Cat blinded by Baytril

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kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
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Groveled to vet in the city. They are sending a refill of the eye ointment to the nearest pharmacy out here. It's clear she can see better than a week ago. Kittens eyes are not dilated constantly now. They are still larger than normal Perhaps the biggest comfort is there has been an improvement rather than further deterioration. She's had an active morning I'm going to gird my loins and apply the dab of ointment remaining. I would really love this vet to live in our shoes for a day and feel the heartache this has caused.

I'm not implying her vision has miraculously returned to normal. I seriously doubt that can or will happen. We're just hoping for the best possible outcome in this situation. I do notice that her eyes seem to get tired. Something I'm personally familiar with.
 
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kittens mom

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To avoid Kitten missing a dose of her antibiotic eye ointment and a 100 mile round trip I sucked it in and called the vet that gave her the OD of Baytril and bought a tube out here.  I reminded myself and my husband it's not about anything but doing our best to make sure she receives the best treatment we can afford.


For her , anything.
 
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kittens mom

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Yes well it seems Kitten has it down pat what the cupboard I keep her medication in sounds like. This morning we had a kitty kat rodeo. I called time out and waited until her hackles were down. Dang that sweet little thing can cuss.

We had been doing this without wrapping her up. As soon as I put her in a towel she laid down and cooperated.  She does not mind the eye drops, Or the Vitamin E in her mouth and she's been eating the lysine chews so there is no need to paste her. but that ointment.

Really hoping that Monday we can discontinue the eye treatments. She's sleeping on her blanket next to me. It appears she sees more and yet as much as I want her full sight to come back  The ophthalmologist was clear that it would be at least 2 months before we could count on her eyesight not deteriorating further.  

I guess this next visit it's time to discuss supplements to support her eye health. High quality fish oil or krill looks promising.

I am scared to put her frontline on.
 
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kittens mom

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This is one little cat that is sick of being medicated 6 times a day. That doesn't include the Vit E being squirted in her mouth and the lysine if she refuses the chews. She wanted in the south side windows this morning to soak up sunbeams. Isn't it illegal to keep a cat out of a sunbeam ? Strong UV this morning.  HIght 40's this morning , I would have liked to soak up some sun.

So my thoughts for today are less focused on Kitten. I have exhausted the interment looking for a fix. She is a housecat. She is loved and cherished and we will continue to provide her the most enriched life full of love that we can.  If you're considering adopting a cat or kitten I'm not going to suggest you get a blind cat. I just don't want anyone to rule out a cat based on it being blind. The pet you click with is the right one. Reading the stories about blind cats leaves you amazed at their ability to adapt and act just like cats. Through all of this my Kitten has shown little to no signs of stress. And while the last week has brought significant changes for the better in her eyes we're not out of the woods. Nor will her eyesight ever be what it was. Two weeks ago if I had found the most loving perfect cat and it was blind I would have thought it a burden to take on and passed.
 
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kittens mom

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There is significant improvement in her visual ability since last Friday. While the pupil remains larger than normal it is no longer covering her whole eye. Both pupils are equal in size and react at the same time. Most interesting is our resident clown and troublemaker who has been hovering over her for the last two weeks has suddenly tried to engage her in play. And yes forgotten cat gets played with. Her favorite game is fetch which can go on for hours.

Todays ramblings.

The title to this thread is misleading. My cat was not blinded by Baytril. She was blinded by an overdose given by the vet of the drug called baytril.

Observation saved some of her sight. If your gut says something isn't right run with it.

Before you dose your pet at home. Look it up. If you see something you think isn't right, call your vet. If they don't want to address your concerns you have the wrong vet.

If you vet does something that you believe has harmed your pet take them to another vet right away.

File a complaint through the state agency that oversees veterinarians. It's not about being spiteful , which I am to a degree. Either what happened was a singular event or they're not fit to be practicing. The vet that did this is the nicest woman. It's not like she was cackling and laughing as she handed out the wrong dose.

1 she agreed to treat the animal.

2 lack of ordinary care in calculating a dose of Baytril that has studies going back to 2002 on the need to use it with care in cats

3 the animal was harmed.

We intend to ask for financial compensation. The best doctors can make a mistake. All their successes don't mitigate damage done through negligence. I'm not going to post her name , start a facebook ruin your life page. In fact if we can settle this like adults I would have no issue using her again. Because I believe in my heart this was an accident and vets are human. Whatever comes out of her wallet will never equal the stress this has put us through. Even if Kitten were to regain her full eyesight it doesn't undo the path we had to go down.
 
