have an esophageal > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
