Why did my cat die?

ilovektt

thank you for your replies, it has helped.

Max was given metacam as a painkiller/anti-inflammatory when he was at the vets and we were given some to give him at home (though he wouldn't take it)

Is it possible that it was just a soft tissue injury from being hit by a car, and it was the metacam that gave him renal failure?

The only signs he showed before the metacam was being unable to feel his tail, constant mewing, dragging his hind legs (his pelvis was splayed). He was alert, just struggling to move.

After the metacam he was dozy, slept a lot, almost comatose - the vet said shock?

kellyt86

So heartbreaking to loose a beloved member of the family when a cat dies.
I know I have experienced it with a car accident for my 7 month old cat 5 years ago.
I have three cats now, and worry about them outside a lot!
I knew about the Lillies/antifreeze thing and a few months ago I got a bunch of flowers which had some Lillies in, which had a warning on the packet so hopefully that will help other cat owners. My vets have a big sign up on the wall as well.
I've also recently discovered that grapes/raisins and onions are poisoness for cats although The effects are not as bad as lillies or antifreeze I think!
Of course I would never intentionally feed cats these things anyway its good to know! I did (before knowing this) give my cat a small piece of chicken from subway I was eating which may have had onion sauce on it, and after he was sick (involved a vet trip but he was ok after a couple of days). When I heard about onions being bad for cats I felt awful but thankfully he has had no long-term effects, and I have learnt my lesson!!

Could you please tell me about the metacam thing? My three boys have all had metacam on numerous occasions over the years (they are 8 years old) for the various scraps with other cats and slight illnesses they have needed patching up with!

I am really worried now, my vet has never mentioned risks of metacam when prescribing it.
Thanks
Kelly

wilykit

Sorry to read about your cat OP.

The same happened to my cat when he was just 2 years old, the vets did all they could but with antifreeze, the poor cats don't stand a chance.

xx

Kathy535

Some cats can cope with metacam, others can't. There's no way of knowing whether your cat will react badly but vets still use it as the chances of a bad reaction are very small indeed. No consolation to the cat owners who have lost their beloved pets, I know. We had metacam for our cat recently, when I looked it up I was worried about the possible effects but he was fine with it. It's by no means a sure thing so impossible to say whether it was the result of your vets actions or not.

I feel some sympathy for vets, animals (especially cats) are very very good at hiding symptoms of illness and it can be difficult to diagnose and treat the exact cause of an illness or symptoms and often it's a case of trial and error or an umbrella type of treatment.

I have 4 cats, all active and outdoors and there's hardly a 6month period goes by without a visit to the vets for one or another of them. I'm off to the vets tomorrow as my ginger Tom has a lump on his nose that looks unpleasant, I'm expecting the worst.

Interesting about the lilies, my DH loves to buy me lilies and I have warned him about the toxicity to cats but I had no idea about the speed and the small amount needed. I'll refuse them in future.

Dimey

Such a sad story OP.

I knew about the lillies. I have one that grows each year in my garden and I snip the stamens out as soon as it flowers.

I can see you are brooding about what happened at the vets. Its natural to wonder whether the vet should have taken the blood test immediately and could have done more/faster.

Vets are fallible. Sometimes they don't have all the knowledge to do everything they should but they do mean well. The nature of their vocation requires decisions that can lead to life or death. It's a tough job.

I had an issue with a vet misdiagnosing a medication and it killed my cat. I carry the guilt because I trusted the vet without questioning. But you have to let go because the sadness will get you down too much and make you bitter.

You did everything right. Try to remember the happy little life your cat did have with you.

KVet

Mega am wouldn't make him drowsy unless they gave him a different opioid based painkiller (buprenorphine etc). Antifreeze poisoning is toxic, unless you catch it pretty much within the first few hours, death is inevitable as they form irreversible crystals in the kidneys.

Had a similar ish case where the cat was hit by a car fracturing his pelvis, but he had also been diagnosed with chronic renal failure so we suspected he just wasn't as healthy as he used to be and misjudged the car etc.

Blood clot to the back legs (aortic thromboembolism) is also a high possibility in cats and can come out of nowhere.

Honestly hard to say without a post mortem really

hoo

KVet wrote: »

Mega am wouldn't make him drowsy unless they gave him a different opioid based painkiller (buprenorphine etc). Antifreeze poisoning is toxic, unless you catch it pretty much within the first few hours, death is inevitable as they form irreversible crystals in the kidneys.

Had a similar ish case where the cat was hit by a car fracturing his pelvis, but he had also been diagnosed with chronic renal failure so we suspected he just wasn't as healthy as he used to be and misjudged the car etc.

Blood clot to the back legs (aortic thromboembolism) is also a high possibility in cats and can come out of nowhere.

Honestly hard to say without a post mortem really

Our kitty mustapha suffered a clot and had to be put to sleep three years ago. Exactly the same symptoms as the op's, we firstly thought he'd been hit by a car but our vet was really knowledgable on this and explained that it was a clot quite common in male cats over 6 and always fatal. She kept him comfortble until we got our head round it but the kindezt thing was to let him go so we were with him when he was pts