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Sudden Death in Cats
Sudden death in cats
Sudden death in kitten
Sudden Death of British Blue
Sudden Death
also see CardiomyopathyPlease note: The most recent medical information is at the top of the page to least current at the bottom.
also see Heartworm Disease
also see Poisoning and Toxicosis in cats
also see toxins in cats
Question: Dear Dr Richards,
It's me again. In someone else's name again, I know, sorry. But she's
desperate. She found her cat dead this morning, on his favorite place
like he was only asleep. The evening before, he was normal and acted as
usual, nothing suspicious. We already agreed on the suggestion of poison
being impossible. What could it be, he was vaccinated and in good shape.
Please help her, she hates that uncertainty!Kindest regards, Anna
Answer: Anne-
Sudden death in cats occurs for several reasons. The most common ones
are probably cardiomyopathy and heartworm disease. Both of these disorders
can cause death with almost no warning at all. We have had a client whose
cat went to jump from the couch to a chair near it and landed in the chair,
dead. This cat had about four heartworms in the pulmonary arteries when
we did a post mortem examination. As far as our client could tell, her cat
was normal right up to the time that it died. Other clients have had
similar experiences with cats who have had cardiomyopathy, although none quite
this dramatic. It seems odd that these disorders can be serious enough to
cause death while not causing any warning symptoms but it really seems to be
the case at times. Cardiomyopathy is probably the leading cause of
anesthetic deaths in cats and most of the time the affected cats have no signs
that are detected prior to the anesthetic crisis.There are many other possible problems, though. Cats probably
occasionally are born with defects that can lead to sudden death, such as aneurysms that may suddenly rupture. Toxin exposure sometimes occurs without the cat owner being aware of it. Application of a dog flea control product
containing permethrin sometimes results in accidental poisoning,
although most cats do show clinical signs prior to the time that they die with
this particular toxic exposure.Sometimes, there are signs of a serious illness that are subtle enough
that veterinary clients, or even veterinarians, miss them. Toxoplasmosis,
feline infectious peritonitis, feline leukemia virus, hemobartonellosis, liver
failure, chronic kidney failure and other diseases usually cause
recognizable symptoms but in rare instances there are not clear-cut
clinical signs and death appears to occur suddenly.The only really good way to try to figure out the cause of a sudden
death is a post-mortem examination. For people who are really bothered by not
knowing what happened, making plans to have a post-mortem examination
in advance of the time when their pets die can provide answers, which is
comforting in the long run for many people.Mike Richards, DVM
10/1/2001
Question: Hi there, I am a subscriber. I found your article interesting on young vets getting out of school.
Although I'm a teacher, I remember how hard it was getting started after having to spend 6 years in
University and pay student loan debts. I can't imagine regarding vet school and then having to
cover overhead costs. I really think pet health insurance that is available her in Canada is a
"godsend". It has helped my dog trememendously who's had to have knee surgery twice (ligament
tear).
I have two questions. For the spca shelter I have been fostering two week old kittens who are now
3 weeks old (I've had them for 1 1/2 weeks now). They are healthy and strong and eat quite a bit
now. However, last night when I went to go feed them, one was very limp and seizuring. I feed
them every 3 hours and the 3 hours previous she had been absolutely fine and was even playing
with her brother. When I rushed her into an animal emergency clinic, they decided to euthanize her
as she was obviously very ill. I am very upset as I care for all the little creatures that I foster, and
just wondered what you thought could have happened. I was too upset last night to ask the
Doctor, but the spca staff said that this just happens sometimes.
