I had lost one of my two cats 3 months ago and my second cat was going into renal failure. I brought her to the hospital on a Saturday and then the cat was transferred to the local Emergency Hopital for the weekend.  I fed her Sunday at the Emergency and she seemed a little better.  Monday she was back at the referring hospital and when I spoke to the doctor over the phone before going over to feed the cat, the doctor said she looked poorly. I raced over there (having brought kidney special diet food I had made to the hospital on my way to work). The doctor told me she was doing poorly and then mentioned some procedures that might help. (Yes, I signed an authorization statement saying they could do unlimited.)

When I was put in a room to feed the cat, I noticed that she wasn't hooked up to any fluids; continuous hydration would, I understood, would be essential for any recovery.  Very upset, I requested the doctor to hook her up right away as I would be there for awhile.  She got angry saying that I was impolite and that I 'should ask in a nice way'.  I was floored and speechless--I focused on feeding my cat.  (I was there for 1 hr 50 min and the fluid when from 100% to at least 79% while I was there). Bringing the cat back to her kennel, the technician handling the fluid stand, etc., I put her in and looked at her from a foot or so away--to my horror, she looked liked death warmed over.  But I was in such a state of emotional duress, I wasn't able to articulate this to the doctor (she was working at her computer--later I learned making note of our conversations).  Nor was I able to speak to the other doctor who, not incidentally, was intently  watching how a dog was walking across the floor near the kennels and the back offices. This same doctor had treated my boy cat that had died a few months before; I got no acknowledgment or eye contact from him at all.  I later learned from her that she had warned him because of 'my attitude' i.e., the fluid incident, that I would be coming back to complain.

When the hospital closed at 5pm my little girl was transferred again to the Emergency Hospital and because I had signed a authorization for unlimited procedures, she was given a sonogram.  When I came in at about 8pm the Emergency doctor said the cat looked good. 'Oh, I said, the other hospital said she looked very poorly.' Well,' getting a little nervous and motioning with her hands, 'it's it's a 'guarded hope'.  I stayed for about an hour and fed her and when I asked about fluids here, I was told she wasn't hooked up because they were using 'the pump'.  I was there for about an hour and the last 10 minutes her face was getting unusually cold.  I asked the technician to ask the doctor why her tongue was all white on top -- no response.  I left the Emergency hospital about 9:15 p.m. when they said that they had to get her back on fluids and something else.  This is Monday night.  At 12:35 am (Tuesday morning) I received a call from the Emergency hospital doctor who stated that she was doing very poorly -- lying on her side and very uncomfortable.  I told the doctor to put her down.

Wednesday I woke up a little more clear headed and thought that the cat should have been put down much earlier. I decided I would call Dr. Wagner and express my anger and feelings.  I told her that she should have been there with me when I put the cat back at the end of her feeding and I told her how I was very disturbed to see the cat so deathlike.  She responded that it was my responsibility to speak up, after all she 'couldn't read my mind.' 

I told her I thought I was taken advantage of because of my emotional state. Looking back I see both physicians at the referring hospital more concerned about themselves in this matter than any humane effort to end the misery of an animal under their care, or to alleviate the distress I was under with a kind word toward that end. She disagreed.  When I said that she should have told me  that it was time to put the cat down, she responded that she never tells a client to 'put down an animal' because it 'offends' some of them. I responded that it was the doctor's job to inform the owner when nothing can be done. She said that she had told me of the poor state of my cat. Essentially she was putting the onus on me. 

The bill for the the three days between both hospitals was $3,000.   

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