I had a discussion with our vet this morning about Chewie. My purpose was to learn from the experience and see, if, on hindsight, there could have been anything we could have done better should there be a next time.
That night when Chewie passed away, I informed our vet immediately. But no thanks to the congested airwaves, he had not got my message until the next morning. He then texted me immediately to ask if he could conduct a post-mortem, again, for the greater good - to learn what had gone wrong or what had caused Chewie's death. But by then, we had already buried Chewie. I did think of the post-mortem the night before, but I thought it would have been rather insensitive of me to ask this of the kids.
So, we talked today.
The vet said it was probably due to the swollen liver. Chewie's liver was already in a very bad shape. It had swollen to three times its size because of the diaphragmatic hernia. It was pushed into the lung cavity where it did not belong and was hence, infected and not functioning well.
The surgery had actually been a complete success. The fact that Chewie had eaten so well upon recovery showed that the surgery was successful and our vet was so sure she would survive all the way. However, Chewie did not just have diaphragmatic hernia. Her liver was in really bad shape.
Now, apparently, our intestines do bleed all the time when food goes in (just as our gums do). However, the turn-over rate in our intestines (regeneration of new cells) is 11 minutes. It repairs itself REALLY fast in people (animals included) with healthy livers. The liver has more than 500 functions and one of these is for the purpose of blood-clotting (to stop internal bleeding).
Chewie's liver was already damaged, so it probably could not perform this function.
We're only guessing now, but her intestines could have bled, and the liver could not stop this bleeding. That is why there was blood at the mouth.
Right after surgery, Chewie had been given antibiotics for the liver and the wound on the leg. However, she went down the next day, suspected blood parasite infection, so the antibiotics had to be changed to address this more immediate problem. The vets had planned to give her Liv-52 to boost the liver, but we never got to do this. It would have taken at least a few days of Liv-52 to help her liver heal. The liver has a remarkable ability to heal itself.
We did not have the luxury of time.
Chewie did not have time to let us repair all the damage.
So, I asked, as hard as it was for me, I asked if we could have done anything better for Chewie, with the benefit of hindsight now. I asked because I wanted to learn to do it better the next round.
The vet said no. We did everything that we were supposed to do. If he could turn back the clock, he would have done exactly the same thing given the circumstances.
Could we have NOT done the surgery?
Vet: No, the surgery was necessary or Chewie would have died a slow death. Her lung cavity was so congested, there would not have enough space for the lungs to function. Her liver was so badly infected, she would not have lasted long.
Should we have kept her at the clinic and not discharge her?
Vet: No, Chewie was fit to be discharged. Keeping her at the clinic would not have made any difference.
The vet remembers one of his most successful diaphragmatic hernia cases. It had been a complete success, and the owners were taking the cat home, but they had not brought a carrier. The vet insisted that a carrier be used, but the owners said they would just carry the cat, it ought to be okay. That was a grave mistake, because the cat actually jumped down from the owners' arms and fell. It died on the spot. And there was also a case where a newly-spayed cat had escaped and had climbed up a tree. The incision broke, and the cat died.
Sometimes, it's neglience. Sometimes, it's the animals' own karma.
I suppose again, it's about doing the best we can and leaving it to the universe to do the rest.
At least now I know we had really done our best for Chewie, as best as we knew how.
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