Hey everyone .. just sharing because it is something that remains front and centre of my thoughts pretty much every day now.
So, Syba is our much loved 9 year old DSH who, up until this episode, has been a healthy and happy indoor cat with an outdoor run and walks on his harness.
He loves his food and is a very sociable little man who totally out of the blue, stopped eating, drinking and took to hiding under our bed, obviously not well.
This was a Sunday and we took him to our local vet as an emergency [we are new to this area and small town, having recently moved from the big smoke].
Anyways, the local Vet took an x-ray and diagnosed a colon blockage and recommended IV fluids. So, we left Syba on the Sunday on the IV fluids. On the Monday there was no change and they recommended continuation of the IV fluids. However, the x-ray had been shown to another Vet who noticed calcification in the kidneys and they were now thinking renal failure following that and a blood test. On the Tuesday there was still no improvement and even though no further tests had been carried out, they were pushing us in the direction of euthanization as his prognosis was “not good”.
We know our little man and we could see that he had not given up and we were not prepared to give up either. We wanted to give him one more night and drive into town on the Wednesday to see him.
On the Wednesday morning the local Vet rang to tell us that we might like to take him to a Cat Specialist in our closest major city 2 hours away to have an ultrasound done. Of course, we jumped at this option, picked him up and drove him there.
The local Vet charged us $960 for 3 days of IV fluids, a blood test, an x-ray and not much else except “he is not getting better, best to say your goodbyes”.
They hand Syba over to us, covered in saliva from the mouth ulcers he now has from not eating for 3 days and obvious gastric issues, but not before they ensure that their bill is paid and he is discharged from their care. They did, however, mention that they would send the Cat Specialist his history.
So, we arrive at the Cat Specialist [lets call him Dr Carl] 2 hours later and the history has not yet arrived. Dr Carl called them and asked them again to send it through. We are sent away for an hour because that is how long it will take to perform the ultrasound and a blood test and to get the blood results.
When we get back Dr Carl tells us that he had not great news in that Syba has one large kidney due to a stone blocking the ureter and one small kidney due to stone damage in the past. His Creatinine is in the 1,800’s when 400 is considered high. He then tells us that we can fly Syba down to one of our major cities for surgery but that could cost at least $10,000. However, he had placed a call through to the local University Vet Team whose Surgeon had said that he would attempt the surgery even though he had never done so before and for that reason, it might cost us between $3,000 and $4,000. Without surgery Syba dies, so surgery it is. Again, Syba had not given up so we were not giving up on him.
Anyways, before we had to leave him to make the 2 hour drive home, we gave him a cuddle and I mentioned that he already looked better. He looked better because while they had him sedated for the ultrasound they cleaned up all the saliva and gave him some pain medication!
Surgery was booked for the Friday and Dr Carl only charged us $370 for a consult, an ultrasound and a blood test. He also took an x-ray but he did not charge us for that because the only reason he had to take one was because Syba’s history had still not arrived!
We get home and the reason Dr Carl had not received Syba’s history was that the local Vet had sent it to me not Dr Carl!
I quote that history …. O came to visit this afternoon, explained disease process again and the severity and poor prognosis. O seems to be in denial about it, wants to wait for bloods tomorrow and fluids over night before making a decision.
And there was mention on the history of a cat spey, right and left ovarian pedicles and uterine stump ligatures. Syba is a boy!! So, they had updated his history with another patient’s surgery .. I rechecked the bill to make sure I had not paid for that also!!
Anyways, as planned, Syba stayed with Dr Carl until the Thursday night when he personally drove him over to the Uni. The Uni Vet rang me on the Friday morning to discuss the surgery and that he had ordered in all the stents and other equipment he thought he would need, plus he had spoken to a friend of his who was a human Urologist, plus spoken to others in the States and done some research etc.
Syba was due to go under the knife after lunch.
Lunch time I get a call from Dr Carl and after many days of emotional ups and downs, he hit us with another down in that the Uni Surgeon did not want to proceed with the surgery as he disagreed with the diagnosis of a blocked ureter and that it looked more like chronic kidney disease. So, we are now back at a brick wall except Dr Carl gave us hope once more in the form of taking Syba back to his clinic, inserting a drain to reduce the fluid on the kidney and assess again on the Monday. Of course, we say to proceed.
This was due to happen at 2PM and Dr Carl rings me just after 2 .. this is the conversation:
Dr Carl: I have wonderful news, Syba passed the stone!
Me: What?
Dr Carl: He passed the stone on his own! I have never seen this happen on medical treatment alone but he has passed the stone! I performed an ultrasound prior to inserting the drain and the stone has gone. Sometime between leaving here on the Thursday evening and the ultrasound performed at the Uni on the Friday prior to surgery, the stone passed which is why the Uni Team disagreed with my diagnosis.