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So Monday is the follow up with the ophthalmologist.  Kitten is so tired of having things put in her eyes. Really she's been a champ about it. I haven't seen the fully dilated pupil in at least a week. Her eyes have also lost that cloudy look.  It will be interesting to get her into an unfamiliar environment and see how she behaves. She's pretty much back to her usual stuff. Even the tail had a butt wiggle this morning as she strutted into the kitchen to sniff last nights food offering and reject it.  She jumped in the table and sat with her back to me in total disdain until I presented new food. Which she dutifully licked and then walked off.

I still have issues sleeping at night for fear she'll fall. This morning she kept me seating by getting on the top shelf of their cat tree, Which is really converted industrial shelving and seeing how close she could lay by the edge. I just piled pillows up below her.

Mostly I hope Monday brings and end to ointments and drops.
 
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kittens mom

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All of us should be able to trust our veterinarians. But what happens when something goes wrong, Worse what do you do when you suspect that malpractice was the cause.

I am a keeper of receipts, warranties and any other document that looks like I might even possibly need in the future.

To date I have a receipt and some medical records from Kittens first vet visit. Because of the habit of keeping them in a file folder and scanning them I have documentation from the vet visit that started this journey. We also have the physical Rx bottles that have the vets name and other information including the dose and how often. I realized tonight how important it is to make sure you preserve this evidence and the contents of the bottle. It proves the dose prescribed but it also can clearly show you did not cause the overdose by not following directions. The drugs inside could also prove that the manufacturer itself might be at fault.

Get in the habit of having a folder for each of your pets.

Keep the printout receipts. Not just your CC receipt but the paper that lists what the charges are and for what.

Request a transcript of your vet visit. It won't be available that day.

Keep them in the case of a situation like mine where a vet might be tempted to alter records. If it comes down to their word against yours you'll likely lose. Unless you live somewhere that pets are given special value as companion animals your best bet for recovery is small claims.

Try and find out if your vet carries a malpractice insurance. If I understand this correctly you can get that information from the state. You may be able to settle directly.

I don't want to imply all we're concerned about is the money. But his is adding up to be a significant expense to clean up the mess made by a licensed veterinarian.

It's also doubly important to understand that not every bad outcome is the fault of the vet. Medicine no matter how advanced is never going to be an exact science. If you have pets long enough you'll lose one when you least expect it to happen.  Veterinarians cry too. I've seen it many times.

The really important things is our little cat. Who continues to thrive, adapt and adjust. The fact that she's regained some use of her eyes and isn't in an urn doesn't mitigate all the crap we've been through.
 

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I haven't been here in a while, thank you for keeping this updated and I'm so glad she seems to be doing better. I can relate to the medicating. All hours of the day and night, every day/night. At first we had to force-feed our poor kitten the pills, it was awful. Later we found the perfect treat that he would actually eat them willingly with (Hill's Critical Care). I also know the "groveling to the vet" feeling for prescriptions. One of the medications our cat is on is restricted in this country - the only way we can get it is from the vet, who has a special license for it. Every few weeks I have to call them and chase them up again to make sure they have a box ready for us. Since it's so hard to get we have to call 2 weeks in advance and if they don't get back to us soon I have to keep calling and pestering them about it, since if it goes on too long and they find out they don't have any in stock right then I have no idea where else we can obtain it. This medication is what is mostly keeping him peeing right now, so it's absolutely critical to his life. 

I hope your handling it like adults strategy works with this vet. I wish it did with ours - ours reacted very immaturely with claims that were contradicted by their own documentation/journals on our cat. You are absolutely right - keep everything! Journals/prescriptions/everything. We ended up revealing this vet's name online and writing negative reviews wherever we could to warn people, as they simply refused to engage with us on a mature level and even have a discussion (we just got a letter in the mail claiming our kitten was already sick...no further responses to any communication)

Best of luck, I hope her vision continues improving!
 
