Is There Anything I Can/should Do?

[laurasc718472]

Hello,

I'm not new to this site. Three months ago, my dear Pismo passed away from cancer. I became very familiar with this website. It helped immensely. Now, I need advice....

I adopted two kittens shortly after Pismo's death. They are now 20 weeks old -- got them at 9 weeks.

Well, I took both of them in yesterday to get spayed and neutered. The neutering went fine, but my dear Nike is now blind.

She had surgery yesterday morning some time. The vet's office does surgery from 9:00-2:00, so I'm not sure what time block she was actually operated in.

At 5:00 p.m., I went to visit her and take home my boy. She was almost like a limp rag. They said that she was having a little trouble coming out of the anesthesia. So, this morning I called. They said she was better, more active and alert.

I went over on my lunch hour. I walked to the cage to see my girl (Nike - like the shoe). She was howling. She didn't recognize me. Her eyes did not follow my hands. I said, "My cat is blind." I asked to be put in a room and the doctor came in and talked to me. I was in shock and crying at this point.

They never told me she couldn't see. Did they think I was stupid??? We discussed possible causes -- lack of oxygen, stroke, reaction to the anesthesia. She didn't look like a stroke because both sides of her body were essentially the same. He told me that all during the surgery, no monitors gave him an indication that her oxygen level had dropped. Because I specifically asked that question. He mentioned several monitors: O2-sat -- that's the only I remember offhand.

Now she's on Prednisolone. I asked why that medication. He said for any possible inflammation of the cerebral cortex.

I brought her home so she would feel safe. She did not feel safe at all in there. They didn't make me pay for the surgery. The doctor said, He "feels in his heart that she will get some vision back." I thought, Wow, that doesn't sound like medical advice, but I was in shock and still am.

The question I have is: I guess I know that nothing can bring back her sight, but are there any avenues I should pursue regarding this?? Should I log a complaint with some Veternary Society or regulatory agency? If so, do you know what agency?

Should I check into this any more? I asked to see the chart, and the doctor came in and said there is nothing in the chart that he had not already told me. I don't remember the whole conversation, but he made a statement something to the effect of "I'm not lying about this - I would not do such a thing." I might have been accusatory, but being in shock, I'm not sure.

My little Nike is acting like a trooper!!! I just feel so bad and guilty that such a routine surgery went bad. It's killing me to know that I took her in. Maybe on another day this wouldn't have happened.

I'm in need of a little advice because I know that my head is not thinking properly right now. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Laura

[laurasc718472]

Well, surgery was thursday, and it is now Monday.

I noticed on the discharge sheet that they had her weight higher than the male's. She is much smaller. That accounts for a 20% weight difference in what her real weight was. I'm sure that this is a mistake that caused my little girl to go blind.

I took her in on Sunday to get a second opinion. Doctors seem to stick together. He didn't say anything negative about the other vet. Possible causes of her blindness: hypoxia (lack of oxygen), hypotention (low blood pressure), idiopathic drug reaction (drug reaction of no known cause???) and other....whatever that means!!!

The new doc stated that when he took her back into the room to check out her eyes, she squinted when he shined a bright light in them...

He said that indicated some return of vision. I'm not sure how they determine that's not the amount of vision that she woke up from surgery with. He surely doesn't know because he didn't see her right afterwards!

There is a slight.......very slight possibility that some of her vision may return. He told me if I see any vision coming back there would be signs within six months. That's a half a year.....

So right now, I'm raising a blind kitten...........because of what looks like an anesthesia overdose!!!!! I HATE THAT VET--I HATE THAT VET--I HATE THAT VET!!!

Nothing is going to change her sight, but I'm very angry. I written several letters to that doctor and thrown them away. I want to leave a nasty message on his voicemail. I still may do that. He wants to examine her again tomorrow. Right, like that's going to happen. He didn't tell me she was blind in the first place. There's nothing that makes me think he would even apologize. That would be the professional thing to do. Even acknowledge that something went wrong.

He gets off scott free, and mine and Nike's lives are forever changed. Something's not right here.

[MartyT]

My dear Laura,

I'm so very sorry to learn that this has happened to you and Nike, and I can only imagine how shocked and upset you must feel about all of it. I’m sure your mind is filled with questions, medical and otherwise.

Since I'm not a veterinarian, I'm not qualified to answer whatever medical questions you may have as to what went wrong in this usually uncomplicated surgery, but I certainly do believe that you deserve some answers, and I sincerely hope that at some point, when you feel in better control of your emotions, you will take your questions back to the veterinarian who operated on your kitten. To come to terms with this, you need information about what happened to Nike that may have caused this blindness or partial blindness, an opportunity to discuss what went wrong and what might have been done differently, and reassurance that what happened was not due to negligence on your veterinarian's part. It is certainly understandable that you are feeling very angry at your vet, perhaps even angry at yourself for asking the vet to spay your kitten in the first place, when (as far as you knew) there was nothing wrong with Nike to begin with.

I don’t for a moment want to discount or minimize your feelings, and I think that under the same set of circumstances, any one of us would feel exactly the same as you are feeling now. But at a time like this it's important to remember that neither you nor your vet intentionally set out to bring any harm to your beloved Nike, and neither one of you would ever wish blindness on a kitten or any other animal.

The sad reality is that there are always risks associated with anesthesia and surgery, including sudden death. We animal lovers sometimes overlook the fact that, like its human counterpart, veterinary medicine is not an exact science, and mistakes are always possible. It is also possible that your kitten may have had a congenital defect or some other pre-existing condition that went undetected until this anesthesia exacerbated it. Unfortunately, both you and your veterinarian are human, terrible accidents do happen, and neither one of you foresaw what was going to happen to your kitten during this surgery.