Me .. Crying! [LOL]
Friday night after 5 days of not eating, Syba ate something. He stayed on the IV fluids until the Wednesday when they started to slow them down and on the following Friday, his Creatinine level was down from the 1,800’s to the 400’s and he was eating and drinking on his own and off IV fluids.
After two weeks, we took him home on the Saturday. He has been home for 2 weeks now and on Friday we are driving him back to Dr Carl for a further blood test, to check the Creatinine now as Dr Carl was hopeful that it would continue to drop while at home. We are also hopeful that it has dropped as 400’s can mean only months and the lower the level goes, the longer time Syba has. All is not lost and he can also be managed with a change in diet if required and also subcutaneous fluids if required. We will know more this Friday. His kidneys will never be perfect again but cats have been known to survive with only 5% kidney function.
Every time I cuddle Syba I can not help but think how close we came to losing him and had we listened to the first Vet, we would have euthanized on the Tuesday and he passed the stone on the Friday!
In summary, the first Vet charged us over $900 for 3 days IV fluid, one blood test and one x-ray. It took them three days to remember that there was a Cat Specialist 2 hours away who could perform an ultrasound! They sent Syba’s record to the wrong place and updated his record with another patient’s surgery. They did not clean Syba at all and basically gave up on him. Oh and let’s not forget the “in denial” .. as it turns out, with good reason!
Dr Carl charged us $1,500 for 11 days ‘intensive hospitalization’, IV fluids, numerous blood tests, two ultrasounds and a trip to the University and back! Dr Carl was and continues to be awesome and we can not thank him enough! Syba is a member of our family and Dr Carl treated him like he was a member of his family too. We will, however, never set foot in the local Vet’s again and if any of our pets needs any medical care, we will drive the 4 hours.
I can not stress enough that everyone should use their judgement when considering their options in regards to their much loved pets. We know our pets better than anyone else and we know if/when they have given up. Do not let anyone talk you into euthanizing your pet! I have had to make that decision in the past and at that time I knew it was the right decision. Rightly so, we knew it was not the right decision on this occasion.
While I have been typing this, Syba has been racing around the house, chasing his little sister who missed him terribly.
He has started to put some weight back on after loosing 2kgs and is missing hair from his neck [blood tests], leg [IV lines] and abdomen [ultrasounds] but he is home and being loved:
He is our little miracle!
He did, however, use up 4 of his 9 lives in one hit! 
So, Syba is our much loved 9 year old DSH who, up until this episode, has been a healthy and happy indoor cat with an outdoor run and walks on his harness.
He loves his food and is a very sociable little man who totally out of the blue, stopped eating, drinking and took to hiding under our bed, obviously not well.
This was a Sunday and we took him to our local vet as an emergency [we are new to this area and small town, having recently moved from the big smoke].
Anyways, the local Vet took an x-ray and diagnosed a colon blockage and recommended IV fluids. So, we left Syba on the Sunday on the IV fluids. On the Monday there was no change and they recommended continuation of the IV fluids. However, the x-ray had been shown to another Vet who noticed calcification in the kidneys and they were now thinking renal failure following that and a blood test. On the Tuesday there was still no improvement and even though no further tests had been carried out, they were pushing us in the direction of euthanization as his prognosis was “not good”.
We know our little man and we could see that he had not given up and we were not prepared to give up either. We wanted to give him one more night and drive into town on the Wednesday to see him.
On the Wednesday morning the local Vet rang to tell us that we might like to take him to a Cat Specialist in our closest major city 2 hours away to have an ultrasound done. Of course, we jumped at this option, picked him up and drove him there.
The local Vet charged us $960 for 3 days of IV fluids, a blood test, an x-ray and not much else except “he is not getting better, best to say your goodbyes”.
They hand Syba over to us, covered in saliva from the mouth ulcers he now has from not eating for 3 days and obvious gastric issues, but not before they ensure that their bill is paid and he is discharged from their care. They did, however, mention that they would send the Cat Specialist his history.
So, we arrive at the Cat Specialist [lets call him Dr Carl] 2 hours later and the history has not yet arrived. Dr Carl called them and asked them again to send it through. We are sent away for an hour because that is how long it will take to perform the ultrasound and a blood test and to get the blood results.
When we get back Dr Carl tells us that he had not great news in that Syba has one large kidney due to a stone blocking the ureter and one small kidney due to stone damage in the past. His Creatinine is in the 1,800’s when 400 is considered high. He then tells us that we can fly Syba down to one of our major cities for surgery but that could cost at least $10,000. However, he had placed a call through to the local University Vet Team whose Surgeon had said that he would attempt the surgery even though he had never done so before and for that reason, it might cost us between $3,000 and $4,000. Without surgery Syba dies, so surgery it is. Again, Syba had not given up so we were not giving up on him.
