Sudden death

[valou999]

My 4 years old died today very suddenly. One minute he's being his mischievious self, the next he is collapsing on his side and meowing distressfully. I rush to him to see what's going on and very quickly he appears to be gasping for air and then just goes completely limp and unresponsive. My usual vet is a 2 minutes drive away from my home, but is closed on sunday, however the location is also the vet's private home, so I rush there just hoping. I get an answer but all the vet can do really do is tell me my cat is dead, possibly from a cardiac arrest. Now I'm really just enraged I never learned pet CPR or that this didn't happen at a time the clinic would have been open and more helpful. I brought him back home for now and am due to bring him back in the morning. I did some research and it does look like a cardiac arrest, dilated pupils, blue gums, etc. however I'm wondering if I should get an autopsy done. I don't really the know the expenses for it, or if I should place my baby in the fridge in the meantime. I'm a real mess, and need advice.

 

[nurseangel]

I am so sorry for the loss of your cat. That had to be traumatic for you. I was upset because the vet did CPR on my RB cat. It's brutal on people, so I figure it must be horrifying for pets as well. I am not putting down anyone whose done it, but it's not a gentle thing. I think it's better if the person or animal is completely unaware of what's going on. Please, please don't beat yourself up. And if you can't afford an autopsy, then I would let my cat rest in peace. That's just my IMHO. We had a kitten years ago who became very sick. He stayed at the vet's office for days. He seemed to recover after a while, was playing in the cage, and the vet had actually asked why we hadn't picked him up already. He crossed the RB before we had a chance. The vet ( another vet, without our permision, sent him away for an autopsy). He was curious to see what could have killed him. We never got the body back for a burial. My thoughts and prayers will be with you.

 

[valou999]

I am so sorry for the loss of your cat. That had to be traumatic for you. I was upset because the vet did CPR on my RB cat. It's brutal on people, so I figure it must be horrifying for pets as well. I am not putting down anyone whose done it, but it's not a gentle thing. I think it's better if the person or animal is completely unaware of what's going on. Please, please don't beat yourself up. And if you can't afford an autopsy, then I would let my cat rest in peace. That's just my IMHO. We had a kitten years ago who became very sick. He stayed at the vet's office for days. He seemed to recover after a while, was playing in the cage, and the vet had actually asked why we hadn't picked him up already. He crossed the RB before we had a chance. The vet ( another vet, without our permision, sent him away for an autopsy). He was curious to see what could have killed him. We never got the body back for a burial. My thoughts and prayers will be with you.

Thanks for the kind words. It's really the suddeness of it all that's killing me and that I'm not accepting. It was just another day, with him doing his normal things with no signs that anything like this could happen. I feel especially bad because I yelled at him for having sneaked his way onto a shelf where he was not supposed to be literally moments before it happened. I can't help but wonder if his quick escape to the floor somehow triggered this cardiac arrest. If only I could turn back time...

BTW, I've read about CPR and apparently the chances of successfully resuscitating a pet who's heart has stopped beating is rare. Still probably would be good to know what to do.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I'm so sorry for your loss. From what you have said the vet is most likely right cardiac arrest. IMHO I'd go with what the vet said and not get a autopsy. I don't think you triggered it because as you know deep down cat's make qwick escapes all the time. So please don't beat yourself up by blaming yourself. Grief is full of ifs and buts especially when things happen suddenly. Your boy will be in good company at the bridge

 

[Jcatbird]

I am so very sorry. I have lost a cat quickly too. It is always hard to lose a kitty but suddenly gives us no time to brace ourselves. You obviously loved this kitty and nothing you did was different to him. It was just a normal and loving day. Even telling him to get down was something he knew and probably already expected to hear. What he also knew was that you were by his side and loving him every moment. His time may have been shorter than you expected but he lived a fully loving and happy life with you. Nothing can be better than that no matter how long we live. You gave him everything any of us could hope for. Yourself and love.

 

[chelsmarie]

I’m so sorry. The same thing happened to my 4 year old earlier this year. I came home from work to find her dead on the floor. She had had no symptoms and had a clean bill of health from the vet previously. I too beat myself up over it. I did some research and think it must have been feline cardiomyopathy, which is typically undetectable and is a birth defect. Oddly enough, when the guilt was really eating at me as to what happened, a random novel I was reading featured a young cat dying of it, I’d previously never even heard of it. How random, but they explained how it was fate and there’s nothing that could’ve been done. I think that was the universe and my kitty telling me it wasn’t my fault.