I’ve said elsewhere in these forums that anger is a powerful emotion that can be frightening, but feeling angry doesn't necessarily imply that you will lose control or take your anger out unfairly on others. Nevertheless, before you can get through it, let go of the intense emotions attached to it and move on, your anger must be admitted, felt and expressed, if only to yourself. When you simply acknowledge feelings of anger to yourself or to a trusted other (or even here, in the safety of this forum) without actually doing anything about them, no harm is done, to you or to anyone else. On the other hand, if you suppress that anger and hold on to it, eventually you may explode, turn it inward and get depressed, or aim it at innocent others. I encourage you to find ways to discharge the energy of your anger -- perhaps through physical exercise, writing, or talking. Then, if after examining all the facts in this case you decide that your anger at your vet is justified, when you feel ready to do so, you can confront him constructively (in a letter, phone call or in person) with what happened and how you feel about it.

As you say, regardless of whatever you decide to do next, you’re still left with the reality of living with Nike’s vision impairment, but you may find that Nike’s reaction to her disability will surprise you. Animals have other keen senses that enable them to compensate when one of their senses is impaired. And one of the most wonderful things about our animal friends is that they tend to cope with disabilities with far more resiliency and flexibility than we humans do. In addition to all of that, your Nike is blessed to have you as her guardian, and you are there to offer her all the acceptance, love and protection she will ever need.

A quick search on the Internet tells me that there are lots of articles and Web sites devoted to the topic of blindness in companion animals. See, for example, BlindPets.com. See also Eye Problems in Cats. In response to a reader’s question about sudden-onset blindness in her friend’s kitten, one veterinarian responded:

I do not think that this kitten will have many problems if it is a house cat. We have several blind patients in our practice at any time and I suspect that most veterinary hospitals do. Pets that are congenitally blind or who experience blindness after a chronic degenerative process tend not to be particularly bothered by their condition. As long as your friend keeps the furniture in approximately the same places and the litterpans, food and water bowls and other of life's necessities in the same places the kitten will probably do fine.

Wishing you peace and healing,

Marty T

[Maylissa]

Laura,

I had replied to you immediately with a PM upon reading your original post, but I'm not sure whether you got my message, so I'm responding here, too, although I can't give you the private info I'd added in my PM.

While what Marty says is true, that even vets are human, I personally lean more towards taking meaningful action if possible when mistakes, or negligence occur....especially if no abject apology is forthcoming. There certainly are many instances of vets being plainly bad at their jobs and I believe if this is the case, it ought not be swept under the rug. You do, however, need to gather as many facts and data as you can from the vet in question before you lodge any such complaint. You had asked whether this should be reported to some governing body and I'd written that you should have either a State or National body that handles complaints, if it's set up anything like it is in Canada. Some bodies are mainly professional dues-takers and don't necessarily take action on complaints so you need to make very sure about their legal responsibilites before you waste time dealing with the wrong body. But I think a complaint should definitely be lodged with someone, if for nothing else than to leave a written record, if warranted, against a bad vet. Whether you will see anything more than a slap on the wrist is anyone's guess, as the vet world seems to work much like the human doctor world.

But as for DOING something about Nike's condition, I will repeat what I said in my PM for the most part ( except for the private info ). I highly believe in homeopathics, especially for handling situations like Nike's. I had mentioned that our girl's retinas had mainly detached ( and like your situation, due in part to negligence on our vets' parts in detecting her extremely high blood pressure in time....except that I DID get apologies! ), resulting in major disaster for one of her eyes and some damage to the other one. She is, in effect, blind in one eye now. HOWEVER, with certain homeopathic remedies we used right afterwards, both of her retinas have actually managed to mainly ( or wholly - we'll find out tomorrow if there's been further improvement that way ) reattach themselves....when the literature stated she had less than a 50% chance of this happening, given the length of time before treatment was begun.

So, I had suggested you try to find a homeopathic &/or holistic vet who also is trained in homeopathy, either locally, or online ( many of them will work with you by distance/phone as long as you have a local vet to do the physical work required ) as soon as possible, in case some or all of the damage can be reversed. For homeopathy, it isn't even necessary to know the cause of a condition, as its application is based on the individual's personal and exact responses to a problem, whether it's a virus or a physical condition, so you don't even need all the medical facts/data before treatment can be begun. If you are interested in persuing this, just PM me from this site and I can give you my own vet's name and # ( he's in the US ), if you wish to speak with him to find out if he thinks he might be able to help Nike, or help you to find a local homeopathic vet ( there are certain sites online where you can see if anyone practises in your area, but a personal recommendation is always better ) If nothing else, homeopathic remedies, in an experienced hand, can do wonders for the emotional and attitudinal components of disease or physical infirmity, which will help Nike cope with her condition.

While it's true that cats most often adapt really quite well to blindness, why not try to help the situation as much as you can? The fact that you are then DOING something about the tragedy will probably go a ways to alleviate some of the guilt that comes so readily with these situations, even if it's NOT warranted by anything YOU did. You'll still be trying to help your furbaby out as much as possible. There are also some supplements that, depending on what exactly the damage is, might improve things as well or strengthen what's left of her vision and keep it from getting worse if there's any left.