Anyways, before we had to leave him to make the 2 hour drive home, we gave him a cuddle and I mentioned that he already looked better. He looked better because while they had him sedated for the ultrasound they cleaned up all the saliva and gave him some pain medication!
Surgery was booked for the Friday and Dr Carl only charged us $370 for a consult, an ultrasound and a blood test. He also took an x-ray but he did not charge us for that because the only reason he had to take one was because Syba’s history had still not arrived!
We get home and the reason Dr Carl had not received Syba’s history was that the local Vet had sent it to me not Dr Carl!
I quote that history …. O came to visit this afternoon, explained disease process again and the severity and poor prognosis. O seems to be in denial about it, wants to wait for bloods tomorrow and fluids over night before making a decision.
And there was mention on the history of a cat spey, right and left ovarian pedicles and uterine stump ligatures. Syba is a boy!! So, they had updated his history with another patient’s surgery .. I rechecked the bill to make sure I had not paid for that also!!
Anyways, as planned, Syba stayed with Dr Carl until the Thursday night when he personally drove him over to the Uni. The Uni Vet rang me on the Friday morning to discuss the surgery and that he had ordered in all the stents and other equipment he thought he would need, plus he had spoken to a friend of his who was a human Urologist, plus spoken to others in the States and done some research etc.
Syba was due to go under the knife after lunch.
Lunch time I get a call from Dr Carl and after many days of emotional ups and downs, he hit us with another down in that the Uni Surgeon did not want to proceed with the surgery as he disagreed with the diagnosis of a blocked ureter and that it looked more like chronic kidney disease. So, we are now back at a brick wall except Dr Carl gave us hope once more in the form of taking Syba back to his clinic, inserting a drain to reduce the fluid on the kidney and assess again on the Monday. Of course, we say to proceed.
This was due to happen at 2PM and Dr Carl rings me just after 2 .. this is the conversation:
Dr Carl: I have wonderful news, Syba passed the stone!
Me: What?
Dr Carl: He passed the stone on his own! I have never seen this happen on medical treatment alone but he has passed the stone! I performed an ultrasound prior to inserting the drain and the stone has gone. Sometime between leaving here on the Thursday evening and the ultrasound performed at the Uni on the Friday prior to surgery, the stone passed which is why the Uni Team disagreed with my diagnosis.
Me .. Crying! [LOL]
Friday night after 5 days of not eating, Syba ate something. He stayed on the IV fluids until the Wednesday when they started to slow them down and on the following Friday, his Creatinine level was down from the 1,800’s to the 400’s and he was eating and drinking on his own and off IV fluids.
After two weeks, we took him home on the Saturday. He has been home for 2 weeks now and on Friday we are driving him back to Dr Carl for a further blood test, to check the Creatinine now as Dr Carl was hopeful that it would continue to drop while at home. We are also hopeful that it has dropped as 400’s can mean only months and the lower the level goes, the longer time Syba has. All is not lost and he can also be managed with a change in diet if required and also subcutaneous fluids if required. We will know more this Friday. His kidneys will never be perfect again but cats have been known to survive with only 5% kidney function.
Every time I cuddle Syba I can not help but think how close we came to losing him and had we listened to the first Vet, we would have euthanized on the Tuesday and he passed the stone on the Friday!
In summary, the first Vet charged us over $900 for 3 days IV fluid, one blood test and one x-ray. It took them three days to remember that there was a Cat Specialist 2 hours away who could perform an ultrasound! They sent Syba’s record to the wrong place and updated his record with another patient’s surgery. They did not clean Syba at all and basically gave up on him. Oh and let’s not forget the “in denial” .. as it turns out, with good reason!
Dr Carl charged us $1,500 for 11 days ‘intensive hospitalization’, IV fluids, numerous blood tests, two ultrasounds and a trip to the University and back! Dr Carl was and continues to be awesome and we can not thank him enough! Syba is a member of our family and Dr Carl treated him like he was a member of his family too. We will, however, never set foot in the local Vet’s again and if any of our pets needs any medical care, we will drive the 4 hours.
I can not stress enough that everyone should use their judgement when considering their options in regards to their much loved pets. We know our pets better than anyone else and we know if/when they have given up. Do not let anyone talk you into euthanizing your pet! I have had to make that decision in the past and at that time I knew it was the right decision. Rightly so, we knew it was not the right decision on this occasion.
While I have been typing this, Syba has been racing around the house, chasing his little sister who missed him terribly.
He has started to put some weight back on after loosing 2kgs and is missing hair from his neck [blood tests], leg [IV lines] and abdomen [ultrasounds] but he is home and being loved:
He is our little miracle!
He did, however, use up 4 of his 9 lives in one hit! 