 

[di and bob]

Something that happens so quickly, with no warning, almost always is heart-related. I would not have an autopsy done, with him acting so normal, and him being so young, it is almost certain to be genetic and unavoidable. With a young cat, no one is checking for this, or expecting it, try not to beat yourself up over something you had no control over, and cannot change. To you, and him, it was just a normal day. You are his everything and you gave him what he wanted most in life, care and love. My heart goes out to you, I'll pray for you both.......

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry for your loss. Several years ago I had a wonderfully healthy Maine Coon type male who "might" have had some heart irregularity. The vet tech insisted that there was a murmur, but the vet dismissed it as nothing. A few months later, Eliot (just as your cat) collapsed at my feet in the hall and died. The symptoms of early cardiomyopathy are very hard to pinpoint and elusive, if early symptoms are even present. I do know how to do pet CPR, but Eliot was gone immediately. Almost no cats are saved by CPR and as nurseangel said, it is not pleasant as it amounts to very hard and fast pounding on a little body. You are very understandably trying to think of something that you could have done to save your cat, but I believe that these tragedies are very much out of our hands and are certainly no reflection on our care as pet guardians.

 

[Sajast]

Agree that it sounds like it was heart related but wanted to add, even if it was the heart a necropsy still might not provide any answers. For example, if it was an electrical problem with the heart, there won’t be any tell-tale sign and all the vet can do is guess. It’s a terrible thing to happen. A relative of mine lost their dog very unexpectedly - also 4 years old - to what was also likely a cardiac event. All we can do is love our pets and try and do the right thing by them but sometimes nature will still kick you in the teeth.

 

[valou999]

It's been a little while, but I wanted to thank everyone for their compassion, kind words as well as advices. While I am still shocked and sad about what happened, it's getting a little better day by day. Just as an update, I did not go through with the autopsy as I have no real doubts that it was cardiomyopathy or heart failure, and it really would not have helped with the grieving process. I opted to put the money into personalized cremation instead so I could have him back home with me, even if only symbolically.

 

[fionasmom]

That is very sweet of you to honor him that way. I would definitely have done the same thing and have all of my pets home with me someplace in the house.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

So glad that it's getting a little easier for you. And how lovely you have brought him home.

 

[Meowmee]

My 4 years old died today very suddenly. One minute he's being his mischievious self, the next he is collapsing on his side and meowing distressfully. I rush to him to see what's going on and very quickly he appears to be gasping for air and then just goes completely limp and unresponsive. My usual vet is a 2 minutes drive away from my home, but is closed on sunday, however the location is also the vet's private home, so I rush there just hoping. I get an answer but all the vet can do really do is tell me my cat is dead, possibly from a cardiac arrest. Now I'm really just enraged I never learned pet CPR or that this didn't happen at a time the clinic would have been open and more helpful. I brought him back home for now and am due to bring him back in the morning. I did some research and it does look like a cardiac arrest, dilated pupils, blue gums, etc. however I'm wondering if I should get an autopsy done. I don't really the know the expenses for it, or if I should place my baby in the fridge in the meantime. I'm a real mess, and need advice.

I am so sorry, it must have been a terrible shock. Hugs I did a necropsy on my Angie after she was given convenia and died nine days later. I did it at Cornell hospital and it was not very expensive, with a private cremation it was $125. That was about 10 years ago maybe.

But I had to get a report from the DVM in order to do it. I don’t know if they will do that on a cat from Canada but I shipped her to them in an ice cooler type of container and I kept her in the refrigerator waiting for my DVM to write the report- they delayed it because they didn’t want me to do a necropsywrote a bunch of lies about me in their crazy report which had nothing to do with the necropsy.

Anyway you are in Quebec which I think is probably close to where Cornell is, I have forgotten where it is exactly, so I would call them and ask. That is if your regular Dvm cannot do it and you once I get it done at a teaching hospital etc.
They shipped her ashes back to me in a beautiful box with a toy I had placed with her and a card.

 

[all4mom2]

I lost a beautiful MC/NFC mix at just two years of age; he died during surgery, so of course the vet performing the procedure wanted to know what he died of and ordered and paid for the necropsy. Indeed it was undiagnosed and undetected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, pretty common in this breed of cat (they could tell by the muscle fibers). As a result, I didn't realize owners usually have to pay for this; I thought it was like donating your body to science or something! Sorry for your loss; know that he was loved.

 

[tryton1]

It's been a little while, but I wanted to thank everyone for their compassion, kind words as well as advices. While I am still shocked and sad about what happened, it's getting a little better day by day. Just as an update, I did not go through with the autopsy as I have no real doubts that it was cardiomyopathy or heart failure, and it really would not have helped with the grieving process. I opted to put the money into personalized cremation instead so I could have him back home with me, even if only symbolically.

I just had this happen to me. I posted about it today. Sounds very similar to what happened to my Wilma. I'm devastated.