I won't go into the emotional reactions here, as this is all the time I have right now for posting, but I hope this will help for now and if you need more info from me, please just let me know by a PM message. My heart DOES go out to you, and I feel what I've learned all thru my years with our own 2 furbabies, plus our current eye problem with our gal, should be passed onto others who are in need.....it's a living legacy of all that my own precious ones have taught me in the course of dealing with their own problems. ( and BTW, our furboy also had eye problems, so we've seen a lot of eye docs in our time )

God Bless,

Maylissa

The other suggestion I had was to try to find a board-certified veterinary opthamologist, or at the very least, a vet who isn't certified but who has a special interest in opthamology. Since there are some here in Canada who trained in the US, there's a good chance you can find one. A few of them here trained partly at the Colorado State University, Tufts University, Texas A&M University and Michigan State University. It goes w/o saying that they can determine much more accurately what's going on in the eye, as they have better equipment and more experience and training than regular vets.

Edited June 1, 2006 by Maylissa

[MartyT]

My dear Maylissa,

I read your post to Laura this morning. As always, your suggestions are thorough, your advice is specific and I am grateful that you are there for her in such a caring way.

Because I place such a high value on your input and participation in this and all our other forums, I feel a need to share with you (and others who may read this) some of my own thoughts about this particular case, and I hope that you will bear with me as I have another go at this.

In my response to Laura, I took into account several observations. The first is that by her own description she is very angry and upset, “not thinking properly right now,” and probably not in the best frame of mind to decide what she should or shouldn’t do about any of this. That is not to say that her feelings are not justified, nor does it mean that she should simply forget about what happened and “sweep it under the rug.” As I said in my message to her, once she acknowledges, expresses and discharges all the energy of her anger and feels better in control of her emotions, once she is able to examine more dispassionately all the facts in this case, she may very well decide that her anger at her vet is justified, and when she feels ready to do so, she is free to confront him constructively in whatever way she chooses, hopefully in a way that her message will be heard. She is also free to pursue any other avenue she chooses, including reporting the vet or taking legal action.

Second, before I constructed my response to Laura, I consulted with a veterinarian here in Phoenix. (This vet is highly qualified and I know her to be a very caring soul; she also participates in my pet loss support group, and I have the highest respect for her.) I asked that she give me her objective medical opinion based on the facts as Laura presented them in her posts of May 26 and May 29 (which this vet later read), and I incorporated the information she gave me in what I later said to Laura.

Since these posts appear in a public forum, I am ever mindful that whatever I say can be read by many other people in addition to the person who started a particular topic, and I try to construct my responses accordingly. While your suggestions are logical and sensible, Maylissa, not every animal guardian reading Laura’s story has the time, the energy, and the resources (in terms of access, time and money), to pursue the avenues you’ve suggested, and I think those limitations must be acknowledged. When a person is emotionally traumatized and in the midst of coping with an unexpected outcome such as this, it is difficult to take such factors into careful consideration. When one has just learned frightening and overwhelmingly bad news, it is not an easy time to sit down and logically and dispassionately evaluate all the costs and options, based on one’s own needs and resources. Sometimes decisions get made that later cause great emotional turmoil and financial hardship. I do not know Laura’s particular circumstances, and even if she could afford the expense of seeking treatment for her kitten, I don't know whether the outcome would be any different. What I do know is that many animal lovers simply cannot afford the time and money and emotional costs that your suggestions may require, and they experience enormous pain, heavy guilt and overwhelming feelings of inadequacy when they cannot come up with the necessary resources. I don’t want anything I say or do to add to that level of pain and guilt, especially when I don't know anything about whatever resources they may have at their disposal and I don't know if the outcome would be changed even if no expense were spared.

My response to Laura was intended to offer understanding and acceptance of her feelings and, until she feels better able to DO something, some alternative ways of looking at her situation that might offer her some comfort and hope in caring for her kitten whose vision is now impaired. With all my heart, I hope that is what I accomplished.

Most sincerely,

Marty T

[laurasc718472]

Maylissa and Marty T,

First of all I want to thank both of you very much for your responses in my time of need. This site is very helpful now with the issues of my kitten Nike and before with the loss of my dear Pismo.

The initial shock of finding out my kitten was blind was something I don't wish on anyone, and I don't think that anyone should have had to endure like I did.

No one at the vet's office gave me any indication that there were any adverse affects from surgery other than "she was having a little trouble coming out of the anesthesia."

From the time of surgery on Thursday morning until Friday when I decided to take her home, I had called three times to find out her status. At no time did the doctor nor his staff tell me of the possibility that my kitten was blind.

My feeling is that they were hoping that this was some sort of transient episode which would resolve itself before she went home or before I would notice. They even told me over the phone that they wanted to keep her one more night "for observation"....Maybe this might have worked with other people, but my animals are my babies. I care for them like I cared for my daughter. I am very, very disappointed with how the doctor handled this whole situation.

The doctor and/or his staff should have been much more upfront about her condition. I had to go into that office and find out myself. It wasn't like it was hard to determine because I noticed she was blind within seconds of seeing her.

The second thing I noticed was Nike's weight on the discharge summary. It was incorrect. They have her weight incorrectly at 6.5 (which I thought was 6 and 1/2 pounds -- but later found out it was 6 lbs 5 oz).

The ER vet's office I took her to on Sunday for another eval, weighed her 11 ozs lighter. Her brother's weight was right on with his surgery weight.

Together the inaccuracy in her weight and the feeling I get that they were trying to cover this up, leaves me feeling suspect about her care. I have a fairly strong sense of intuition about things, and something tells me this is a little fishy here.

