Our precious Sweet Pea came to us as a 5-6 week old kitten who crawled into a TNR trap bound for…read moreOperation Catnip with her brother, a little over 2 yrs ago. Both were starving and underdeveloped. Despite intensive medical and nursing care, we lost her brother Tobie to Panleukopenia, but Sweet Pea miraculously recovered from the acute illness. Other than a couple of brief GI bugs, she appeared very healthy.
When she suddenly started vomiting, refusing to eat, and became lethargic a couple of weeks ago, we instantly sought our friend Dr. Montell for guidance. We know she is knowledgeable and highly skilled in veterinary medicine and surgeries, ethical, and able to work well under pressure. We chose to try symptomatic treatment first, but Sweet Pea was still vomiting and couldn't get nutrition. The radiologist agreed with Dr. Montell's foreign body obstruction diagnosis. It was such a difficult and heartbreaking decision to make. Still, there was no option except surgery if we wanted our bright, courageous, and free-spirited Sweet Pea to live pain-free and enjoy her life again with her family.
While Dr. Montell remained cautiously optimistic, she and her surgical technician, Caroline, gave us frequent updates and communicated the seriousness of the situation. The large amount of thread Sweet Pea had swallowed had done extensive intestinal damage, and postoperatively, she appeared to be stable at home until suddenly, she wasn't okay. While sleeping, Sweet Pea started having a seizure and then vomited. Dr. Montell responded to our urgent call. Despite the emergency treatment Dr. Montell administered, Sweet Pea passed away. As is often the case in cats, our baby girl had hidden her symptoms for weeks to months before we knew she was ill, allowing time for extensive intestinal damage to occur in a body already weakened by the long-term consequences of childhood Panleukopenia.
Grace Animal Hospital walked us right through this rough time with emotional support and professionalism. As a cat-loving family in the healthcare industry, we know that Sweet Pea received excellent care at Grace Animal Hospital, and this brings us much comfort. Especially Dr. Montell, she went above and beyond to help us. We can't thank Grace Animal Hospital enough! The way everyone treated us and our baby girl with such care and kindness is very healing. The card they sent us with words of encouragement from both DVMs and staff is bringing us comfort. And we have no doubts that choosing Dr. Montell as our surgeon was the right decision.
We deeply miss the bold little visitor we agreed to foster over 2 years ago, who immediately established herself as a family member and picked Brenda M as "her human mama" for life. Sweet Pea rewarded us with fun times, joy, and most of all, her love and affection. We gave her a home and a family where she knew she was wanted and deeply loved, but she gave us so much more.
-Harry Lee Lovic, Brenda M. Lovic, and Brenda G. Lovic