Taking blood from a severely dehydrated cat

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Followup To
Question -

They wanted more money for an autopsy which they said would probabily be inconclusive.....so I opted not to have it done.

When I went over the tests with the Vet later, she gave no final conclusions. I asked if if it was CRF because some of these levels were elevated, she said she had seen worst. When I asked if Sheba died of a heart attack. She said cats don't have heart attacks. She appeared very evasive.
I should state that the nurse found that Sheba was blind. When I asked what caused this, she ignored me.
Jennifer, I agree with you. I loved this cat to death, but I think she was dying and there was nothing they could do at this point. I'm sure they knew that too and carried on the tests and gave me false hope to make money off of me.

The reason I  am looking to third parties for answers is because I can't get them from the Vet. It's a way to seek closure.

They did give me the xrays, blood test, and medical records.

To me, outside of an infected tooth, Sheba was very healthy....and I knew Sheba.

All her shots were undated and she had just completed the antibiotics for the tooth (which didn't have to be extracted).

I had taken her outside on her harness the night before and she ate grass. This is what started the vomiting the next morning. I had no idea she would get sick and die in one day.

She had vomited before, so I didn't take it seriously.

Can you tell me what could have caused the excessive vomiting? The first vomit had grass in it.....later the vomit was clear, then it was light red with flecks of things in it. I thought it would pass. It happened in one day. When I called the orginal Vet, his office was closed and he said to bring Sheba in the the next morning. He said if I felt it was more serious, take her to the emergency clinic.

Did eatting the grass trigger off the vomiting?





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Followup To
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On October 19, 2004 at around 3:15 am I took my 13 year old cat to an Animal Emergency Clinic because she had been vomiting.

At the Emergency clinic, I signed an agreement that it would be between $600 and $1000 to save the cat. Her body temperature had dropped 6 degrees. She was severely dehydrated and I told them she had vomited 20 to 30 times.

The nurse said I should have brought her in earlier because they were leaving at 8 am and the tests would take a while. She had me sign an agreement that I would pick up the cat between 7:15 and 7:45 a.m. prior to their 8 am closing. The nurse and the Vet were the only staff on that morning.

An hour after I arrived home (I live 5 minutes from the clinic) they said the cat stopped breathing and her heart stopped. The Vet resuscitated her but she died.

When my original Vet saw the tests, he said he would have done things differently. He would have given the cat the IV fluids first and waited on the tests. That you do not take fluid (blood) from a severely dehydrated cat. That the blood tests would not be completely accurate because of the dehydration.

My Vet also said with the low body temperature the cat was in shock and should have been kept warm and put on IV fluids.

After the physical exam, and acknowledging the cat was severely dehydrated, the emergency clinic took blood from the cat that was "thick and black".

In the time they wasted giving the cat x rays and taking blood (which decreased fluid levels even more and would not have been accurate because of the severe dehydration), they could have put her on IV fluids which could have stabilized her and possibly saved her life. They never put her on Iv fluids.

Can you please comment on this? Could the IV fluids possibly saved my cat.

There is nothing I can do to bring back my cat and there is no guarantee that my cat would have lived. But I paid $700 for them to do whatever they could to save the cat and I feel they did not.

William Gailevege

Answer -
Your cat sounded like it was dying when you took her to the emergency clinic...a body temperature that low is usually becuase the body is shutting down.  Certainly IV fluids are indicated in a dehydrated pet, however, in this situation I doubt having fluids for one hour would have saved her life.  Getting her to the hospital at the first sign of vomiting may have.

Blood testing is always indicated when a pet comes in sick regardless how dehydrated because then after fluid treatment you have something to compare to to see if the pet is getting better.  And the amount of blood that is taken (1/2 tsp) is not going to decrease fluid levels of any significance in a cat.  Her not eating and vomiting 20-30 X is what decreased her fluid balance
Follow up:
When I spoke to the Vet from the emergency clinic after the incident she told me that she thought she could save the cat. She said she had seen worst. She gave no indication that the cat was dying. In fact when I signed the paper that the charges would be between $600 and $1,000. The nurse's wording was the amount was "to save the cat". If they said the cat was dying, I would not have signed the agreement. Can you comment on this?
Also I should state that a Vet said, "you don't know how many times I have seen an animal turn around by giving it IV fluids".

Answer -
Well I didn't see your cat, so it is all speculation.  Some vets think they are GOD while some vets truly can work miracles in emergency situations, but personally in this case it didn't sound to me like your cat was going to recover with that low of a body temperature and with that much fluid loss from vomiting so much.   Yes, an animal can turn around with IV Fluids but if the pet's organs are shutting down, it doesn't matter how much fluids you give them it won't undo the damage that is done.  And in the health care, you can not ever truly promise or guarantee health or recoevery.  I think you really should call the vet to discuss your concerns and not involve third and fourth parties as we will not be able to really answer your questions since we did NOT examine your cat that night.  Also, ask the vet if she ever got the test results back to see what was wrong with your cat.

Answer
I would suspect kidney disease...cats compensate very well with as little as 15% kidney function and may not act very sick.  With the repeat vomiting, she may have picked up an intestinal virus or had a foreign body.  If she was blind, that may have been due to high blood pressure, which could have been due to kidney OR heart disease or both -- they will blow out their retinas AND have additional organ damage with blood pressure >180mmHg.  And heart disease can cause sudden death in cats...it is not a typical heart attack like people experience.  Certainly the infection at the tooth could have led to infection in the blood stream and secondary organ damage...it is very rare that an infected tooth does NOT need to be pulled--so I would question that.  It is true that an autopsy may have been inconclusive, however, it may have given the answer--without doing it you would not know--if I was the vet on the case and did not have a diagnosis, I would want to know for myself and just have done it!    Flecks of blood in the vomit could have been due to a stomach ulcer secondary from a virus, stress or kidney disease.  

If you write down the blood test values, I will let you know if I think it was kidney failure.  You can send to dr_fry_the_vet@hotmail.com   

I really do think that this case was handled poorly and the vet should have been more up-front with you.  Again, I am guessing she thought she was GOD or is inexperienced?