Confused....don't know why he died...

This morning my cat Mario passed away. I'm really not sure how or why he was just 7yrs old. We live in the country.. He was inside the house or in our very large shop all of the time. I didn't let him venture outside very often due to the coyotes and cougars in the area. We have a 5th Wheeler in the shop and he loved being on top of it. So much in fact that he would bring his mice that he caught and would leave them there. Unbeknownst to us. About 48hrs ago I couldn't find him anywhere. My husband and looked high and low for 3hrs. He finally walked the support beam of the shop and appeared...I just thought it was him being a stinker...he was a very sweet boy ...however a little odd at times I held him and he seemed fine except he saw our other cats and meowed and growled at them...In 7yrs I've had him never has he growled. I wanted to keep him in the house to keep an eye on him my husband was afraid that he would wake us up later to let him out...as it was now 330am in the morning and needed to get some rest. The next day I looked every where and calling him through out the day. About 940pm I was working out and my husband and brother were looking for him and found him in a chevy we were restoring ....just laying there in the front seat...he wasn't running a fever and his eyes looked good he wasn't foaming at the mouth...nothing stood out he however did the same thing again when he saw the other pets. I tried to coax him to eat...he just wanted to be left alone and went into where the litter box was and food. I never saw him leave that area...I went to where he sleeps in my closet..and I felt around and he wasn't where he normally was...so again I just thought he was somewhere else in the house...long story short I looked on the other side the closet door and found him dead....Words can't say how guilty I feel...I've had him since birth and I still have his mother. I don't know if a mouse that he may of ate may of made him sick...I'm also worried for not knowing what happened and if it was contagious. I don't have the finances to have a autopsy. I'm just hoping that maybe someone may have some idea.
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I'm very sorry for your loss. That's so sad. However, without an autopsy I don't think you will know what happened to him. For the safety of your other animals make sure you have no rat/mice poisons or any chemicals that are not properly put away. This includes leaking antifreeze on the floor and so on. Again, I am so sorry you lost your kitty.

 

I am so sorry for what happened your cat. Was he current on vaccines? I wonder if he contacted some feline disease - I hope it's not something that can be passed onto your other cats. You might want to keep a close eye on them for awhile to see if they are showing any symptons.

I once found my much-loved older cat passed away on my son's bed. That was so hard.

I'll be lighting a candle for your kitty

 

I would bring all the cat's to the vet for a check-up.Oh does your closet have a door?What if someone or 1 of your cats accidentily closed the door and he sufficated? :cry: But whatever the reason is I feel very sorry for your cat.I will pray for it as soon as I go to bed tonight. [-o<

 

Im so sorry for your loss. :cry:

 

Thank you so much for all of your prayers it's really nice to know that they're is caring people out there who love their pet(s) as much as I do.

My Mario didn't show any signs at all except wanting to be alone. He's always been my boy and never not wanted to not come to me...that was the only red flag that went up. Every night in order to protect our pets we make sure that they were all in side. However Mario was the one that always kept us on our toes. I loved him since he was born.

I just thought that someone might have known what could he have caught that would of showed no symptoms...also, the mice are field mice with no poisen in them. And the anti-freeze is kept securely and if he was poisened by that he would of shown symptoms.

 

One more thing the closet was just a sliding closet door and he went in their the night he died it was a sleeping place so it was always kept open. Before 48 hrs ago he was acting like he always did. :cry:

 

sometimes cats, like people, can also have heart defects that just go unnoticed. I've known many people in siamese internet cat club that have unexpectedly had cats get ill and pass away quickly in spite of vet care. Sometimes these things do happen.

 

chloe, my sympathies. i agree that the only way to know for sure what happened to your cat is to have the autopsy; however, if you can't afford it, then that's really all there is to it.

besides any congenital problems he may have had that you just weren't aware of, i think the most likely cause would be something involving all the mice he caught. one could have gotten into some poison on someone else's property before your cat caught it -- could have even gotten into some poison, a hawk or other animal caught the mouse first, and could have been dropped on your property before your cat got to it. the possibilities are really endless with this scenario.

i also wonder about some diseases passed to cats by ticks. specifically, cytaux (aka bobcat tick disease). i only mention this because we've had several people come into the shelter recently whose cats have died because of this disease. this may not be an issue for you -- i'm not sure of the incidence of the disease in your area (but i was completely unaware of how widespread it was until just recently). you may want to do a google search on it and see if any of your cat's symptoms match that of the disease.

whatever you decide to do, i hope your other cats are safe and i'm very sorry about mario.

 

Chloe, I am so sorry for your loss. We had a nine year old cat that my son found dead on our kitchen floor. She never went outside. She was fine at 5 a.m when my husband fed her and then at 6:30 a.m. when my son got up he found her. She was not sick but the only thing I noticed a couple of days before hand was that she seemed to become quite ticklish. When you would pet her, her skin would twitch. We never had her autopsied because we did not know you could. To this day, I wonder what the cause was. My vet said it may have just been an anurizim (sp) that caused it. Nine was young for a cat we were told and now just recently we lost Missy a four year old. I would keep a watch on the other cats to just make sure nothing was past on. Again, I am sorry for you to have to have gone through this. Let us know how the others are doing?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post....Moose it sounds like you have a lot of expierence working where you do. I did google about the ticks and it says that they're was symptoms and he really didn't have any discribed. I know in my heart that I loved him and I can't bring my lil boy back so I will just try to make sure that I keep an eye on my other little ones to make sure they're isn't something contagious going around. I know that the year we lived in the country was more fun for Mario so that gives me a little happiness knowing that.

Mary .....I'm so very sorry for the loss of your kitties. 9 yrs and 4 yrs isn't that old...especially the 4 yr old just a baby...you just feel like there's never enough time I always wished they would live a lot longer..how selfish of me.
I have a Shihtzu mix and she will be 14 yrs this summer...oh ...boy...I just had her hips x-rayed and no red flags as of yet just stiffness so...I'm constantly trying to help her with everything that she needs help with. Vitamins diet etc.....one good report is the vet said that she has the strongest back he's seen in a dog her age...
Please know if you every need to talk I am here for you. And thanks so much for caring. O

 

Chloe, Thanks for the offer. It sounds as though you know your stuff when it comes to vitamins for your pets. I just wanted to share something with you that a friend of ours did for their Jack Russell who was attacked by another dog. She suffered much with her back legs and recently her legs started to bother her to the point where she was not walking. They went to the vet who told them about this web site. When you call they will tell you how much to give to your pet. The vet suggested vitamin E and I could not believe the difference in her with her running and all. It is worth a try for any of our pets. Here is the web site. www.vivichealthproducts.com Hope it help yours.

 

Thanks Mary for that link...i'm going to look in to it..not just for buffy....also for me also! Today has been really rough....I have been crying off and on all day...it just hurts...I work from my house so...it's hard because every where i look I just see him. I have persian kitty and she's the same color as mario and I saw her laying down and for a split second I thought it was him...my husband said that it's ok to cry and that he feels really sad too...that helps to have his support.
Thanks again for your post.