I am dying inside as I write this message. I had posted about my 15-year-old cat breaking his arm and being depressed. It has been over 2 weeks since the accident happened. On the advice of my regular vet I took my boy to a surgeon. The surgeon discussed what needed to be done- plating and pinning his arm. I gave him permission to do what is necessary. Being that my boy is 15 I was VERY concerned about the anesthesia. The surgeon was able to do a manual reduction (put the bones back on place manually); did I mention that it was an open facture. His Ulna and radius can through his skin. It is now 13 days since the “surgery†and my little boy is so sick. I told the vet at the cast check on Friday the 20th that my boy is not eating well and I also called for 2 days before hand to find out if I needed to change the antibiotic since the culture from his arm came back positive for strep. I asked if we should check his kidneys, since he has kidney disease. The surgeon did not think that it was necessary.
I saw my regular vet yesterday. She did not understand why they put a fiberglass cast on an open fracture. There is no way to do a wound check. She gave him IV fluids and checked his cast. It is slipping off, so she fixed it, and she ran blood work. His potassium is low, his protein is low, he is anemic and he has a left shift in his white blood count. So, basically he is VERY sick with an infection. She is talking to the surgeon on what to do about his cast and I will (at home) will start him on a potassium supplement, baytril and clavomox (sp) and force-feed him a special slurry. To me this was ALL preventable. I am worried that having to put him under anesthesia to remove the cast and take an x-ray might me too much for his system. I am SOOO ANGRY!!!! This is my baby and I can not bare the thought of losing him. I will do whatever is necessary to get him better but the thought of having to pay the surgeon more money to now fix something that should not have been is killing me. I have been force-feeding him for a few days now. But, why did the surgeon not listen to me when I told him on the 20th the symptoms and my concerns. It is the 26th now. My head is spinning with the thought of going back to the surgeon. Has anyone every been in this situation? I am slowly watching my boy deteriorate. I would rather have a happy boy with a non-functioning arm, than no boy at all. He is a young 15. He was active and relatively healthy. He still jumped and people could not believe that he as 15 when they saw him. He now sleeps over 22 hours a day (I know this because I have only left him alone 3x since the accident.) I am not a vet but trust my vet completely, she has never steered me wrong and she only treats cat so I know that she is very dedicated to cats. I am so lost, what do I do? I am not trying to blame the surgoen here, but I believe that he did not listen to me or do what was best for my boy.
I saw my regular vet yesterday. She did not understand why they put a fiberglass cast on an open fracture. There is no way to do a wound check. She gave him IV fluids and checked his cast. It is slipping off, so she fixed it, and she ran blood work. His potassium is low, his protein is low, he is anemic and he has a left shift in his white blood count. So, basically he is VERY sick with an infection. She is talking to the surgeon on what to do about his cast and I will (at home) will start him on a potassium supplement, baytril and clavomox (sp) and force-feed him a special slurry. To me this was ALL preventable. I am worried that having to put him under anesthesia to remove the cast and take an x-ray might me too much for his system. I am SOOO ANGRY!!!! This is my baby and I can not bare the thought of losing him. I will do whatever is necessary to get him better but the thought of having to pay the surgeon more money to now fix something that should not have been is killing me. I have been force-feeding him for a few days now. But, why did the surgeon not listen to me when I told him on the 20th the symptoms and my concerns. It is the 26th now. My head is spinning with the thought of going back to the surgeon. Has anyone every been in this situation? I am slowly watching my boy deteriorate. I would rather have a happy boy with a non-functioning arm, than no boy at all. He is a young 15. He was active and relatively healthy. He still jumped and people could not believe that he as 15 when they saw him. He now sleeps over 22 hours a day (I know this because I have only left him alone 3x since the accident.) I am not a vet but trust my vet completely, she has never steered me wrong and she only treats cat so I know that she is very dedicated to cats. I am so lost, what do I do? I am not trying to blame the surgoen here, but I believe that he did not listen to me or do what was best for my boy.