cat bled to death

[hinaman]

Recently I took my cat to a Pennsylvania vet to have a prolapsed rectum pushed back in; I was told it was a relatively simple procedure and that most cats react fairly well to it. But when the vet pushed the rectum back, in popped back out in less than a minute and the cat started bleeding profusely. The vet suggested immediate euthanasia which we reluctantly agreed to. The cat was admittedly in poor health, but wasn't this bleeding something that should or could have been foreseen? Perhaps the procedure could have been done in a more controlled surgical way under general athesthesia?

I don't really want to blame the vet but again, wasn't this bleeding something an experienced vet should have foreseen? This can't be the lst time he had seen this sort of thing...

Any comments would be welcome

[macassie]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't have any experience with this particular problem, did the cat have bowel cancer?

[Love Bird B]

What a horrible thing that must have been to experience. I'm so sorry. This is the first time I ever heard of something like this happening.

[hinaman]

thanks to both of you for your good thoughts; it was a terrible experience.

The cat may well have had bowel or colon cancer, though the vet was inclining to a diagnosis of lymphoma. I guess if the cat had bowel cancer (he was clearly quite sick) my question would still be the same; why wouldn't an experienced vet anticipate this kind of thing?

['too crazy]

I am so sorry for both you and your kitty. I haven't heard of this either so I'm no help. What if you called the vet back and asked him. Maybe he could explain things to you. By the sounds of it, you were taken a bit off guard so these questions wouldn't come to you right away. If he's any kind of vet, he 'd explain things to you.

[Squawksx3]

I'm also sorry for your loss :( . Any surgery is risky. We had an Iguana that prolapsed twice.. and required surgery both times. Its been a year now and thankfully hasn't happened again. They said it happened because of parasites.. unknown if that could be the cause for cats. maybe your vet could've anticipated this happening, but its so hard to say... and very hard to second guess. Sending prayers your way.

[Cat&Dog mom]

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. I have no advice to offer.

[dlaura]

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss. I too recently lost a cat to a tragic accident so I can relate. Luckily I still have her brother and that is some consolation. Is this a vet who treated you cat before? I think I would call up the vet and discuss your concerns and be honest with him/her by expressing your concerns just as you did here. Let the vet know how disappointed you were in his care of your cat -- it won't bring your cat back -- but might save someone else in future from going thru what you are suffering. There are very compassionate people here on this site -- so if you need to talk some more please feel free to share your feelings. Again my sympathies.

[hinaman]

I asked the vet if he would speak to me, but he said he had really said all he had to say at the time, namely that the cat was bleeding internally (which was obvious anyway)

[hinaman]

thank you for your prayers; admittedly the cat was in bad shape; he had been dripping blood a few days before the catastrophe; vet was fairly sure the cat had lymphoma, but was in any case in a very wasted state

[hinaman]

so sorry to hear about your own loss; the vet seems disinclined to speak to me, even though yes, he had taken care of the cat before. I will ask him again and if refuses, perhaps lodge a complaint with the state veterinary board, though I dont like doing things like that. But I strongly suspect the vet dropped the ball here

[hinaman]

thank you for your sympathy though; I appreciate it

[dlaura]

I can understand your feelings about not liking the idea of filing a complaint, but the fact that the vet is not wanting to speak further about it shows a lack of compassion and in my mind anyway almost an admission of guilt over something done or not done. By doing something you may save future patients from suffering the same thing or find out that nothing was done wrong and the cat was just to sick - but either way you would at least have some peace of mind over what went wrong. It is always so hard to know what to do and especially hard when you have suffered a loss. I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how you are doing and what your decision was.

[hinaman]

actually the vet did say he would speak to me about it; merely that he didn't really have more to add, so I may have overstated my concerns about the vet; I will give him a call very soon thanks so much for your good wishes