I can't believe it

I had never heard of it either. It totally threw me for a loop. Pumpkin was a stray that showed up in our yard about 12 years ago. She had a kitten with her. At the time I had just gotten involved with a local animal rescue group. They helped me get her spayed and found a home for the kitten. They also helped me with the hematoma she had. We brought her indoors. Here came the allergies. One vet said she has ringworm. The doctored her and it didn't get any better. I went somewhere else after he said bring her in and we will cure her or kill her. (He and I had many fights over the years because of things he did and said. He was one of the vets the group used.) Another vet wanted to blame it on fleas. But I knew that she would have had allergies outside too if it had been fleas. I put her back outside. Overnight she developed another hematoma. We brought her back in. The allergies got worse. Well, we finally figured out she was allergic to clay cat litter and to plastic. This cat went from having almost no hair to having a beautiful coat once again. At one time it was bad enough I cringed looking at her and was ready to have her put down. But like I said, I figured it out and had a beautiful healthy cat for years. She didn't fall. She hasn't been bitten. All the other cats are fine. And yes, I will be looking for another vet. One that listens, is reasonable, and really cares. I'm delighted about your miracle kitty.

Actually, the poor cat almost lost an ear after the last procedure for a hematoma. The vet did some sort of button down procedure. When I picked her up her ear was this ghastly gray color. They told me to keep the tape and all on for another 2 weeks. If I had, she wouldn't have had an ear. I was so angry. I called and talked to one of the vets I really liked at the same clinic that did the procedure. He said no one else liked that procedure and was very apologetic. He said that the other man was a partner and they couldn't tell him not to do it that way. Her ear never was the same. That is why I stopped using that clinic. One never knew which vet was going to be in office.

Thank you.. And smart move- that vet sounds like a quack.. I have had cats with ear hemotomas I think they may have been caused by scratching do to a flea or something. But there ears just curled up and they looked a little different afterward. still same lovable kitties.. My dog got them too - on him I tried the surgery.. cost a pretty penny and didn't help he still kept shaking his head and would rip the sutures. Good luck with the vet hunt- I'm sure you will find someone. You know I work for an answering service -we have a few vets that we answer for.. But there is one that I always cringe when I have to call- SHE is a real B*tch on the phone. Cussing and carrying on because one of her people has an animal in need. OMG! I would never bring my animal to someone like that..I don't know why she is in business or how.. Do these people really keep going back to this mean lady? HOly cow! I guess what I am trying to say is the weirdos are everywhere.

I live in Alabama. Many of the old folks here still don't even carry animals to a vet for shots or anything. Most of them would put the animal down the old fashioned way. But just like anywhere, there are vets that are out to make a dime and vets that care. There is a place here that has several vets in one place and own two other clinics. The alternate between the clinics. They've gotten excessively more expensive than the other local clinics. Two of their technicians I can't even bare to look at because they don't listen because they know everything. The others there I like but goodness they are pricey. The first vet I called really does care about animals. They have a 3 legged kitty that lives on the premises. Someone dropped it and they did what was needed and kept the kitty. They have been great with one of my dogs. And I could see them hesitating if there was a chance the pet would be okay. But I'm not stupid. I know my cat and her habits. When healthy she would try to eat all the cat food. I have other cats. I teasingly called her bull dozer. I don't like having to do this. If for 5 seconds I believed it were reversible, I wouldn't think of it.

I am delighted vets don't like to put animals down! I don't like it either. That doesn't mean that sometimes it isn't in the best interest of the animal. We once took in an older dog that had been rescued that had cancer. We didn't want him to spend the rest of his life in a small cage at the facility. He brought us great joy and love for many years. However, when the cancer began eating him from the inside out, and he lay there shivering, it was time. The vet, the rescue group, all of us knew from the start that the cancer would be back and worse. But for years he did wonderfully, playing and leaping, sometimes jumping out of the fence and scaring our uncle. He was loving and gentle. We miss him a great deal but we never regretted taking him. So when the sores appeared my husband hoped that the dog had been bitten by something. I knew better and I was right, sadly. When a black and tan coonhound was rescued from the midst of the forest by a member of the rescue group and brought in I fought the vet. The dog was emaciated and his hip was broken in 3 places. The vet wanted to put him down. I told him I would take the dog and named him Handsome. Even when he said he might have to amputate the leg I still insisted. And that dog kept his leg. He got fat and sassy and he was able to jump and romp and play. When a family moved down from up north and had to leave their black and tan with family because they felt the age of the dog and extreme change wouldn't be good for him. I let them adopt Handsome. They had acres and acres of fenced in yard and kids for him to play with. He would have a family with children and room to run and play, more attention than I could offer, so yes, I did what was in his best interest. When a cat came in and his nose was rotting from upper respiratory, I would go in 5 times a day and hold and feed that cat. He would only eat from my hand, not from his bowl. The vet gave me a hard time saying I wasn't helping the cat with all that attention. Jordan, I named him, did live and came home with me and lived many, many years. The day when a man called about a kitten being tortured, his co workers had found the cat and strung it up, prodding it's rectum with a stick, I wanted to hurt those people. But the fact is someone did call and we did rescue the cat. When a pregnant dog came in, I fought for it. The vet said the dog was "barely pregnant" and wanted to do an abortion. A friend and myself took the dog after much fighting. She took the dog home with her. That night, the dog, Angel, had 9 puppies!!!! So, do you now understand? This wasn't me getting bored with an animal and not wanting to deal with it. I did try to force feed her. She gurgled and it ran back out of her mouth. When you touched her, she would eliminate. She was fine one day, and down the next. May vets always hate having to euthanize an animal. May that it never be strictly about the money. But paying attention to the pet owner, that might just be a good idea.

Thank you for your support and concern. Sadly, she did stop eating and we did take her in to be euthanized. The vet strongly supported this and was gentle and compassionate. However, he knows us and he knows that when it comes to animals, children and the elderly, I won't abide ugliness. Pick on me, I can take it, but don't hurt them.