I came home and found my female adult cat underneath my desk making strange sounds. She never goes underneath my desk. When I pulled her out she was lethargic and smelled of vomit. Her eyes were glazed and not moving. On the way to the vet, she tried to take a couple of breaths and then she died by the time I got to the vet. she was normal this am when I left. could she possible aspirated on her vomit?? We have 2 cats, and both of them ate the same kind of catfood yesterday eve. and the other one is fine. What could have happed?
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Cat Gender: Female Age: apporx 10 years Name of Cat: Smokey Already Tried: Taken to vet, where she died enroute
Hello, and thanks for writing in. I'm so very sorry for your loss, and that this happened to Smokey. I know this can be very difficult to deal with, especially with the unexpected nature of the way she passed away. It's hard to say for sure why this happened to her, but yes, she could have aspirated on her vomit - this does happen sometimes, where enough of the vomit goes into the airways to cause sudden and severe problems. It's also possible that she had a previously undiagnosed medical condition, such as a heart problem or cancer that could have led to this all occurring today. Many cats will show no symptoms of a disorder (even if the underlying problem has been there for a while), until a certain day. It's so hard when we can only speculate at this time. One thing that may be able to be done, is to have your veterinarian perform a necropsy (animal autopsy), to see if he can find the cause of Smokey's passing away. Sometimes an obvious answer can be found, but other times no obvious reason is found.
Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.
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Dr. Dave
Experience: 18 years small animal general and emergency practice
Did she possibly know she was going to die, when she went and hid underneath a desk, that she has never been known to visit or go to lie down. She was not in her typical hiding places. The sounds she was making was not a typical meow. She was calling for help but I could not recognize the sounds in time, to maybe have saved her.
Thanks for your reply.
It's hard to say for sure what she was thinking, but many cats will go hide in places that are not normal for them when they are very sick or possibly going to pass away. The abnormal sounds she was making can also happen when cats are very sick, or having something causing breathing issues (i.e. if she aspirated vomit).
Please let me know if I can assist you further.