Emergency!!

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gert452000

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Lucky left us on Sunday at about 2:15 am. I held her in my arms for about the last hour or so. She was crying and just about broke my heart. She ended with a scream like sound, I wish I knew what she was saying.
Like I did with Dawn, I would like to tell you all about Lucky.
Two years ago my son and I were outside our home and heard babies crying. We started looking and found 3 babies under the lid to our Weber kettle grill. Lucky was laying on the ground and her brother and sister were laying on top of her. It was chilly outside and Lucky was not very warm at all. We took all 3 babies into the house and put Lucky on the heating pad. It took a few hours but Lcky did come around and that is how she got her name. We found the mommy and brought her in and taught her how to nurse her babies.
Lucky came to live in our house with Dawn and our lives were changed forever.
Lucky was a thief. She loved to steel my husbands pens off of his night table, and tried to take them right out of his hands. One time we thought that he had left his glasses behind at a restraunt. A few nights later I was woke to a noise I didn't recognize. I got out of bed and there was Lucky playing with the glasses at the foot of the bed. She had a stash of things that she had stolen under the bed. We wondered if she was part raven.
She loved to chase the other kitties up and down the hallway, race into our room, jump on the bed, jump over the the window
pedestle (sp?), knock it into the wall, and jump back to the bad and start the race all over again.
She would climb up into our laps for a snooze and like most other cats would lay on top of a book or whatever we might have been doing.
She would lay at night at the top of our pillows and wrap herself around our heads. My husband is bald and we thought maybe she was trying to keep his head warm.
We loved that little girl and will miss her terribly.
I am sorry this is so long but Lucky needed to be known by all.
Thank you
 

superkitty

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I am so sorry to hear of your great loss. Take comfort that she passed at home surrounded by your love. She was a wonderful treasure, thank you for sharing your memories with us. She and Dawn are together again, and watching over your from the RB.
 

sylent rayne

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Oh I am so sorry Gert. Take comfort that they are together again. I have such a hard time writing these posts as no words are truly comforting. (((hugs)))
 

kateang

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i'm so sorry.. it's tough losing one kitty and it's harder losing another within a short span of time...please take good care of yourself and post as much as you want if you don't feel good... tell us as much as you want about them... they were wonderful kids.. they loved you deeply... please keep us updated about your life and don't fade away...
{{{ hugs }}}
 

hissy

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Gert-

I would wait a year before getting any more cats. Give the virus a good chance of dying out. When you can, scrub your walls, floor and everything else with bleach and water, scrub it good and let it air-dry. Throw out cat toys, cat beds, litter pans, food bowls. Let your heart heal in that time and also let your house rest before other cats come into it.
 

cat-tech

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Gert, I do not mean for this to prey on your emotions right now, Lord knows you've been through an ordeal.

Having said that however, I've read your posts here and am quite concerned with your vet and his/her professionalism and level of care given to your cats.

First let me say, I know of NO professional vet who would honor a client's wish not to be told of a fatal infectious disease upon diagnosis, this is bordering on unethical, negligence and, least of all, not giving you the full opportunity to explore treatment options.

You did not post what treatment options your vet made available to you, or even IF your vet did. You only mentioned that your vet either agreed or supported whatever it was you did at home while your kitties were so sick. I'm assuming you actually knew that they were suffering FELV, and even if you didn't, your vet is deplorable for not taking this seriously and for not explaining treatment options to you. In effect, your vet has, and IS failing you and your cats, and I personally would not have a vet like this in my favor (least of all, my cats)

Your vet was obligated to inform you of FELV treatment options, in which you could decline if you so wished (I assume due to costs)....however, you made no mention in your posts that your vet did anything of the sort nor offered you any recourse should you be faced with end stage disease of FELV. As you sadly witnessed, much of what your kitties suffered, could have been treated with supportive care, medications to stabilize, etc etc. (and at reasonable cost, as opposed to the cost of suffering)

Your vet was also obligated to inform you three years ago that your other kitties would be exposed to the virus, and therefore obligated to inform you of treatment options you could explore to help halt the progression of the disease (and was also negligent in informing you of vaccinating accordingly). FELV is not necessarily a death sentence for all cats. With proper care and support, and treating secondary conditions as they occur, many FELV+ kitties can lead long, happy, healthy lives, providing that treatment is given them in cases of infections, secondary problems, etc. There are various things one can do to help aid an FELV+ kitty, and reduce clinical signs and symptoms. While there is no cure for FELV, there IS treatment available to help reduce the signs, alleviate some problems, and to extend quality of life.

Please check out the following links to help you understand this disease, and what you CAN do for your kitties. Your kitties deserve the best care available, and YOU deserve a comitted, professional vet who is committed to their lives and well being and optimal health.

FELV (Cornell)

Fighting FELV

Personally, and as one in the profession, I would not see this vet again, nor use that clinic's services. Please find a new vet who is a professional, and is bound by ethics.

My heart aches over your recent losses......................Traci
 

lynneros

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Dear gert452000

I hope you follow up on these replies and take your pet to the vet. Don't give up hope be strong with proper care and love alot of positive things can happen. All the best here is a prayer I found for you.

A Prayer For All Animals.....

Hear our humble prayer, O God,
for our friends the animals, especially for animals who are suffering; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for all those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

..........Albert Schweitzer
 
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gert452000

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I haven't been back to this post becasue I didn't know how to respond to the last post regarding my vet. I might be ready now and will try not to do this in anger.
I have been with this vet since 1991. He is caring, not just for the animals but for their humans. He cares as much about thier suffering as he does mine. He is not unethical! When I asked him not to tell me when a beloved pet was about to die my reason was because I wanted to spend as much time as I could with that pet and not to shorten their life if they were not suffering. I mean not in pain. If I so much as even thought that my vet was not doing the best he could for my animals I would not hesitate to find another vet. I went to the links that you provided for me and discovered what I already knew...luekemia is fatal. Nothing can be done to save these animals. Yes, there are treatments but none that work. I think that a vet who puts a loving family and pet through treatments that are pointless is the unethical vet. Especially if he gives them a false hope. Now while my vet never said outright what was wrong he did say that my kitties might not come out of their illnesses and I knew what he meant even if i tried to deny it.
So please don't try to make me feel bad about my choice in vets. And please don't think I don't love my pets beacuse I love (d) them dearly.
 
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