This is what I plan on doing: I am going to get a blood test to make sure that Nike's liver and kidney function is normal. This would affect her metabolism of the anesthesia and would possibly account for this reaction. That is just one possibility. I have to rule this out before jumping to any conclusions about any other behavior of the vet's office, other than the way his office and staff kept her blindness from me.

If her kidney and liver functioning turn out to be normal, then I am going to file a complaint. I've already spoken with the state licensing agency about this complaint. They will investigate to find out if there was any malfeasance on the part of the vet, if the investigator feels this case merits it.

If this is something that could have been prevented, then I want to make sure it does not have to happen to anyone else. If this is something that just happened based on no apparent cause, then so be it. Both outcomes will not change Nike's situation.

Money is not an issue when it comes to my pets - throwing it away on something that might give me false hope is. False hope is more devastating to me than accepting the situation.

Maylissa, I'm am very grateful for all your suggestions. Just knowing of some options that you mentioned that I hadn't even previously thought about gave me hope that I was not totally hopeless or helpless in this situation -- that there was actually something more that I could do. I haven't ruled any of those suggestions out.

I'm not a litigious person, and I'm not a person out to make anyone's life miserable just because mine may seem like it at the time.

I have thought hard and long about what I should do and what I feel comfortable doing. What I said above makes me feel comfortable.

The most important thing to me right now is Nike. She is a trooper. I think that she is adjusting to this very well -- better than humans are able. I think I noticed her blindness so quickly because I have a background in blindness - my parents are both blind. The vet probably didn't take that into account when they didn't tell me about Nike's blindness and probably hoped I wouldn't notice.

Anyway, Nike is doing better and better with each passing day. There is an indication that Nike may have regained a very, very, very tiny bit of sight. This is just based on my observations - not on any medical determination.

The ER vet on Sunday said there was a possibility of regaining some sight -- I'm hopeful that it comes true.

Thanks for everything,

Laura

[Maylissa]

Laura,

Just have a bit of time for a quick message, as I, too, am once again dealing with another crisis with my own, little one, but I wanted to respond to you again.

I think we think alike, and the logical, progressive, sensible and caring steps you plan on taking are good ones, given the facts and your observations. Checking Nike's liver and kidney functions is a very good idea, although I'd like to add that these may have also been adversely affected ( if they aren't found to be normal ) by the surgery as well, so it may be harder to determine if this preceded the surgery or not. And given what this clinic did, I would also be just as suspicious as you. As you said, if nothing else, they had the legal and moral obligation to inform you of anything at all that they might have observed themselves, without delay. Getting her weight wrong from the get-go is an obvious mistake, as anesthetic overdose is no small matter, in animals or in humans.

When our gal had dental surgery a few years ago, I'd administered a combo. of homeopathics starting a few days ahead of the surgery, plus some extra supplements, plus instructed the doc and her assistant in their use before, during and after surgery, and also had on hand another 2 other remedies to use should there be any undue grogginess afterwards ( though we were right there to watch for it ourselves as well ). We continued this regimen for a few days afterwards ( about 3 ) and the board-certified vet. dental surgeon said she'd NEVER seen such a fast and perfect mouth recovery in all her years of practising....so the use of homeopathics was invaluable for us. In fact, we never even had to use any prescription pain-killers, the remedies worked so well....which was good, given how hard they are on the kidneys. We'd also discussed at great length beforehand, the type and length of anesthetic that was to be used, as our girl's kidneys were already chronically failing, so it was a crucial point. I've noticed since then that board-certified vets. tend to not even DO surgery, unless it's an emergency, without a blood panel beforehand, just to be sure.

Another avenue of help that you might want to consider or explore is the use of flower essences for the emotional challenges that Nike will be facing now. There are several that may help her adjust to losing her sight so suddenly, and flower essences can be safely be used with ANY other substance or healing modality. If you require any info on this, again, just PM me and I'd be glad to help, as I've used them for several years now and have a good amount of info. on them. They're very easy to use and administer. Even though cats seem to adapt very well to blindness, and learn to use their other senses, like smell, to compensate, some of these FE's can help them remarkably in gaining confidence and adapting to the change so much more than just time and experience can. Of course, I've been using them myself for Nissa, since she's lost most of her sight, and I could see a difference in her attitude w/i a week's time.

The fact that you have a family background of blindness does make me wonder, though.....if it turns out that this was not malpractise but had its cause elsewhere, perhaps this is one reason Nike was meant to be with you, of all people. And in fact, even if it was because of the vet, she's now in more capable hands than she might have been otherwise. With many other people, she may have ended up being kicked out of her home, killed or just plain suffering with less than ideal care. So regardless, I, for one, am so thankful she has you as her mom! And I'm very glad to hear she's doing better, despite her handicap. Thank goodness for that, even though it's not over for you or her.

I wish you all the luck in the world with your unwanted problem, and you're right.....if what you do yourself can stop this from happening to another, that will be a good thing and a great testament to your love for Nike. Let me know if there's anything else I can provide you and Nike, and if you can, keep us abreast of what's happening! HANG IN THERE!!

[laurasc718472]

Hello,

I just wanted to let you know that Nike has regained some sight. She is now able to discern furniture and contrasting objects. She is able to play with a piece of balled up aluminum foil and track it pretty well to play for minutes at a time.

She is jumping on the bed with no problem; she even chases her brother successfully The first time she tried, her brother cut the corner into the other room, and Nike slammed into the wall -- that was hard to watch....

The ER doc said that her vision may return, and it looks like over time she may get more of it back.

I can tell that she feels more comfortable each and every day. She is regaining more independence and confidence daily. I'm glad to see my little kitten acting more like her old self.

