6 Y/o Feral Male Died In Anesthesia After Surgery Was Completed

[xmimsterx]

I started doing TNR (trap neuter release) in my neighborhood not so long ago. Last Sunday, we intended to trap a female but accidentally trapped the neighborhood tom cat who was impossible to trap by other TNR rescuers for years (just have to work harder to spay all the females to control the over-population). I was very happy and TNR him would mean a much safer and healthier life for him in the community (we live in Astoria of Queens in New York). Yesterday morning I dropped him off at ASPCA and later that day I received the phone call of him passing in anesthesia after his surgery was completed. The vet and their staff found his neck was bending at the corner of the trap with his heart stopped, they immediately performed CPR but it didn't bring him back.

My heart is broken, especially knowing the fact that trapping him was completely a coincident, and he could have been running free right now if we hadn't gone to the wrong place at the wrong time (he literally has no fixed feeding spot but roaming all over the the neighborhood, which made him impossible to trap all those years besides he was super smart and vigilant), it also hurts so much knowing he lived his entire life strolling freely in the streets of Astoria but had to spend the last few hours of his life in a small trap with his urine. Was it an existing heart condition? Kidney disease? We will never know. All I know is that it hurts so much to go feed other cats but will never see him again.

Since then, I had been doing a lot of research and spoke with a lot a experienced TNR rescuers about what could have happened. I know nothing I can do now to bring him back. But I really can't just let this one go, he was not another statistics, or another deceased cat ended up in group cremation, he meant something to me and to our community.

If anyone of you have similar experience, possible theories or knowledge, I would really appreciate your feedback and comments.

RIP O.G. Jack, Astoria feral cats community lost a great leader and a father (literally and figuratively). You will always be remembered by all of us.

 

[Furballsmom]

Geez, I'm so incredibly sorry to hear this!!

I don't know, but maybe there's something here that might help a little;

Lend Me A Kitten

 

[cathmarie]

I am so very sorry. My heart saddened to read this. He looks like such a beautiful kitty. I only have some consolation words for you. When horrible things like this happen I always think that maybe this was saving him from a worse fate. I am not sure of your beliefs but either God, your Higher Power or the Universe stepped in and intervened Our only choice is to trust in that. And you are right that he did not die in vain. You just shared his picture in memoriam for many people to remember and to cry with you.

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry....he is a beautiful cat. Please do not blame yourself for taking him to be TNRed. Anyone on these boards who works with ferals would have done exactly the same thing and I have myself. I am guessing that there was an underlying condition that no one knew about...first guess is heart and that he threw a clot which happened to an indoor pet cat of mine several years ago. He literally fell at my feet. Kidney,some form of cancer, obscure reaction to anesthesia? I lost a dog to the latter 15 years ago. Your wonderful intentions and great work you are doing in your neighborhood unfortunately coincided with this boy who probably had a serious medical condition and you are taking the blame for it. Cats are very stoic.....they can be very sick and never show it and ferals are even more so. The weakest is the one who does not survive in the wild and they remain vigilant not to show signs of weakness or sickness. The medical conditions facing this boy could have been numerous. About 5 years ago I rescued a male feral who, a few days later had a major seizure. Rushed him to the vet and he passed one month later from cryptococcus and lymphoma. It shocks me to this day but at least he was given care. As C cathmarie says, you might have rescued him from a worse fate or intervened just as he was about to become to weak to take care of himself.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, I'm so, so sorry. I've got tears running down my face, for both O.G. Jack, and for you. Maybe C cathmarie is right, and fate stepped in to trap him on Sunday, so he could be saved from something much worse.

He was a really gorgeous cat, and I'm so sad that his life was cut short.
RIP sweet boy.

BTW, welcome to TCS. I'm so sorry about the circumstances that brought you here, however, if you decide to stick around, you'll see we have several members who also rescue cats and do TNR, so you will be in good company.

 

[xmimsterx]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem!

Geez, I'm so incredibly sorry to hear this!!

I don't know, but maybe there's something here that might help a little;

Lend Me A Kitten

 

[xmimsterx]

Thank you for your reply. I do believe things happen for a reason, and it has always been the case in my life. It feels a little relief to think maybe he was really just so smart and far ahead of all of us, he saw something coming or was already suffering, and then decided that day, okay maybe this is the least painful way to go.

I am so very sorry. My heart saddened to read this. He looks like such a beautiful kitty. I only have some consolation words for you. When horrible things like this happen I always think that maybe this was saving him from a worse fate. I am not sure of your beliefs but either God, your Higher Power or the Universe stepped in and intervened Our only choice is to trust in that. And you are right that he did not die in vain. You just shared his picture in memoriam for many people to remember and to cry with you.

 

[xmimsterx]

Thank you for your reply. Most people I spoke with, including the vet at ASPCA said it could be heart problem, specifically, a heart murmur. This actually also happened recently to another rescuer I know, 3 weeks ago she rescued a 10+ year old feral male who then died in anesthesia at ASPCA. I've read that 1 in every 400 (sick or healthy) cats die in anesthesia. Crazy odds!

PS, I'm sorry for your loses too. It's the worst feeling.

