Unexpected Death of Cat

From LoveToKnow Cats

It's always hard to lose our dear feline friends, but when there seems to be no obvious reason for a beloved pet's death, it is even harder to accept.

Visitor Questions about Unexpected Cat Deaths

Cat Died During Micro-Chipping

We had a stray kitten come to our home out of the woods. He was pure white, but his nose, ears and paws were pink. He had long white hair coming out from the inside of his ears. The vet thought it might be an Angora kitten.

We had him for three months and thought he should be ID chipped and neutered before he started spraying. He passed away after he awoke from surgery. The vet said he had opened his eyes and looked around. The vet left the room for two minutes. When she came back into the room, he was blue. They did mouth to snout breathing and CPR on him, but he didn't make it. They did find a tape worm after it was all over.

What could have happened? The vet cannot say. She has no answers or explanation about why he died. She did say he had a reaction from the anesthetic. She called us at work and told my husband one story and when we went to pick up his body she gave us another story. I want to know what happened to my poor baby kitten. How can I get truthful answers from the vet hospital?

~~Cinda

Expert Reply

Hi, Cinda,

I'm so sorry about the loss of your kitten. This is one of the most painful thing pet owners have to face and my heart goes out to you.

The thought of a cat going under anesthesia can be a scary prospect. However, this is a necessary evil when a cat is being spayed or neutered. The procedure would be far too painful without it. Death by anesthesia is actually very rare. However, if the cat had underlying problems that the vet missed during a routine physical, such as a heart defect, this could cause an adverse reaction and even death.

You may never know exactly what happened, but you can go back to the vet and request a copy of your cat's medical records from the surgery. The records should indicate what type of anesthesia was used and how much. You can then use that information to research the side effects of the specific medications used.

I wouldn't assume the vet did anything wrong, but it doesn't hurt to get the information for your own peace of mind. Is it possible her story changed because an assistant called your husband and then you spoke to the actual veterinarian? It's possible that the information was simply being relayed and something got lost in the translation. Again, the medical records will help to ease your mind in these areas.

Good luck, Cinda. I hope you're able to get a copy of the records easily and to heal from this horrible loss. You may want to consider adopting an older, already spayed or neutered cat from your local animal shelter. Not only do these animals need good homes, but the fear of death from anesthesia will be past because the cat should already be fixed. The chances of this happening again are very low, but I don't want you to worry.

~~Lori.

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Comments

Cinda,

I came across your posting and immediately felt I needed to reach out to you. I just lost my 5 mo old kitten yesterday and am just heartbroken. The horrible part of the story is that I actually work at the vet hospital where I had to witness the whole ordeal. Same as you, my Smee went under for a routine neutering procedure. When he awoke, he began to have seizures for the next 12 hours until he then went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. My vet performed CPR and got his heart beating again and he had to be put on a ventilator to breathe. At that point, I was told that there was no longer any brain activity as it was best to let him go. There are no answers for me. Not one vet at my work was able to explain what happened, including dozens of other vets that were consulted on the phone around my city, except that sometimes this just happens. The surgery went exactly as a thousand other surgeries had before but for some reason or another, his body could not handle it. I guarantee your veterinarian felt just horrible as I see the impact first hand it has had on the doctor that I work with that performed my kitten's surgery. Just know that someone out there is feeling the same pain, anger, heartbreak and confusion to how this could happen. I can only hope that with time, it will get better. -- Contributed by: HeatherH

Hi Misty,

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Many veterinarians and researchers think that Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) happens when feline Fenteric Coronavirus (FECV) mutates to a virus and begins to get into the cat's cells. The virus is what makes the cat so ill. No one is sure what causes the mutation, so it could be a gene that is inherited and reacts with other factors.

Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. It is never easy to lose a pet and really difficult when they are so young.

-- Contributed by: LoriSoard

my white n n pink angora died at 3 months too! he had FIP. my husband n i were devistated cuz it came out of no where. ive heard A LOT of ppl lost theirs of the same color and age and a variety of different ways. maybe it has something to do with the breed. the more ppl that come out with it, the more ppl will look into it.

-- Contributed by: misty
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