I just thought I would share the great news.....

Thanks for all your kind words and help during this very stressful time.

Laura

[Maylissa]

Oh, Laura, that's really good news!! I'm SO glad there's been some more improvement! Thanks for letting us know. And I repeat....thank goodness Nike has YOU as a mom. And my offer still stands, if you need further assistance. If things get even better, please let us know that, too, as I can always use some better news in the midst of other, sad things. And you're welcome, too.

[laurasc718472]

It's been a while since I've written.

I filed my complaint, and it has been assigned to an investigator. The first step is for the investigator to confirm my complaint verbally, and that happened today. She said that her job was just to gather information and give that information to the Board for a determination. I will have no idea what the doctor's side of the story will be.

She was a very nice woman. She read my complaint and asked a few questions. My concern was about the discrepancy in weight -- I thought that it might have been that discrepancy that contributed to Nike's blindness.

It seemed like her concern was that the doctor didn't give me any sort of guidance or discharge information on how to take care of my newly blinded cat. The only advice Dr. Denney gave me when Nike went home was "keep her away from stairs."

Some kind of advice for someone who has to take care of a newly blinded cat, huh?

Anyway, nothing will bring back Nike's pre-surgery sight. I guess all I really want out of this is for the next person not to have to go through the same thing or be treated as poorly as I had been.

The investigation may take from two months up to a year. Since I had to initiate the contact with the investigator, it will probably take closer to a year. All I have is time.........

The good news is that Nike is doing very well. I can't really tell for sure how much of Nike's sight has returned, but she is getting along very well. She still doesn't look out the window like she used to. She can tell her brother apart from my other cat 90 percent of the time. It used to be when one of the other cats entered the room, Nike didn't know if it was a friend or foe.

It is almost cute in a sad kind of way when she can't discern that the vacuum I've left out isn't an intruder in her territory. She approaches very cautiously, waiting for a verbal cue from this beast. When the vacuum doesn't respond, she moves closer and closer until she strikes it a couple of times. She then realizes that it's only the vacuum and moves on.

I guess what I get out of this is a very verbal cat that is always at my side. She sits down on my lap every night. She always lets me know when she wants attention.

I sometimes wonder how her personality has been affected by her diminished sight, but I guess I'll never know.

I'm just glad that a lot of her sight has returned for her sake and my guilt for taking her in for surgery. Another day, another time and who knows, the outcome might have been different.

Again Maylissa and Marty thanks for your thoughts when I desperately needed some.........

Laura

[Maylissa]

Laura,

Good to hear from you again! I'm glad the investigation is at least started and do hope it actually goes somewhere useful. One never knows.

I'm also glad that Nike's doing pretty well, considering. To give you more hope, I'd like to share a story our local vet just told me about.

She'd started working at a clinic some years ago where there was a resident cat who'd been adopted by the clinic because the owners didn't want her due to the fact that her sight had gone. She was pretty young, and they removed her eyes completely. My vet said it took her about an hour to even realize this cat was blind because she was "...zooming around the place, never bumping into anything at all!" Despite what you or I might think about the wisdom of this, they would let her outside, too ( don't know where this place was located ) and she would actually go hunting! Well, one day she even came back in.....after having caught a bird! Talk about making the best of things! The point, of course, is that cats, in particular, can obviously adapt incredibly well to blindness....amazingly so in some cases, and being that Nike is still so young, I have great hope for her.

I know it must kill you often when you look at her, to think you may have played a part in her condition. But YOU did nothing wrong. The more I think about it, the more it seems like so many things conspired to come together and create this situation....this particular vet on that particular day, and whatever else really happened behind the scenes....NONE of which you could predict or control. In all good faith, you were simply arranging for what should have been a simple operation. How could you possibly know what was to come of it? No one in their right mind would be expecting something like what happened, even if there'd been generalized worry about the operation. Now you've suffered a different kind of loss, but in most types of loss we want to assign blame to something. In this case, the vet and staff are clearly to blame, but I hate to see you turn that anger inwards and include yourself in that blame. Perhaps this is partly because this investigation is rather 'removed' from your more active participation, and now you don't even get to hear the other party's response, so you feel disempowered. ( and figures...that it's all done behind closed doors ~ what else is new with many 'justice' systems? ) And so, you have no ready means to vent that anger against the perpetrators. Oh.....I'd be beating up on pillows or something, I'll tell you! But please don't turn this onto yourself, as that will help neither you nor Nike. If it were me, I'd likely be looking into finding an animal-advocate type lawyer ( some DO exist ) and seeing if I had a good case against this clinic...putting that anger to better use.

And in any case, I'd still look into using some Flower Essences for Nike, AND for yourself! You could BOTH use the emotional support and healing that's to be had from these wonderful substances.

As always, keep us updated if and when you hear anything, or any other time, too, if you need a cyber-shoulder to lean on! I'd also love to keep hearing how Nike's doing every so often! ( maybe she'll even soon catch an errant fly or something that's in the house! )

Love,

Maylissa

[STARKISS]

Hi Laura,

I am so sorry for what happened to you and your cat.