Answer: Lori-
Question: There are several possible causes of sudden death in young kittens but in the three to six week age
range the most common causes of death are reported to be the infectious diseases.The most common parasitic problem causing death at this age is probably toxoplasmosis. It is usually
necessary for the mother to become infected during the pregnancy for the kittens to develop signs this
early but that has been documented to occur and is supposed to be a pretty common cause of kittens
seizuring and developing rapidly fatal pneumonias in the neonatal period. Our experience with this is
that usually more than one kitten in the litter is affected but that it can be a small percentage of the
litter. Roundworm migrations can cause seizures and death but I think the kitten is a little young for
this effect.The most common bacterial cause of death in this age range may be Bordetella infection, although I
am not sure of that. It is supposed to be pretty common in shelter environments and can cause
rapidly developing pneumonia in kittens in the 3 week to 8 week old age range. It would seem likely
that some of the other kittens would be infected but there can be variations in the immune status of
kittens in the same litter, making it possible for only one kitten to show signs. Mycoplasmal
pneumonia and chlyamdiosis can occur in young kittens, as well.Viral illness is also possible. Feline herpes virus, calicivirus and feline leukemia virus are all possible
problems in this age range. Panleukopenia (feline distemper) can also occur in kittens this young but it
has become uncommon to see this disease, probably due to the vaccination of so many more cats
than in the past.Since several of these illnesses are pretty common in shelter situations and since it is difficult to raise
orphaned kittens and for cost considerations, it is unusual for people to pursue post mortem
examinations to determine a specific cause when kittens in this age range die, so there are likely to be
other problems that occur that we do not have much information about.Dr Mike Richards, DVM
7/5/2001
Question: I was so grateful to find some information on sudden death, because on
Sunday, August 6th, my healthy 2 and 1/2 year old British Blue died
suddenly. He showed no signs of any illness. He was in his Sherpa bag, we
were bringing him back home from our Summer place and he started to
struggle. We stopped to check why he was moving around and I put my hand on
the back of his neck and he let out a cry and went limp. It took all of 30
seconds. Needless to say, my husband and I are devastated and we felt so
helpless. We got him to our vet within 10 minutes, but it was clear he was
already gone. The vet seem quite confident in saying that it would have to
have been some sort of heart condition that had gone undetected and it was
the only explanation. I was somewhat satisfied by her assurances, but I
can't stop reliving the incident and trying to figure out what could have
gone wrong, and could I have done anything to prevent it. We plan on
getting another British Shorthair next year (we love the breed and their
loving and loyal temperament) but I'm scared. Just a little background -
Chad traveled with us almost every weekend - he loved to be with us and
would get into his bag to go the country willingly and would sit quietly
during the entire trip. Sometimes he would like to sit on my lap and watch
the passing scenery. He adapted immediately to the new environment - he
was never skittish or restless - he basically took over and sometimes it seemed
he was annoyed when we were back in the City - he loved the freedom of all
the windows to look out of. When he took him outside into the yard - he
was never out of our sight for even a second. He usually would sit on the dock
with us and just watch life. He was not at all interested in chewing any
plant life, and was very picky about his food and never picked up any thing
off the floor to eat, etc. Obviously, one of my fears was poisoning, but
the vet told me he would certainly have shown some signs of sickness if
that were the case; i.e.. vomiting. But he was his normal active self Sunday
morning, ate his breakfast (he ate Iams) and had his Spring water and acted
perfectly normal for the 1 3/4 drive back to the City.About a month and 1/2 ago, he was lying in bed with me and I was rubbing
his back, when he let out a yell and jumped off the bed. I noticed we was
limping. Because it seemed related to my touching his back, I was alarmed.
(I had a diabetic cat who eventually went limp in his back legs due to
infection). I took him to his vet and had him examined and had x-rays. I
made it clear what had precipitated his problem and expressed concern that
he hurt his back. The doctor said while it wasn't apparent on the x-ray,
it was possible that he had a condition called anterial patella luxation
(sp?) and suggested surgery if it did not improve. While he continued to
limp, he didn't seem to be in any pain. I had a friend, who is a vet (who
is also holistic and a chiropractor) examine him, and after a full exam
seemed to think that the limping was possibly his hip and suggested I take
him to an orthopedist. I then took him to Animal Medical Center in New
York to a orthopedic surgeon recommended to me as one of the best. This surgeon
suggested that his problem was not bad enough to warrant surgery and he
should be rested and do a "wait and see". That seemed like the right thing
because within days he was perfectly fine - no limp - jumping around again
and playing like a kitten. The reason I bring this all up is because I
read about blood clots - Is it possible that that's what happened to cause the
weakness in the back legs and it wasn't an injury at all? I'm afraid of
that possibility because it makes me feel that his death could have prevented.
