Flv/fluid in lungs/ swollen lymph nodes cat was healthy can on fast

Hello vets. Back round 3 year old neutered male cat. We adopted him a year ago from petsmart(confirmed he was not flv/fib checked) When we first adopted him he had upper respiratory which was treated with antibiotics. Since then he had no health issues whatsoever so ever no coughing, sneezing or throwing up . Leading up to the emergency visit a couple days leading up I noticed not all the food was being eaten. Which I didn’t think much of since our other cat is a fussy eater. Day of emergency visit, I noticed he did not get up when the automatic feeders went off. I noticed he was having trouble breathing and issues walking wobbly  as well as swollen lymph nodes . He would walk a couple feet and then lay down due to issues with breathing. I took him to my primary vet since I thought it was just a cold. My primary vet diagnosed with feline leukemia, and said from the chest x ray he had fluid in the lungs and possible mass. At the emergency vet we discussed draining the lungs rechecking x rays and doing blood work. After this was supposed to be done the vet came back in and said there’s a mass in the lungs and this was cancer. We discussed how he showed no symptoms and did not understand how he had a mass and showed no eating  issues or breathing issues leading up. She said based on his blood work it was cancer and he had a mass pushing on his trechea. She pushed for euthanasia and said that was our only option and there was nothing else we could do(we also did express money was not an issue and if there was anything or any other test we would do it) nor did she give us other options they also did not take his health history nor in the write up after I requested records it said stuff was discussed as in oncology but was never told that was an option while in there. Come to find after we euthanized, and received the bill later that night via email they did not drain his chest or retake x rays. We are devastated, felt pushed to euthanasia, and we can’t tell if we did the right or wrong thing. I am looking for a second opinion on what could have been done. I feel like I was mislead and dismissed. 

Hello - I'm so sorry that you have lost your loved one and particularly sorry to hear that you have come away from this experience feeling as though you were forced into making a decision that you doubt or regret.  You also claim that incorrect information was put into the clinical notes, which is by no means trivial.  In order to give a valid second opinion on a case, a vet should have the same amount of information available to them as the first vet, so the clinical notes (examination results etc) should be included.  This is information held about you on your vets' computer.  Your vet is obliged to keep the notes for a considerable amount of time after a patient's death and you ought to be able to request to see it.  However, the RCVS can also request these notes and radiographs from the vet on your behalf, should you file a complaint. It is also possible that another vet practise or specialist could review the case informally for you, but they may need your, and the first vets', permission. I would reccommend a chat with the RCVS as the first step in such a case.  I wonder whether there may have been other differentials, for example.

You can speak to the RCVS on <span style="color: #111111; font-family: -apple-system, Roboto, SegoeUI, 'Segoe UI', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Microsoft YaHei', 'Meiryo UI', Meiryo, 'Arial Unicode MS', sans-serif;">020 7202 0789.</span>

My apologies - I pasted some coding there.  You can contact the RCVS (UK) on 020 7202 0789.  

My apologies - I pasted some coding there.  You can contact the RCVS (UK) on 020 7202 0789.