I do not know much about your situation but I had to write to you and wish you well as your cat is getting better. I am a great pet lover and feel so bad when people write about their pets. I just wish I could snap my fingers and all the pain in animals would go away. Again I am so thrilled to hear about your cat and that it seems better now. I will keep you and your cat in my prayers. Take care and God bless you both

[nooky]

Dear Laura and other cat owners:

I too now have a blind kitten who just went in for neutering at 5 and a half months and apparently had a bad reaction to the anesthetic. His sister came out of her spaying surgery just fine because the vet used gas on her after having a problem with my poor boy Rascal. I took them in on Tuesday morning and the vet said he's never had any complications in his 14 years and not to worry. Then about an hour later he phoned to say that Rascal's heart had stopped during surgery but they managed to ressusitate him. He used Ketamine and Valium on him like he does on all of his patients, but was worried about using it on his sister because they're litter mates and she might have the same reaction. So he used gas on her and she came home right after as if she had nothing done.

My poor Rascal was so dopey and limp when I went to get him. He was trying to move because he had to pee but had no control. So I held him and he peed on me and then I took him home. He slept all afternoon with a very loud snoring sound and woke up crying in the evening. He stood up and walked around very wobbly all the time crying and walking into walls. I knew then that he was blind. my little girl kitten hissed at him whenever she came near him because she knew something was very wrong with him. I couldn't stop crying all night. I phoned an emergency vet and they said to put him in his carrier and leave him in darkness. So I left him right beside my bed and kept checking on him. His breathing was very raspy all night like heavy snoring. He cried in the night once and I picked him up and he peed on the bed. I dried him off and put him back in his carrier when he had settled down again. The next day he was still out of it, sleeping most of the time with a raspy snore but waking up with nightmares, crying and trying to walk. He was so disoriented, it broke my heart.

The next morning the vet called and said he had been talking with an internal specialist and he thinks it could be that Rascal has "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy" which is a thickening of the heart muscle walls. He may have pulmonary edema as well which is fluid in the lungs because of his raspy breathing. He recommended that he have an ultrasound of his heart by the specialist on Thursday.

Later in the afternoon when my Rascal started wailing and acting very agitated, I rushed him to the vet. He had peed in his carrier on the way to the vet's and was calm by the time I got there. Another vet in the office took an X-ray of his lungs and they were clear. He managed to eat a bit of canned food off the vet's fingers and she gave him water with a syringe. But she confirmed that he was blind and she thinks he has neurological damage due to a lack of oxygen to his brain during the operation. I took him home again and he w so limp and lifeless I thought I might lose him in the night. But by this morning (Thursday) he seems to be out of the trance of the drug. He's alert and not raspy. He even started purring! I gave him some of the canned food from the vet and he ate a whole plateful, although he got it all over himself because he can't see. I,m so grateful that he's still alive but devestated about his blindness. I cancelled his ultrasound because I don't think it's his heart. I've read a lot on the internet and one vet online said that young cats can get their sight back. I'm praying that Rascal will be lucky. There's so little information out there about this and my vet is in the dark as much as I am about it. Why don't they prepare vets for this kind of thing? Nooky

[laurasc718472]

Nooky,

I'm so sorry. I know how it feels. It's very scary and it sounds like your vet was as helpful as mine.

I'm hoping that your kitty will have some return of vision. Vision didn't come back for about 5-7 days.

Keep feeding him and making sure that he is drinking plenty of water.

My kitty, Nike, was a little wobbly on her feet for a few days after surgery. That slowly went away. It took about 4-5 days before sight started slowly returning.

What I noticed first when sight first started coming back was that my kitty would bob her head (like the bobble-head dolls). I thought it was strange, but each time she did that consistently for a few days, it seemed as thought she was able to see better. I think she was just trying to adjust to more vision.

When I took her to the ER within a couple of days after surgery (actually 3 days after surgery), the ER vet shined a light into her eyes and her pupils reacted to the light. He said that her reacting to the light was a very good sign that some vision would return. Don't give up hope. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I check my email regularly.

I was a total wreck after this happened, but it lightened up in about a week (I think it was more like 10 days) before her vision started coming back.

My thoughts are with you.

Laura

[Maylissa]

Nooky,

How awful! I know these things can happen w/o warning, however, when our cat had major dental surgery, we discussed the options of different anesthetics beforehand ( gas types were considered safer overall and easier to monitor during surgery ) with her board-certified dental vet, and Ketamine was one she DIDN'T want to use on her, for reasons which I don't completely recall. I think you ought to look at this site ( if not others as well ) to make yourself aware of the types of questions you should be asking now that the damage is done.

http://www.vetinfo.com/canesthesia.html

This site has questions and answers from a vet concerning the same kinds of reactions and damage done as both yours and Laura's experiences, and a number of the questions concern Ketamine. They also mentioned heart problems and anesthetics....a really helpful site.

From other sites I've found, it also seems like there's a lot of hot contention 'out there' about different anesthetics for cats and dogs, but one thing seemed quite certain....the death rate from vet. anesthesia is still far and away much higher than in humans, but as a rule, anesthesia is much riskier than most docs ( human and animal ) usually let on, so it's always very wise to ask a LOT of questions before any procedure is done. If nothing else, this lets the vet know that your attitude is not casual and unconcerned and if their response is less than helpful, you've learned something valuable about them....in which case, you might want to shop around for another vet.

There is probably still help to be had via a homeopathic &/or holistic vet, even with such damage, but I've come to realize that for some strange reason most people are more afraid to try this gentler and safer form of healing than they are of mainstream medicine, despite the higher risks from the latter. However, for what it's worth, that's what I'd be doing if faced with the problem you've been left with.

I'm so sorry this has happened to your furbaby, as well as Laura's, and I wish you well in managing it for your furbaby. One thing's for sure....animals deserve better professional/veterinary care than this.