But if three doctors examined him and no one detected a problem with his
heart, how could I have known? I know at least the first two listened to
his heart (the third time, my husband took him)
I don't know if you'll be able to offer me any insight, but the grief is
overwhelming and I can't seem to stop asking why? I'm afraid that if I
question the three doctors he saw just last month, that they'll be more
concerned with protecting their own reputations if they missed something.
I do not want to assign blame as I know that it won't change things. Is
sudden cardiac arrest a reality, or did I do something wrong? After his
"knee" problem, his vet suggested he trim down - he was getting close to 12
pounds. We switched his diet to Iams light and supplemented with a
tablespoon of Spot's Stew (all natural w/veggies) every morning. Was this
a mistake? Is light food wrong for a 2 and 1/2 year old? His weight was
still a healthy 11 pounds. I'm sorry this is so long, but I'm still
reeling from shock and disbelief.Sophia-
Answer: The two most common causes of sudden death in cats, in our practice, are cardiomyopathy and heartworm disease. I think that together they account
for over 90% of the sudden death cases in which we have done post-mortem
exams. So I would be most suspicious of a heart problem, too.I do think that the limping seen a little over a month ago could have been
due to a blood clot but it is also entirely possible that it was not. I
have to admit here that I don't usually consider cardiomyopathy as a cause
of lameness unless there is a heart murmur. Unfortunately, not all cats
with cardiomyopathy have heart murmurs. I read an post on the Veterinary
Information Network by Dr. Kittleson, who is a well known authority on
cardiomyopathy about a sudden death in a cat that he had done an ultrasound
exam on one month previously that did not show cardiomyopathy. On the
post-mortem exam it was possible to diagnose the condition, though.The prognosis for cats whose cardiomyopathy shows up due to blood clots
causing obvious problems is poor, even with treatment. Most cats with this
particular presentation for cardiomyopathy live less than a year after
diagnosis and most live fewer than five or six months. It is a tough
condition to diagnose and a tough condition to treat.Weight loss usually helps with heart disease and with lameness from
arthritis so I don't think that the dietary change was likely to be a
causative factor in the sudden death.I tried to check and see if British Shorthairs were prone to cardiomyopathy
but I did not find any literature suggesting this was the case.This is a condition that makes veterinarians feel pretty helpless, too. In
cats that do not develop heart murmurs, there may be no clue, or only very
subtle clues, that a heart problem exists. It is a frustrating and humbling
disease for veterinarians so I know that it must be even more frightening
and confusing for pet owners.It would take bad luck to have this occur in more than one cat in a
household.If you need more specific information I will try to find it for you.
Mike Richards, DVM
8/16/2000
Question: I'd like to pose a question about our cat, Mookie, who up and died while we
were petting him this past Sunday.I've searched the web and all pet sites about SUDDEN DEATH and have found
this "affliction" only in the context of heartworm. I wonder if you have
other ideas on this? Mookie was a healthy active 11-year-old Manx. All shots
up to date. No lethargy or appetite suppression. He was purring one moment
and the next he let out a blood-curdling scream, then died.Thanks in advance.
Answer: Lisa-
Real "sudden death" is an unusual occurrence. As you noted, it can happen
in cats infected with heartworms. It is also reported to occur in cats as
the result of cardiomyopathy. This disorder can be very insidious and may
not be detected prior to death. Cats probably get aneurysms that rupture,
although I have only seen one report on these. Anything that causes
thromboembolism can cause sudden death -- this can be seen as the result of
cancers, blood clotting disorders, cardiomyopathy, trauma and other
disorders. Low serum potassium can lead to sudden death, as can high serum
potassium -- but usually there are other signs of illness making the
process seem a lot less sudden in retrospect.I am sorry to hear about Mookie. It is unfortunate but without a necrospy
(autopsy) exam it is not possible to tell you what might have happened. It
is hard when things like this can't be resolved.Mike Richards, DVM
4/12/99
Last edited 02/16/07