Buffalo Small Animal Hospital

After many years ( 36! ) of my pets receiving very good and compassionate care by this practice I hate to rate my last contact as barely satisfactory but I feel I must be honest. Our old and much loved late cat had been frequently treated there for the past 18 months or so for metastatic lymphoma with probable kidney involvement and I admit I probably should have relieved him of his discomfort weeks before, but I couldn't let go. He did rally for a brief period before he escaped from the house a couple of weeks ago and went missing for about 12 hours until located about a mile from home by a wonderful gentleman and returned( kitty always wore a collar w/ tag) . He failed almost immediately after this misadventure. I brought him to the vet a day after this incident and it was obvious he was in serious distress. He was re-hydrated and I was given antibiotic and a systemic flea Rx to dose him ( they discovered fleas) and I did follow the vet's advice against my better judgement: he was severely debilitated and systemic flea treatments are contraindicated with debilitated animals! Why the aggressive treatment with an obvious dying animal with a known history of a terminal condition??? Why wasn't I counseled as to the probable futility of this treatment and why didn't the medical professional recognize the futility of the treatment. I do wish that they had been more subjective and realistic . He did die the next day....in my arms. I will continue to bring my animals to this practice because I recognize that the practice of medicine (both human and animal ) is a practice not a science and it is probably hard sometimes for the practitioner to be subjective.The staff: clerical, techs, and vets, has always treated me well and with respect and I am willing to accept this experience as a lapse in the vet's judgement. I have not shared this experience with anyone other than this forum and intend to keep my feelings to this forum and to myself. Thank you