Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wasatch!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ucla-cs!HAMER@VCUVAX From: HAMER@VCUVAX (ROBERT M. HAMER) Newsgroups: sci.med.aids Subject: Feline AIDS Message-ID: <25703@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 11 Jul 89 17:43:00 GMT Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU Lines: 45 Approved: aids@cs.ucla.edu Archive-number: 1085 Gjoseph Peck writes: >We had a cat that was diagnosed by our veterinarian as "having feline >AIDS." The doc ran the cat through test after test after test - kept it there >for about 10 days, filled it with vitamins and antibiotics, and cautioned us >about bringing it home with our other cats (we had 3 others at the time) >because he felt it was highly contagious. > >*I* got totally upset with the doctors treatment of the cat - and the HUGE >amount he charged us for the tests - and stoutly opposed the bill he rendered >when done. (I STILL do) > >The cat was good for awhile - then slowly weakened and finally, staring into >nothingness, passed away. Of our 3 other cats, none of them came down with it >and we've since added 2 others. All the cats are healthy and none of 'em >contracted anything near resembling what the first died with. > >Bottom line - from *MY* end - is that it was just a ruse by the Veterinarian > to cover his lack of knowledge of WHAT it was and a "catch-all" to cover >the costs for testing... This may come across as a flame, but it is not meant to be. However, I can't figure out how else to say the things I want to say, Anyway, George: Great. Sounds like your vet was right on the money with a diagnosis whether he called it feline leukemia or feline AIDS. Sounds like that's what your cat had and that's what your cat died of. What's your beef against the vet? You probably went in to see the vet with a sick cat about whom you cared, and implied as do we all when faced with a similar situation, "find out what's wrong, fix it, expense doesn't matter, full speed ahead." So the vet found out what was wrong, there was nothing he could do to fix it, and you got a bill for the work he or she went through finding out what was wrong. You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get. Next time a pet gets sick be sure to inform the vet you want the cut-rate second-rate treatment before you bring the pet in so the vet know how to work. This reminds me of people who feel sick, go to the hospital and get worked up, stay several days, get lots of tests, run up lots of bills, and are told they are healthy. One often hears them complain about all the money spent to find out that they are healthy. Personally, I'd rather spend a bunch of money and find out I'm healthy than spend the same amount of money and find out I'm going to die.