Can you tell me why my cat died?

My grandfather owns a farm and at the time that I got my cat, Mandy ,there was roughly 30 cats that ran around the outside of his farm. He has lots of space and grass- and even cows. Most of his animals have lived long. He's always given them shots and fixed them, too. Mandy was really easy to catch, so when you called her name, she would run to you. My grandfather had fixed her and given her shots (I'm not sure which ones) at a vet's office. My grandfather's farm is in California.

When I took her home,(to Oregon at the time where the winters are long and harsh), she was very loving. I would assume she was about 4 months old, maybe 3. She would rub on my legs constantly. She was the most loving cat I'd ever met.

Weeks later, my cat became unusually hostile. She didn't come when I called her anymore and refused to love on me. She still played with her mouse toy, though (with catnip). When I got close to her, she would usually run away. I thought this was normal as my other cats ran away from me and my family all the time. I can't remember exactly when, but it must have been soon after when she started breathing funny. She breathed loudly and snorted a lot. My mother thought she had a small nose and just had trouble breathing. She was always a lightweight and small cat. She soon showed no interest in her favourite toy at all (which my dog destroyed so I couldn't remember her by anything!). There was always gunk under her chin and she passed gas a lot. All she ever did was sit on my dvr or cuddle up next to my other cats. She never exercised but ate regularly. She hated being held and would suddenly jerk every minute that I held her. What a drastic personality change!

One day, she started coughing and breathing harder. My mother was rather poor so we couldn't afford to take her to the vet's to "fix her nose", but my mom agreed we could take her the next day, anyways. So the next day (never grew or gained weight her whole life), my mother wanted to check on Mandy. She was hiding under the bed. Strangely, I picked her up and she didn't resist. I laid her in the bathroom and told my mother to take her to the vets. Sitting in the bathroom, she continued to cough and her lips turned blue. She started kicking at the air and she bit part of her lip really hard. We rushed her to the vet's and she was barely breathing. As we waited for the vet to come out, i just sat there and cried. When she came out, Mandy was in a box and we were told she didn't make it. She didn't die in my arms like I wanted. She was only 1 year and 4 months old.

So, why? Every disease I've thought about so far didn't show ALL the symptoms. I need to know. This CANNOT happen again.

Reply

I suspect that you will never be able to discover what the real cause of your kittens death was. I say this because without a diagnosis made at the time by a vet, there could literally be so many possibilities and who knows what the real one might me.

I suspect that this kitten may have been born with something wrong which developed as she got older. I say this because the fact that you say she had a small nose could have been an indication that she was what is known as the runt of a litter and so possibility weaker etc.

I don’t know if your vet gave you any indication of what he thought it might be. The symptoms as you say are not defined enough to be able to say that tit was an illness. Normally there would be loss of appetite, or vomiting etc.

The fact that she never grew or put weight on does rather suggest that it was something she was born with. In which case there was probably nothing that could have been done to say her anyway and also not something that will affect other cats you may have.

Don’t dwell on this sadness. I know its hard and we always want answers but sometimes we have to accept that sometimes there are any and we have to move on.

I am so sorry for your loss.

i have some web pages on my site about cat loss which you may find of further help. here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/pet-loss.html

Best wishes kate

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