I am so sorry....he is a beautiful cat. Please do not blame yourself for taking him to be TNRed. Anyone on these boards who works with ferals would have done exactly the same thing and I have myself. I am guessing that there was an underlying condition that no one knew about...first guess is heart and that he threw a clot which happened to an indoor pet cat of mine several years ago. He literally fell at my feet. Kidney,some form of cancer, obscure reaction to anesthesia? I lost a dog to the latter 15 years ago. Your wonderful intentions and great work you are doing in your neighborhood unfortunately coincided with this boy who probably had a serious medical condition and you are taking the blame for it. Cats are very stoic.....they can be very sick and never show it and ferals are even more so. The weakest is the one who does not survive in the wild and they remain vigilant not to show signs of weakness or sickness. The medical conditions facing this boy could have been numerous. About 5 years ago I rescued a male feral who, a few days later had a major seizure. Rushed him to the vet and he passed one month later from cryptococcus and lymphoma. It shocks me to this day but at least he was given care. As C cathmarie says, you might have rescued him from a worse fate or intervened just as he was about to become to weak to take care of himself.

 

[kittychick]

X xmimsterx - - I am so, so sorry for your loss of Jack ..and for the loss your cat-loving community and your community cats feel too of such a proud, handsome boy. We've lost two unexpectedly ...and both of which the vet thought were likely to heart conditions.

I'm glad you've found this site and this forum. It's filled with wonderful people who've got broad shoulders to lean on. And you can almost always find at least someone who's been through anything you're going through, which always helps (at least it does me). Please, please know that (and I recognize that it's far FAR easier to say than to feel) - that despite this very sad, gut-wrenching outcome, you're absolutely still doing the right thing for your kitty community as a whole by TNRing. I try to remind myself - despite periodic losses - that TNR is the hardest part, but one of the most important parts, of doing what's best for our beloved community cats. The best laid plans...sigh. I know I'm not telling you something you don't already know, but try to remember that the TNR you do saves dozens - even hundreds - of kittens from being born into such a bitter, harsh (and usually very cruel short) life. And 99.9% of the time it makes the lives of the male and female adults so much better...so much longer, healthier, and more enjoyable.

But yes-very occasionally, things do go wrong with surgeries - particularly anesthesia. And I know that just because it's "occasionally," it doesn't make losing Jack hurt less for you. We lost a feral several years ago - like Jack, Harry was our community cat feral tom. A big ol' orange tiger. A few others in our neighborhood who also TNRd had tried to trap him for years, but we rarely saw him - -he kept quite a big distance from people. Most people had only seen him high in neighborhood trees - - keeping watch. He was street smart - which, while frustrating, definitely made us respect him. He had a quiet calm about him - - and he patrolled the neighborhood, keeping his "harem" of TNRd ladies in line - - and keeping most other toms away. Hubby and I always laughed that Harry was king of all he surveyed - - - just the way he liked it. Then one day, after a huge snowstorm, he showed up in one of our feeding stations that's just a few feet from our back door.

It was then we saw he had a wound on his side. With binoculars we got a semi-decent look - and we were stunned (I've worked at & volunteered at animal shelters for years, so it takes alot to shock me). The wound was on his flank, and while I could tell it was big, I couldn't see how bad it was (I'll spare you the photos we took to show the vet). I asked around and neighbors said "oh yeah - he's been like that for at least a year" - - a YEAR!!!!!! My hubby and I ached for him. Harry had to be suffering. We knew our usual low cost spay/neuter clinic would put him down if we took him in. Our vet said if we could trap him, he'd do what he could. I got some of our more cat-friendly neighbors to agree to chip in on his vet bill if we could get him. And we decided we'd try to keep him inside until he healed - we wanted to give this noble guy every chance possible.

Cut to almost a year later. Harry had become a regular at our feeding station - even sleeping in one of our shelters with a heated pad. But trapping - - not a chance. We tried everything. Then one morning - like you - when we were trying to get a new female feral, to our surprise we'd caught Harry. Then we got a good look. The poor guy was far more injured than we'd ever dreamed - the wound on his side was about 5 inches x 7 inches, and at least an inch deep (we could actually see it was below most of the muscle). The vet was stunned he was alive, let alone upright & climbing trees for over a year!!!! (our vet decided he'd probably bounced off a moving car tire and somehow survived.) He said the wound was too deep and large to repair, and the only humane thing was to put him to sleep. He reminded us that Harry had to be putting out "I'm prey" pheromones - - - and being attacked and injured further was a far worse way to go. My hubby and I were shocked how upset we were. We knew in our hearts it was the only option - but we even talked about releasing him and trying to slip pain killers and antibiotics into his food. We felt SO guilty that this guy - - as injured as he was - - had just hours before been roaming the neighborhood, somehow seemingly happy, eating meals, watching the world go by from atop our fence. And we'd taken that from him. And now his last hours were being spent in a trap under a towel. I knew it was illogical to do anything but relieve his suffering for good - - -but it just felt wrong. I think I (and my hubby) cried as much or more for Harry than when we'd lost any of our beloved house kitties. I'll admit I was in bed crying for a week - inconsolable. And I still tear up at times when I see his picture and ashes on our bookshelf.

But all that said - - - I know we did the right thing. And even though losing Jack was even more of a shock for you - since you went into the surgery with a seemingly healthy kitty, there was likely something already wrong with him. And as cats are so stoic about illnesses that we humans rarely know they're ill until they're VERY ill, you likely saved him from passing away outside, afraid of his own weakness. I do believe that things happen for a reason - - even if we don't always know that that reason is - - and I believe that you saved Jack from something down the road. Your heart was pure - - and I really believe that Jack somehow felt that.

Don't be afraid to reach out here - - - shedding tears is something we've all done (happy ones when we TNR that kitty that desperately needs it.....or when we manage to catch and socialize that litter of feral kittens, so that they find loving warm inside homes...and sad ones for the unexpected losses like Jack and Harry). And hopefully you'll keep soldiering on with your TNR work - - - I think Jack would want you to.