Sunday, February 3rd was a tragic day. Miss Kitty, my 18 year old Maine Coon, accidentally got out of the house. (rare, rare occurrence).
Miss Kitty was wobbly and weak because she had been sick with an intestinal infection the past week and had been in the hospital for 3 days but had been released on Friday, Feb. 1st. She was on medication which made her drowsy.
A neighbor 5 doors down, owners of 2 cats themselves, found her took to her the Pet Emergency of Palm Beach County (by Home Depot on Northlake) at 11 A.M. And left her there at 11:30 A.M. My neighbors said they called Safe Harbor on Sunday but they had a quarantine and couldn't take the cat they found.
They had taken her into the house and put her in their garage and tried to nurture her a bit. They said she was ok and trying to purr. Their daughters wanted to keep her but Miss Kitty was exhausted and feeling the affects of Metronidazole and Centrine. She had also lost weight and they didn't know what she may have and didn't want to introduce her to their own cats. So, they took to her the doctor for an assessment.
Dr. Gerhaty, owner of the animal hospital, told my neighbors that the cat belonged to someone because of her condition (I had just brushed her that morning). He assured the neighbors that he would "exhaust every avenue to see if he could find Miss Kitty's owner."
Dr. Gerahty euthanized Miss Kitty at noon, just 30 minutes later, without trying to identify her and reunite her with us.
It was heartless. Dr. Gerhaty and at least 5 other doctors and staff members there, had seen her before twice —as recently as Thanksgiving.
My family had walked around our neighborhood all day long on Sunday and the last house I went to around 5:30 P.M. Lives the family who took her to the vet.
We were so thrilled to think Miss Kitty was at the same ER hospital she had been to twice before —just at Thanksgiving— and we quickly called from the car to claim her. At first, they denied even seeing a Maine Coon that day! And then, the unthinkable. They told my husband that she had been euthanized! Dr. Gerhaty told my husband not to come by - that he was busy - for me to come back the next morning.
We immediately drove over because I needed to confirm it for myself and talk with Dr. Gerhaty. He was there - still apparently on hold with us.
At first, he told me he put her down at 9 A.M. I said that was impossible, she was standing by me at 10 A.M.in my own house. Then, his assistant/staffer, said it was really noon when he euthanized her.
You know how when people are trying to justify themselves or lying that they speak very quickly? That was how he delivered his justifications to us.
Here were his words:
He put her down within an hour of her arrival because "they don't have room for drop-offs". (no? But apparently, they have room in their freezer!).
Dr. Gerhaty said put her down because he said she "looked sick, dehydrated and from loss of muscle mass. And he didn't recognize her."
He said that "most people don't come to claims these old, sick cats."
He didn't remember Miss Kitty (who couldn't remember a 5 lb. Maine Coon? That is unique, who had been in his hospital twice).
He said he "sees thousands of cats" and that he can't remember them all."
AND, he had the unmitigated gall to say that he "didn't even charge my neighbor for the X-ray to see if Miss Kitty had a chip." (He doens't have a wand apparently that reads microchips). I never dreamed I would need to put a chip in her; she was only side 2 times in 12 years. (which by the way, he curtly responded by saying "How am I to know that?"
He also rudely said to Ron "what was I supposed to do? Put out an APB?"
He said she "wouldn't have lived another 6 hours." How would he know? He didn't do labs.
Dr. Gerrity all but blamed my neighbors on the decision to put her down because he said that they told him that the cat was "not a neighbors cat".
Oddly enough, after Ron and I left the hospital after talking with Dr. Gerhaty, my neighbors received a call from one of Dr. Gerhaty's assistants (I believe an African American women who has seen Miss Kitty before and who had clarified the time he euthanized her). She told our neighbors that Ron and I had been there and that "it is NOT their fault about the decision Dr. Gerhaty made." I never once made any statement nor to I blame our neighbors at all - it's Dr. Gerhaty I hold responsible for this tragic end.
I made Dr. Gerahty take her out of the freezer so that I could confirm it was her and say goodbye. It was gut-wrenching. What a dreadful end to a beautiful and sweet girl who I had fallen in love with and promised I would take care of.
I am heartbroken. She was on the mend. Even her regular vet didnt offer to put her down when she was in the hospital and he released her to us on Friday, 2/1. She was getting better. And I would bet she would have lived to 20 years. She was a tough little girl.
And I wasnt there for her I am so sad. All Dr. Gerathy had to do was lookup my neighbors address (same street - Via Hacienda) and reference it to mine. If his assessment was that she was that sick, then wouldn't the logical assumption be that she was probably only able to walk a few steps on the same street?
Or perhaps, his staff could have researched their patient database for all Maine Coons they have treated - our addresses would compare.
Even our own vet who saw her last week said that Dr. Gerahty had no right to make that decision! He could have waited 8 hours, 24 hours, whatever it took. Miss Kitty was on the mend and if so, our own vet would not have released her to come home to us with medication
Dr. Gerahty's is also the same vet who told us in June that Miss Kitty probably had a an invasive brain tumor; instead it was a severe sinus infection.
I believe the Gardens Animal Hospital also faxed over a notice to my regular vet that the wrong cat that died. I got a sympathy card in November from our regular vet for the loss of Miss Kitty when it was Samantha, my tabby, that had been put to sleep (at Dr. Gerhaty's recommendation after Sam spent 3 days in his hospital). And when the same ER vets put Sam down, she screamed in pain after they told me she would go quietly.
I'll never forget this. I'll take this tragedy to my grave with me (as well as her ashes - which by the way, we have to pay for to the same doctor who killed my girl).
I walked the floors the last 5 nights trying to accept this and figure out how I could have stopped the tragic chain of events. She was my girl and I was supposed to be with her. It hurts me even more that she died in the hands of a veterinarian who doesn't remember his patients and that he may be doing this to other pets. I also fear that she may have been hungry for her new food as well. I pray that she wasn't afraid.
Just do yourselves and your pets a favor and never go to the Pet Emergency of Palm Beach County on Northlake Blvd.in the Home Depot complex nor recommend it to anyone.
The man should not be a vet and he owns that ER hospital! Imagine how many other pets have been lost due to his lack of patience.
I'm going to adopt another cat, maybe two. My heart is broken without my girls. But in the interim, I can serve Miss Kitty's legacy well by notifying everyone I know to avoid that ER hospital and Dr. Gerhaty.
You can assess this yourself if it was neglect and/or inept, irresponsible actions that took my girl from me way too soon.
We have spent around over $2,000 on our pet care in the past few month - most of which went to the Pet Emergency of Palm Beach County.
Linda and Ron
Linda
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
U.S.A.
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