Edited August 11, 2006 by Maylissa

[nooky]

Dear Laura,

Thank you for the encouragement. It's so heartbreaking to see my baby like this, especially when he and his sister were so close and so frisky together. They brought joy to your heart when you saw them running and playing with each other. We don't have children, so these little furballs are our babies. We lost our previous 17 year old sweetheart, Snookums, (Nooky, for short) just before Christmas. So we decided to foster a pregnant feral cat from Animal Aid to help us get over our grief. She had three kittens, but one died at 3 weeks old. We were devestated because we had never experienced a kitten dying, especially one so young. The other two kittens were so precious and inseparable, that we had to keep them. Now we are going through heartache again over our little Rascal's blindness. He's just like a newborn baby. We can't let him wlk around by himself yet, so we keep him in a big box by the bed. This morning at 4 am. he started crying loudly. I picked hinm up and tried to feed and comfort him but it didn't help. Then I realized he was having a painful bowel movement (the first since surgery 3 days ago.) After that, I fed him and he went back to sleep. He's so helpless. This morning at 8 am. he started crying again and I couldn't console him, so i took him over to the vet's because I was worried that he hadn't peed in 24 hours and he was in pain. By the time I got there 5 minutes later, he had peed in his carrier, so I took him home and he fell asleep. I can't go to work with my husband anymore (we own a small business) because my little Rascal needs me for everything. I'm going to put padding around the metal bed frame today and any sharp or hard objects that can hurt him. Then maybe I can let him out to walk more. I'm so glad to hear that your Nike's vision is coming back. Do you think she'll regain all of her sight? I read from an online vet that young cats have good recuperative powers. I have to play with my little girl Princess a lot more to keep her occupied since she misses her brother so much. We'll just take it one day at a time.

Nooky

[laurasc718472]

Hmmmm, my kittens were from a feral mother too. There are similarities. It was my female kitten though.

My heart is breaking for you; it brings back all the memories of the first days with Nike. I too had another cat that passed away in Feb, and that's why I got the kittens.

All I can say is make your kitten feel as safe as you can. The more secure and safe he feels, the more likely he will be to start investigating in his new state. Make sure he gets plenty of water and food so that the anesthesia can be metabolized from his body.

It hasn't been very long since the surgery, and he is probably still recuperating from the anesthesia poisoning. It will be a few days, though, until you get a glimpse of some his personality returning. That's how it was with Nike. Eventually, he should start to get his bearings and feel more secure.

The hardest part for me with Nike was trying to keep her brother away. He didn't understand and he kept attacking her to play (which freaked her out).

Nike's surgery was on a Thurs (thank god it happened on a holiday weekend), but by Tuesday I went back to work. I did come home to check on her during the day a couple of times. I was so concerned and felt I couldn't leave her either. I only left a couple of hours at a time until I felt comfortable enough to leave her longer.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that your kitten will gain some of his sight back. It doesn't take much. Hold in there.

Laura

[Maylissa]

Nooky and Laura,

I don't know if either of you have checked out the link yet to that site that I posted, but I think it would really be of help as it has answers to quite a few of your concerns, including whether sight will return and what you can do to better those chances ( along the lines of what you, Laura, mentioned re: fluids and food ). It also sounded like you could subscribe somehow and ask this vet specific questions about your circumstances - his answers seem to be very informative and unbiased. ( this site is an excerpt from an online site for vet. discussions ) I thought it was a most specific site for your problem, Nooky, in that several questions dealt with what happened to your baby, including info about Ketamine and why checking for heart abnormalities following an incidence with anesthetic & pre-surgery sedatives might be a good idea.

I'm certainly hoping Rascal's blindness is temporary and that you'll be able to just put this behind you in awhile. And my sincere condolences, too, on both the crossing of your Snookums a few months ago and the loss of that kitten from the feral mom-cat....you sure didn't need yet another heartbreak after so much grief already! But good ON you for taking on the challenge and altruistic task of fostering some needy souls!

[nooky]

Dear Laura,

I'm hoping you can help me decide what to do by answering some questions about your Nike. We are faced with putting our Rascal down tomorrow because there is no improvement and we feel he is suffering because he cries so much. It's ripping our hearts out watching him crying and walking around in utter frustration not knowing what's happening around him. I cry all the time for him and for his sister who is so missing him. She soesn't want to chasse the paper balls that they both used to chase together. I don't think I can stand it much longer. This is the 6th day after his surgery and he still can't see anything or even recognize what his litter box is for. After crying most of the morning, he finally peed and had a bowel movement on the bathroom floor. Whenever I try to comfort him he cries even more to tell us how much he hates it and for us to do something. This is the saddest thing we've ever had to go through. He coughs after eating too usually so I'm thinking there's probably too much ndeurological damage done. I hate that vet! I don't know how I'm going to get over this. Every time I look at little Princess I think of our poor little Rascal. Did your Nike have any other problems like not going in the kitty litter or crying a lot? Do you think we should wait any longer for improvement or put him out of his misery now? Anything you can tell me will help. Thanks Nooky

[Elly]

Hi Laura,

I talked to you just after Pismo died. I had just lost my cat Koko as well. I don't know if you remember, but we had a 7 year old cat that we had taken to the vets for grooming. They had to put her under Anesthesia as she was so frightened when she went to the vets.My husband and I were out for a walk when we received a call on our cell phone that Koko's heart had stopped and she had died.I was so devastated. . How could that have happened ? You and I wrote back and forth and you told me all about your Pismo , you were so devastated as well.I was so happy for you when you got your other 2 kitties . I just happened to check out this site and couldn't believe it when I saw that your new little kitty had such a terrible thing happen at the vets as well.I'm so sorry. That's just too much pain to go through in such a short period of time. Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you.

