Going above and beyond...

Being a vet has it's ups (kittens) and downs (car accidents), and everything in-between. Sometimes a day can go by that I see so much illness that it gets a bit depressing. On days like those, I like to think back to some of the patients I've seen that really defy the odds and give me reason to root for the hopeless cases. One such cat is quite young and goes by the name of Ty. Ty was born with a few defects, ranging from a tiny eye socket to a malfunctioning intestinal tract. Truth is, most folks would have taken one look at Ty and not given her a chance. Fortunately for her, Ty's owners have really gone the distance and have offered her a very high quality life. Especially with the gut problem, this has meant putting up with a lot of crap. Seriously...the cat has a problem defacating. Now, Ty is by no means out of the woods, and likely will continue to have a life with some extrodinary challenges, but she has had much more of a quality life than I think anyone else could have offered her considering the circumstances. Another case that raises my spirits is a cat by the name of Tabitha. Again, when the average person is told that their cat has a cancer creatining a blockage in the intestinal tract, they may be prone to not get too involved. That is certainly similar to my own situation with Quincy and his brain cancer. There are plenty of times where therapy is attempted against an intimidating cancer and things don't go the way we desire. Tabitha is not such a case. Her surgery earlier this year went quite well and therapy has proceeded smoothly to to point that we appear to remain quite healthy. Now I don't mean to remember Ty and Tabitha as a rationale to be some maverick on every ill cat that walks thru the door, but rather, to know that sometimes bleak situations can still have good outcomes.