I'm pretty clueless about standards of veterinary care. Our cat had been sick for a while. Took it to our vet at PetsMart. They found an abcess probably caused by a cat bite. They drained it and gave antibiotics. Cat improved for about half a day and steadily went downhill. Took back to Petsmart vet a couple of days later. Gave more antibiotics and pain killers. Wednesday evening she couldn't stand up. Took her back to vet about 8pm. Vet diagnosted hematic encephalopathy and said without immediate treatment she would die. Recommended we take her to the 24 hr emergency hospital they use. Got there about 9 and authorized treatment. Got a call at 1130pm saying blood tests had come back and she was anemic. Blood count should be 24 but it was at 8. We authorized blood transfusion. Vet called at 7am next morning. Transfused and blood count was 12. Vet called back at 4pm said blood count had dropped to 10 and she needed another transfusion. We authorized the transfusion. Vet called back at 7am today said they hadn't done the transfusion since they didn't have any blood. They would look for some today. Cat died while being transfused at 10am.
So, my question is, is it reasonable to expect that an extremely sick cat in need of a transfusion, get the blood sooner than 16 hours later? Vet said she died of cardiac arrest as a result of lack of oxygen to the brain caused by the low blood count. This is a vet hospital with veterinarian surgeons on duty 24 hours.
So, before I raise a stink about the delay I need to know whether it's standard procedure for emergency vet hospitals to have blood on hand or readily accessible.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I know there is only because I recently came across a case against a local vet brought by an acquaintance in the death of their dog. They ruled against the vet due to several policies/procedures that weren't followed. I don't remember what I was searching for but I'll see if I can find that. Each state is probably different, though.

I do know that we had a persistent urinary tract crystal (think passing stones) issue with one of our male cats. Rather than take him to the cats-only clinic a few towns over I brought him to a (different) local multi-critter one that was close by. A couple shots and some prescription cat food we were sent on our way.

A few days later, I noticed he was still having issues peeing and called the vet. She told me it could take a few days for everything to get into the system and correct itself. Fast forward a few more days and he was doing worse so I brought him to the cats-only place. I don't recall the prescriptions but I do remember the second vet saying that the shots he was given wouldn't clear up the infection and the food I was given was for crystal prevention rather than the crystal reduction formula he needed. The right shot and the right food cleared him up by the next day.

A *****ing session to the first vet made me feel better but got me no where. Had the cat passed away I would have no doubt escalated it to the legal level.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

First off, let me apologize for my "bothering the teacher" postings and I'm truly sorry to see that you had to go through all of this for your cat's sake. No cat should have suffered as yours did.

Now...what regulatory agencies does your state have that oversees veterinary care? Then, does a "blood bank" exist for animals and if so, where does one go to donate and/or how does that particular system actually work?

I'd see what the doctors actualy did, who they called and find out what procedures were performed and at what times. If someone sat on their butt for 5-6 hours before picking up a phone, that starts the "suck-train" down the tracks and it runs away after that. Now, if they made calls but someone down the line didn't get back in a timely fashion, then you'll need to chase that clue 'til it's no more.

Again, Kerry, I'm sorry for your loss and I apologize, once more, for the "calls in the classroom" posts...

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

The topic is the care of animals by a veterinarian............anything OT gets deleted.

My wife talked to the hospital yesterday. Turns out that one of the employees of the hospital brought in her own cat in an attempt to save ours with a transfusion. Not sure if that was caused by a difference in judgment between the vets on the nightshift and the ones on the dayshift.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

First off, let me say I'm sorry for your loss. A pet is part of the family, and every bit as hard to lose as any other family member. We have about a dozen cats. 6 who regularly come in the house and at least 6 barn cats who earn their keep in the barn.
This is from my own experience. I do a lot of my own doctoring as with a herd of dairy goats, hair sheep, steers and horses not to mention the pet type animals here, I can't afford to call the vet everytime somebody's sick. I do all my own vaccinations and a significant amount of my own diagnosis. Cats abscess all the time. Stickers, fence cuts, fights, you name it. They abscess. I treat mine myself by lancing and draining them and putting the animals on oral antibiotics. I've never heard of a cat dying from an abscess. I would first of all question the original diagnosis. My guess is the animal had some other issue going on internally to begin with, and the vet missed it. I'd also question using a vet from PetsMart. If you were a veterinarian, and had spent thousands of dollars going to school that's harder to get into than medical school, would your first plan be to go to work for PetSmart? For the future, if I were you, I'd establish a working relationship with a veterinarian who has a well respected private practice in small animal medicine. I wouldn't expect any hospital to keep a ready supply of blood on hand for emergency transfusions. When's the last time you saw a feline blood drive being advertised?

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Agreed on the Petsmart stuff and on treating abcesses. In this case, she apparently got a parasite which attaches to the red blood cells, probably from the cat which bit her. That parasite was missed in the first two visits to the vet and her lethargic behavior attributed to the infection caused by the abcess. Since my first post I have learned more about animal blood. Some vets advertise that they have their own blood bank and run their own blood drives for animal blood. And yes, I did find newspaper articles advertising feline and canine blood drives. Prior to the mid-90's, animal transfusions were typically done animal to animal instead of collecting blood. Not so anymore.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Sorry to hear about your cat. We had a similar experience with a dog last year, we lost him after emergency surgery and transfusions at a 24 hour emergency facility. In our case, I think everyone did the best they could. I think I ended up spending about $4k in one evening.

Is animal blood classified the same as human blood? As in: AO+ / O-, etc...?

If so, is it possible the wrong type of cat blood was transfused to your cat, sorta' like a wrong cross-match for a human?

If that's the case...

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

I wondered that too. Cats have 2 blood types I think. If an A cat gets B blood it can cause a very severe reaction. I don't know if they type-matched the cats.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13