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I haven't been here in a while, thank you for keeping this updated and I'm so glad she seems to be doing better. I can relate to the medicating. All hours of the day and night, every day/night. At first we had to force-feed our poor kitten the pills, it was awful. Later we found the perfect treat that he would actually eat them willingly with (Hill's Critical Care). I also know the "groveling to the vet" feeling for prescriptions. One of the medications our cat is on is restricted in this country - the only way we can get it is from the vet, who has a special license for it. Every few weeks I have to call them and chase them up again to make sure they have a box ready for us. Since it's so hard to get we have to call 2 weeks in advance and if they don't get back to us soon I have to keep calling and pestering them about it, since if it goes on too long and they find out they don't have any in stock right then I have no idea where else we can obtain it. This medication is what is mostly keeping him peeing right now, so it's absolutely critical to his life. 

I hope your handling it like adults strategy works with this vet. I wish it did with ours - ours reacted very immaturely with claims that were contradicted by their own documentation/journals on our cat. You are absolutely right - keep everything! Journals/prescriptions/everything. We ended up revealing this vet's name online and writing negative reviews wherever we could to warn people, as they simply refused to engage with us on a mature level and even have a discussion (we just got a letter in the mail claiming our kitten was already sick...no further responses to any communication)

Best of luck, I hope her vision continues improving!
What stress you must feel having to deal with that constantly knowing the consequences if you can't obtain the medication. If you haven't try and find out if there is substitution that could be made in case of an emergency. There must be someone you can appeal to so you have easy access to this medication.

To get the kind of vet we need right now there is no choice but to make the drive to the city. I'm hoping after this follow up we can transfer to the one that's a bit closer. Kittens antiviral drop have to go in her eyes in about an hour. She's set up guard and made it clear she's about fed up. I let the ointment go at noon. Quite honestly if this ointment hasn't healed her eyes lens from the herpes virus in two weeks we need to address it with something else anyway. On top of everything else my arthritis has went full blown the last week. I'm making a guess at the weather change and stress.

Well we just done her eye drops. Instead of fighting us she went limp. We call it the liquid mercury trick. She's instantly friendly once we let her go.

I truly admire your persistence in taking care of your guy under such unforgiving circumstances.
 
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Ointment is in the eyes of the Kitten. While how much she sees is up for debate she gave a rousing demonstration of cat agility in avoiding capture for said ointment.
 
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So today was the two week follow up with the ophthalmologist. The ulcers on her eyes have healed 100%. The vet said to discontinue the 200IU of vitamin E. We are to continue the cidofovir until the drops are gone. About a week. She is getting 500mg daily of L lysine.

There is no good or bad news on her vision really. The exam shows retinal deterioration in both eyes. The good news is there is no evidence of it deterioration further. What she has she will likely keep. We have a follow up in four months.

I let her go in the exam room and she was more than able to navigate. She had a more defined menace response today. Her pupils are equally reactive in both eyes. The floor is a mess right now and she's easily walking around things without bumping or hesitating.  It is agreed that we need to leave her listed as blind on her chip registry.

I know the science. I knew that her eyes weren't going to improve significantly. But  we're human and even knowing we held onto that scrap of maybe. And right now this very second I'm so ( insert every four letter word in every possible sequence) pissed that my cat my little heartbeat had her vision screwed up for no reason but stupidity. Which is really what this was. It's sort of a sick feeling to be told your cat is one of the lucky ones because you noticed something and jumped on it.
 
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http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_enrofloxacin.html

 fluoroquinolone this is a class of antibiotics like  enrofloxacin which is in the same class as cipro a name we recognize from the anthrax scare. The manufacturers are aware of the possible complications especially in cats and have set dose recommendations that make the chance of a side effect unlikely.

First I would like to thank the vets and technicians and interns at the VCA hospital we use. From handling it on the ER admittance to scheduling follow-ups and answering questions , the through exam of my cats eyes and remembering that our cat is a living breathing creature and treating her with kindness and affection while using humane skills to get the job done.  

They were able to handle two very distraught adults. No one there has been anything but kind and supportive.

Why take Kitten in for this kind of care ? And really that's a valid question. Because the effects of Baytril are well known and we wanted to know exactly or as much as possible what our cats prognosis is for keeping the vision she has left.

The ER visit rather than waiting for normal office hours. Because if your cat shows signs of blindness there are other possible causes , some that are medical emergencies and some blindness can be reversed if treated promptly.

So we have an ER and two visits to a veterinary ophthalmologist.  

I have some definite opinions about this class of drugs. One they get the job done. Cats are odd creatures and what every other animal on the planet can tolerate can send them into a tail spin. If your vet prescribes this class of drug ask questions about possible side effects. Honestly. Ask no matter what drug or how many times you've used it. I expect to see vet clinics at least the more modern ones start to give information sheets with their Rx just like pharmacies do.

