My cat just dropped dead... what the hell?

[Flashover]

I have two cats from the same litter.

Cat is sitting there grooming itself, then all of a sudden it stopped, looked at me and fell over. Twitched twice and that was it.


...I'm on hold with an "emergency vet" right now, but obviously short of some kind of resurrection spell or unholy artifact the cat is clearly dead.

I'm a bit shaken up over this. Cats, especially two year old siamese cats from a breeder aren't supposed to just fall over dead like that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like it may have been a heart attack...

 

[Flashover]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like it may have been a heart attack...

Yes. The ER-Vet told me it was either a heart attack or a massive sudden stroke, both are common with this breed. It is very unlikely to be poison or some other enviromental factor due to the speed at which it happened.


Well fuck. It is raining out, and it's almost midnight I got a grave to dig.

(I expect the surviving cat to show me the same courtesy if I suddenly drop dead to, or at least to dial 911 for me. )

 

[Miss Chicken]

Sorry to hear about your cat. I have never owned a Siamese and didn't realise that the breed was prone to heart attack/strokes.

I don't know how I will cope when my Miss Chicken dies. She will be turning 12 years old this month so I might have to cope with her death within the next 3 or so years.

 

[Geck]

Geez, sorry to hear it. That's awful.

As a minor blessing, at least it didn't suffer at all from the sounds of it...

 

[Flashover]

I don't know how I will cope when my Miss Chicken dies. She will be turning 12 years old this month so I might have to cope with her death within the next 3 or so years.

Ah but you see Miss Chicken has lived a long life. Psycho... was still a young cat.

My neighbor sent me back inside, he's using his Kabota to dig for me, I'm watching from the porch posting from my netbook.

 

[Joshua Howard]

^ He's digging a grave for your cat with a tractor digger? I always thought a cat burial job would be more commonly handled with hand tools.

A small, twisted part of me finds this funny. Of course, I would be very displeased if I had a pet cat and it just dropped dead in this manner; but on the same scale, it seems like it is cooler for a pet to die suddenly, healthy and happy until the end, than for it to get sick and messed up and then fade away slowly over time. Heck, I think it would be cooler for me to just drop dead one day than to get sick and languish while people watch. At least your cat had a happy (if short) life while he lasted. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Flashover]

A small, twisted part of me finds this funny. Of course, I would be very displeased if I had a pet cat and it just dropped dead in this manner; but on the same scale, it seems like it is cooler for a pet to die suddenly, healthy and happy until the end, than for it to get sick and messed up and then fade away slowly over time. Heck, I think it would be cooler for me to just drop dead one day than to get sick and languish while people watch. At least your cat had a happy life while he lasted. I'm sorry for your loss.

I am glad it happened while I was awake rather than wake up to a dead animal in the living room.

And I understand what you are saying. I hope to just pass suddenly as well I don't want to linger.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think my hardest pet loss was when my little kitten Dexter disappeared. I don't even know how he got out of the house - he was an indoor cat who was only allowed out into the back yard when I was with him. I spent days looking for him, I had him listed on the Pet Patrol on a local radio station, rang up all the vets and animal shelters, posted Lost Cat posters around the neighbourhood and putting little notices into people's letter boxes but I never discovered his fate. If he is still alive he would be about 5 years old.

Let us know how his litter mate copes with the loss.

 

[Flashover]

I think my hardest pet loss was when my little kitten Dexter disappeared. I don't even know how he got out of the house - he was an indoor cat who was only allowed out into the back yard when I was with him. I spent days looking for him, I had him listed on the Pet Patrol on a local radio station, rang up all the vets and animal shelters, posted Lost Cat posters around the neighbourhood and putting little notices into people's letter boxes but I never discovered his fate. If he is still alive he would be about 5 years old.

LONG ago we got a kitten from a local farmer. We'd put him outside in a fenced in flower-garden to play. Did so one evening. I'm on the steps watching, my brother is on the swing set.... Owl OUT OF NOWHERE swoops down and grabs the kitten.

On the one hand, it was kind of traumatic. On the other hand, owls are REALLY cool birds, especially in Hunting Mode.

 

[Joshua Howard]

LONG ago we got a kitten from a local farmer. We'd put him outside in a fenced in flower-garden to play. Did so one evening. I'm on the steps watching, my brother is on the swing set.... Owl OUT OF NOWHERE swoops down and grabs the kitten.

On the one hand, it was kind of traumatic. On the other hand, owls are REALLY cool birds, especially in Hunting Mode.

Your kitten attended Hogwarts.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I would be totally traumatised if I saw that. Luckily we don't really have birds in my neighbourhood that could take a cat.

I suspect that the next door neighbour's dog might have killed my Dexter but I had no proof and my neighbour said he could find no trace of the kitten's body in his yard.

 

[Flashover]

Ok, Garfunkle has been returned to the earth thanks to my neighbor with the digger. I plan to pay him tomorrow for his effort, it's past midnight and pouring rain here. Very grateful for his help.

I wonder what is going through the other cat's mind ? I mean Simon (yes yes get over it) was right there when Garfunkle croaked. All he did was lick the other one's nose and then he went in the other room.

 

[Flashover]

I'm off for the night, thanks for the condolences everyone.

 

[SVD]

As a fellow human with a cat, My condolences.

The ones I've had, and the one I have now, is strictly an outdoor cat. I've had a a few that I've been attached to disappear, one that my grandpa had to put down because of a nasty infection in a fight wound, and three we found dead in the past 10 years.

My first cat, whom I was told was 15 when I was 5 and whom my grandparents took in when he wasn't allowed at the places Mom & unmentionable moved, lived to be about 24. It was a tough loss.

As a man of practicality and frugality I am puzzled by the need for a purebred cat. Though....... 'nother thread!

LONG ago we got a kitten from a local farmer. We'd put him outside in a fenced in flower-garden to play. Did so one evening. I'm on the steps watching, my brother is on the swing set.... Owl OUT OF NOWHERE swoops down and grabs the kitten.

On the one hand, it was kind of traumatic. On the other hand, owls are REALLY cool birds, especially in Hunting Mode.

Yowza!

Law of the jungle in action.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

My condolences as well! I've never lost a pet in such a sudden manner; I can only imagine how shocking it would be to witness your cat just just keel over like that.

 

[SVD]

^ no kidding!

Definitely disturbing to some degree, watching something healthy, cherished, possibly something you were trying to save, die right in front of you.

 

[captcalhoun]

wow, that's a horrible thing to have happen. my condolences.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Sorry to hear it, Flashover. It must have been quite a shock to lose a seemingly healthy pet so suddenly. I remember when my grandmother lost her cat; she had it 22 years and it died of, essentially, old age, but it was still distressing.

 

[RJDiogenes]

My condolences, Flashover. It's always terrible when a Pet dies, especially so suddenly.