Help - Me and my male age 10 oriental!

[harrythecat]

I'm so sorry you lost Khai. His pain is over now, and he knows that you did everything possible to help him feel better while he was here. You have been a great kitty mom and angel

We all care a lot, so please continue to post when you need friendship and support.

 

[jenng]

I just wanted to offer my condolences. I'm so sorry.

 

[maui]

I'm so sorry about Khai. . . .

 

[catlove]

Lyn,
I just read your thread for the first time and was shocked by the very sad events that led to the loss of Khai.

I just can't believe it. My heart goes out to you. How very painful it must be.

 

[lyn bailey]

....my current concern is Khai's sister (out of the same litter) Fleur, she is a lovely oriental lilac, completely distraught/confused etc at her missing brother....non stop 'treading'...any help here would be welcomed, I have been recommended to give her small doses (eg half a 5mg tab) of Clomicalm, to help to calm her, has anyone tried this? My husband and I are coping ok, bursting with grief, but managing for now one hour at a time really, once again thanks for the support

 

[maui]

Maybe get a Feliway plug-in for Fleur. It has a pheromone that calms and comforts cats in a variety of situations. I use it and have gotten great results for reducing the stress of territorial issues, but the product says that it can be used for things like going to the vet, household changes, etc. Poor Fleur. . .

http://www.petguys.com/-039079027910.html

 

[kumbulu]

Lyn, I am so sorry for your loss of Khai.

Hopefully Fleur will adjust with time. Her reaction may also be, in part, a reflection of the sad vibes in the house. Perhaps she know's you're sad and upset and is reacting to that.

 

[lyn bailey]

This is a reply that I posted onto the online help site. I have received some private messages, thank you all so much, just to let you know the full story:

Hi, am sorry but I really did not pick up on this cross link, I was totally new to this site, and 'in my fog' did not really understand and only just stumbled across as I did not recognise the title when Hissy first said about the cross posting. So apologies for not posting directly here. Thank you for the replies and sincere messages, let me try to explain regarding some of the previous comments. My original vet (A) said that Khai needed some dental work, as I had noticed that he seemed to be having difficulty eating dried food and seemed very miserable, so he was admitted for treatment and later in the day, I picked him up, or what appeared to be my usually lovable docile cat. To say that he was in a panic was an understatement, and I had to take him home in the vets cage as he was so distressed. (You have to bear in mind that my 2 oriental breeds tend to stay in the house, do not mix with other cats and are very home orientated). He'd had 3 extractions, and obviously his mouth was a bit of a mess, but fair enough. Two days later, I was not at all happy as Khai still seemed unsteady so I took him back, and although A said that his gums looked ok, gave a painkilling injection, admitted that he thought that Khai had a massive reaction to the anaesthetic (saffan) and told me to continue with the Stomorgyl antibiotic until another check up on Saturday - when A said that the gums looked as though they had recovered fine, to start back on some dried food etc, and from then on Khai seemed to be recovering ok. However around a week later, I noticed that he again seemed to be not eating very well, checked his mouth and his upper gum seemed sore....so I took him to see A again, and they confirmed that his existing lower canine seemed to be puncturing the upper gum, they wanted to take this out and I said no, I would only give him soft food and see if it would heal. So a few days after it did start to heal, and I thought we were on the road to recovery, Khai perked up and seemed much happier, and became his usual naughty boy self, almost. But that then led me to the situation when I originally posted, he started to constantly circle especially in the evenings, and sometimes for hours, seemed very hesitant to jump, and I took him to another vet for a second opinion (B), who watched and observed, and said that it was a vision problem, and in his opinion Khai seemed to have lost his sight. Although I am adamant that at the point of the circling, he had got vision if only slightly. So at that point of realisation of this impending blindness, I thought, well this is not a huge problem and I can handle this, Khai knew the house very well, and we would have to make some amendments but no big deal at all. But in a very short space of time, there was a massive decline. Within about 20 hours, his vision had totally gone, his legs could not hold him up, and he wanted to crawl into a very small dark space in the basement. I picked him up and ran to the car to take him to see vet B, and Khai was suddenly very sick, mainly bile, but still quite alert, and recognising my voice and reassurance. The vet was stunned at the change, and could see that Khai could not use his legs, and his third eye had come up completely. He offered to put him on an iv drip, and inject a steroid, to see if there was any change in say 24 hours, or gave me the option to do the inevitable (which at that point, I was really in the most awful shock). I gave him to B, and at that point of handing over, Khai launched for me claws and all, as if to say 'please no', or as if he knew it was goodbye, and my arm was really bleeding, but he most certainly still recognised my voice (believe me this was agonising). Around 4 hours later, Khai was very settled as such, and it was just as though he was sleeping, but still breathing, another 4 hours or so later still the same, but then it became fairly apparent that Khai had slipped into a coma and soon after he died. The nect day, after much discussion, B and an associate figured that there had been a pulmonary embolism (causing the blindness) which could probably be proven if we wanted a post mortem, and offered the opinion that the damage was done at the point of the dental op, but took its time to develop. (Obviously I could go on for pages but am aware of the length of this, just wanted to clarify a few matters). Of course I am full of questions, and anger. For instance, vet A, who was requested to fax the op notes to vet B after the initial visit, refused saying that the computer records where their property, and I had to get in touch with a veterianary council citing 'supercession' and order them to, and then they were typed up as such, not the original computer print. And why did Khai pick up so? The soul searching - was there anything at all I could have picked up on sooner, instead of just hunches etc, I did take him back 3 times remember, after the intial dental op, before the 2nd opinion, I am full of woe/guilt/deep emotion, and I miss him so badly, as he was my home buddy for almost 10 long and gorgeous years, owed me nothing, but I wanted more time with him. I have his (litter) sister to look after, who is pining away, being caressed and cherished as much as we can, and one day we know that we will not cry any more....maybe... but the anger remains...once more I really want to say what a wonderful site this is, yes I know I am over in New Zealand, but I will continue to view it, as are all of my friends over here, and thank you for your replies, advice and lovely comments. Any further comments would be most welcomed...

Update is that vet B has received the medical records from vet A (this is all very coded I realise, but it saves from incrimination), there are some discrepancies which we have now taken up with the New Zealand Veterinary Association who are looking at the pattern of events. We have many 'hindsight views' of events, realising that Khai was almost certainly partially blind from the dental op... am trying to work through a lot of issues and having some great support