The makers of Baytril have issued clear dose guidelines to prevent blindness and other complications occurring in cats.

In our case the vet gave our cat over twice the safe dose. 

I cried a lot today.
 
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Kitten done the cat walk...back of the sofa tonight sporting an extreme bottle brush tail and sporting her blue cream tortie coat with just a smidge of calico mixed in to make her style totally her own.


Here she is demonstration her well developed equestrian abilities In the owner to ride amateur side saddle class.
 
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I realized this morning that we have settled back into our daily routines. At 5AM Kitten brought one of her balls over and sang the song of her people informing me that she had prepared my breakfast now where's hers.

There are no more vet visits until next year.  Like all tragedy life rolls on around you and eventually you start living your life again. We are no less angry that our Gumdrop of Happiness had most of her vision robbed from her by carelessness. What comes from requesting the vet foot the bill for the aftermath of her mistake either willingly or by small claims will be or not be.

Someone might argue she could have had the same reaction on the correct dose. Since she was given over twice what she should have been prescribed it's sort of a moot point. We'll never know. Being blinded by a correct does seems to be pretty rare. And the higher does is KNOWN to cause issues with a cats eyes. The vet failed in her standard of care.

The woman who backed into my car and smashed the front end up didn't do it on purpose. But she caused some massive damage and had to pay for it. ( she had no insurance.).

In many cases you have to have another veterinarian testify that what the other vet did caused the death or injury. However the use of baytril in cats is so well documented that NO vet would ever give a 14 lb cat 68mg per day. If I add up the time and gas to get to the vet hospital and the hours of work my husband lost having to come home mid shift it makes sense to just ask for reimbursement of the vet bills rather than making a laundry list. You can't fix what was taken from my cats life. Nothing can really pay for the stress of the last few weeks. Settle in full and everyone move on.

Right now Kitten is under one of the best cat toys ever. A 4 dollar plastic tablecloth from the dollar store and I'm shooting hair ties at it. She bats at them through the plastic . Always a favorite game of hers.
 
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I try and keep this updated. Kitten is continuing to thrive. We are waiting for the medical reports from the VCA and then we'll go from there. Hopefully the vet will decide to own the mess and we can simply put this behind us. If not we'll pursue it more actively.

To just let this go would , at least to me, make what happened to my little cat insignificant. She has no concept of a wrong being done to her. And yet I can't let someone do this and just go on with her vet practice with out some acknowledgment of the harm she caused to someone's pet. She can't apologize and she doesn't have to live with the consequences that we have to consider now on a daily basis. Considering the vet bills were not excessive even with a few specialist visits and medications we can be satisfied if she simply makes us financially whole. There isn't money to fix what happened to Kitten. We just want to move on. I hope she does too.
 
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Today we both went out for a while and left Kitten at home with forgotten cat, BabyMook.  All parties were unharmed by this experiment.
 

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Glad you are getting back into some kind of normal! You are handling the vet situation much better than I would in your situation. Your cats are very lucky to have you!
 
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The best way to describe this mess is a freight train crashing through your home and you went home with a Band-Aid. The fact that she has some vision ,is healthy otherwise and adjusting well have allowed us to keep a better perspective in regards to how to handle this.

I cannot express enough gratitude to the ALL of the staff at the VCA hospital that at 3AM ran with our cat and beat their brains against the wall looking for any way to help her while dealing with the emotional fallout from her humans. To the vet who was forthright and firm in the reality of the situation but hopeful that she would retain some vision since the medication was stopped and the high probability that she would adjust even if she was totally blind.

And the helpful wonderful support I found here.

Hopefully in January we'll see that she has no negative changes in her eyes.
 
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So I got the medical records today.  Haven't had time to read them thoroughly. They seem pretty clear that the our problem was caused by the overdose.

Tried to take a new picture of Kitten a while ago with her new crackle toy. She sees enough to know it was the camera and she averted her eyes. Always hated the flash. Looks like rain for a few days. Maybe we'll get some good natural light for some shots.

Once all this is behind us we're going to look for a good professional to do some portrait shots of her.  Of all the memories and souvenirs from past pets having them professionally photographed are some of my biggest treasures.

They are such a part of our lives we forget they are a big part of our lives. Does that make sense.
 
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