10/22/2011: Andrea from Portland, Or writes: "My Cat, BoggsLee recently passed away and I am very certain this could have been avoided had I found Dr. Hamilton sooner.

I got BoggsLee from a friend when he was six weeks old. His mother had so many litters I couldn't even count, but when he was born I knew he was meant to be mine. He had fleas when I got him and I know after scouring for information, that his environment between the time of conception and the day I brought him home, leaves me every reason to believe that he may have been doomed from day one.

I treated his fleas and I waited until he began to show signs of maturity before I neutered him. He was about eight months. The vet told me that "we used to wait until the cat was more mature to neuter, but now we can do this immediately." I felt really weird about that and can't really explain why except that I felt that he would never fully develop if I stripped the guy of his manli-hood before it ever functioned. If that makes any sense. Anyway, he was not allowed outside until after he had his shots and neutered.

Not much to say between then and now except that my boy lived a wonderful life, he was free to come in and go outside whenever he wanted. He was 14 pounds, with long furry hair and he was nothing less than in perfect health. I combed him, gave him fresh water every day, he ate Tuna or chicken because it was cheaper than wet food and didn't contain a bunch of extra ingredients. He also had dry food all the time.

Since last November I have been traveling more often for work, and every time I went away I would have overwhelming anxiety that he would get hurt while I was gone. My neighbor always made sure he had food and water but I still was not satisfied when I was away.

Over the last several months researched my options for BoggsLee's care for when I was out of town.

I found a wonderful lady named Susan who spent many years housing foster cats for the humane society and now owns "kittie Cottages" where BoggsLee would get his own room with windows and lots of playground equipment.

I felt really happy about this place. Nine days before I checked him in for his first vacation at the cottages, I took him to the vet for a routine physical. BoggsLee was "very healthy" but the Vet recommended he get new Rabies shot as well as Feline Leukemia and Heartworm vaccines. I was told that he needed these shots once, not every year. She insisted that he needed them being that he was allowed to go outside.

Ok, I tend to believe in the logic that all "outside" cats do not run the same risks and should be treated as such. Just because he went outside does not mean he was pal-in around with a bunch of cats. He sat out front in the bushes or on the front porch basking in the sun. He loved cat nip and had his own cat nip garden. He loved just watching and listening to all nature offers.

I noticed he was not eating right.

I noticed he was losing weight.

I noticed his "cough".

I noticed he was breathing out of his mouth.

I noticed he slept more.

None of the symptoms worried me enough to fret as I blamed it on the summer heat.

I dropped him off at the cottages on August 2nd, I never saw him again.

I called when I got settled in New York and Susan ensured me that he was being a good boy, just lounging around. She took some pictures for me. On Friday the 13th (go figure), Susan called me at 9am and said she was becoming concerned for Boggs because he was very lethargic and was not eating or drinking much. He had not gone to the bathroom since the first day. I directed her to take him to my vet right away. She drove him all the way to his own doctor who gave him the shots just two weeks earlier.

They told me he was unstable, and it would cost 500 to stabilize him. There was never a question about any costs incurred which I believe may have hurt his chances to live.

After she stabilized him with fluids, she pressed on his bladder and he went potty so we ruled out a blockage. She said he was coherent and could see and hear them and knew what was going on around him. But he was very weak and could not stand up. She proceeded with blood tests and x-rays.

The blood test came back "clean" but the x-ray showed a small mass on "what could be his liver or his spleen"

Are you kidding me? You don't even know where his liver and his spleen are located? You can't tell the difference between the two? I did not even think twice about that at the time, though. She said that it would cost to transfer him over to the special emergency clinic where they could perform an ultrasound and look or biopsy those "masses" to see if they were cancer or a CNS issue.

I called Susan and she immediately went back to pick him up and take him to the emergency room. The "emergency room" was almost an hour drive and when the doc called me, she let me know that an ultrasound would cost about 700 dollars and that if I wanted it done that day it would cost an extra hundred because it was 4pm and a separate company came in to do them.

WHAT? I thought he rode for an hour in the car to a place where they actually did ultrasounds. Oh well, he is there now…I told her that whatever she felt would give her the best chance to save my boy, do it.

She ordered the ultrasound. Two hours later, she calls to tell me that Boggs was very sick but in the same breath she did not know why. Ok, so X-Rays, Blood tests, and an ultrasound and NOTHING?

She proceeded to tell me that there were no masses on his spleen or his liver but that his heart was swollen leading her to believe he had heart disease. Right, lady.

However, he was getting worse she said and felt that his heart could have been swollen because it was working extra hard to get oxygen to his brain. She said he was experiencing brain trauma and wanted to have a neurologist look at him on Saturday. She would keep him in her care overnight for a 1500 dollar deposit. I gave her the AMEX card.

Not even three hours later I received a phone call from her telling me that BoggsLee had gone into cardiac arrest. They began CPR but she recommended that they stop because when they shined their light into his eyes, they could see lesions in the back of his eyes and on his brain and those lesions meant he had "highly infectious disease" and it was basically eating his brain at a rapid pace.

I would never want BoggsLee to suffer, and at that point her opinion was that the most humane thing to do was euthanize him.

I gave them permission to euthanize BoggsLee.

I have asked many questions since that Saturday. First, I was given the option to cremate him and keep his ashes for 150 dollars or opt for a communal cremation for 35 dollars. I chose not to keep his ashes. I asked about the cause of his death as I assumed they would have some answer for me, but they did not. They did absolutely nothing more after they killed him but put him in the freezer. There were two things she mentioned to me as possible causes.

1. Cryptococcus

2. FIP

She said that these things are very hard to test for and there is very little knowledge about how a cat even gets them. She said either one could have been present for a long time without symptoms but when symptoms do show up, it is a quick trip downhill for the cat.

I accepted this but asked her how they have diagnosed these diseases in other cats. She talked about a Titer test, and told me it takes up to a week to get the results.

I let the doctor know that I would like to give BoggsLee's body to research so that one less cat or pet owner would go through this horrible event. She said she could not do that because they would need a "fresh" body, and BoggsLee had been frozen already. I find it a bit odd that as a Vet, she did not think the same way and at least give me the option.

I looked up both of the above listed infections.

I believe whole heartedly that BoggsLee would be alive today if given the slightest chance. Both of those diseases can be diagnosed with a blood test and Cryptococcus happens to be transmittable to humans! The Pacific Northwest, where I live, has seen a large growth in Cryptococcus within the last few years. Video

By the globulin levels in his blood work, a vet should be able to narrow it down, but she said his blood work was fine. If his globulin levels were fine, he would not have died. I believe this. She could have tested for Crypto by sticking a Q-Tip up his nose and analyzing a sample of his mucus!! She could have also began treatment for that.

Article on FIP

Diagnosis and Treatments of Cryptococcus

Article on Crypto

Andrea"