I seemed to have trouble getting on . I had to re-register. They wouldn't accept my original name"Anne" as they said it was already being used. Right , it was me. Let me know how you are making out, Elly

[nooky]

Dear Laura,

I wanted to update you on my Rascal since we are so encouraged by his progress. It's been just over three weeks since his surgery and now he has quite a bit of vision back. He can jump up on most things now like the bed and chairs. He even plays with his sister Princess and they wrestle like they used to. She chases him when playing and he runs as fast as he used to do before his blindness. It really is amazing how far he has come! He even goes in the litter box now after we bought a special kind of litter for problem cats called "Cat Attract" by Dr. Elsey. It's guaranteed to make your cat go into the litter bax or your money back. Their website is www.preciouscat.com . I got it at my local pet store in Toronto Canada. He eats well, but I buy him a baby cat dry food for kittens one to four months old by Royal Canin because it consists tiny round morsels that are easier to chew since he licks his food a lot. We are so overjoyed at his progress and to think we almost put him down two weeks ago because of his suffering. I hope that your Nike continues to improve like our Rascal and if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I really appreciate everyone's help and best wishes, especially your's and Maylissa's.

Nooky

[nooky]

Nooky,

How awful! I know these things can happen w/o warning, however, when our cat had major dental surgery, we discussed the options of different anesthetics beforehand ( gas types were considered safer overall and easier to monitor during surgery ) with her board-certified dental vet, and Ketamine was one she DIDN'T want to use on her, for reasons which I don't completely recall. I think you ought to look at this site ( if not others as well ) to make yourself aware of the types of questions you should be asking now that the damage is done.

http://www.vetinfo.com/canesthesia.html

This site has questions and answers from a vet concerning the same kinds of reactions and damage done as both yours and Laura's experiences, and a number of the questions concern Ketamine. They also mentioned heart problems and anesthetics....a really helpful site.

From other sites I've found, it also seems like there's a lot of hot contention 'out there' about different anesthetics for cats and dogs, but one thing seemed quite certain....the death rate from vet. anesthesia is still far and away much higher than in humans, but as a rule, anesthesia is much riskier than most docs ( human and animal ) usually let on, so it's always very wise to ask a LOT of questions before any procedure is done. If nothing else, this lets the vet know that your attitude is not casual and unconcerned and if their response is less than helpful, you've learned something valuable about them....in which case, you might want to shop around for another vet.

There is probably still help to be had via a homeopathic &/or holistic vet, even with such damage, but I've come to realize that for some strange reason most people are more afraid to try this gentler and safer form of healing than they are of mainstream medicine, despite the higher risks from the latter. However, for what it's worth, that's what I'd be doing if faced with the problem you've been left with.

I'm so sorry this has happened to your furbaby, as well as Laura's, and I wish you well in managing it for your furbaby. One thing's for sure....animals deserve better professional/veterinary care than this.

[nooky]

Dear Laura and Melissa and other pet lovers,

I have good news about my kitten Rascal. It has been almost 10 weeks since his neutering surgery when he had brain damage and a complete loss of sight. Now,not even can he see big objects and play with his sister, he has just started to be able to see small objects in front of him like his toys. He can chase a ball a little bit, although his attention span is quite short. But we are very encouraged that maybe eventually all of his sight will come back. The vet said that it's not a problem with his eeyes, just his brain has to heal and relearn everything. The fact that he is young is a good thing. He has a better chance of his brain making new connections to his eyes. I hope and pray that your Nike will recover too.

Nooky

[laurasc718472]

Well, it's been a while since I reported on Nike.

She is doing just okay. Losing some of her sight has really changed her personality a lot. The originally fearless one has become quiet and shy. She still plays quite a bit, but has gained a lot of weight. She's not even a year old and I have to watch how much she eats.......

She doesn't look into my eyes like she used to. She runs and hides with most every noise. She spends a lot more time under the bed than she should.

When I come home from work, she follows me around the house. Whenever I sit down, she's right there on my lap. It's kind of heartbreaking.

But I'm glad that she was able to gain a lot of her sight back. I'm very fortunate for that. Things could have been a lot worse.

I have gotten a really good friend out of this. She is very vocal and talks to me all the time. She's right by my side as I'm typing. She says hello.

Laura

[laurasc718472]

Well, it's almost been a year since Nike came back from spay surgery totally blind. As of today, she has gained a lot of her sight back (possibly 80 percent) to which I am very grateful. She is still visually impaired, but the extent cannot be determined.

I got a letter in the mail today about the Board's decision on the complaint that I filed. The response is as follows:

"A Special Conference Committee, consisting of two members of the Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine, reviewed the complaint and the results of the investigation conducted on behalf of the Board by the Department of Health Professions. Based on this review, the Committee found that there does not appear to be clear and convincing evidence to substantiate a violation of the laws and regulations governing the practice of veterinary medicine in Virginia. "

"Under these circumstances, the Board has closed this complaint with a finding of no violation. We appreciate your efforts in bringing this matter to the Board's attention."

I did my part in filing a complaint, and the board did its part in investigating this matter. This is the avenue that has to be pursued, and I am glad that it exists. If Nike's blindness was caused by happenstance, then so be it. I would not want Dr. Denney's livelihood to be impacted by something that was out of his control. I surely wasn't able to make a call by myself, so I'm glad that the investigator was able to determine more information so that an informed decision about what happened could be made.

No hard feelings, and no regrets either

Laura