Do cats ever drop dead?

I’m hoping the same thing. My cat is now 20 years old and still going strong. He lets himself in and out through our doggie door and even climbs trees once in a while.
Hopefully there is some warning before he goes to the big yarn ball in the sky ;)

One of my mother’s cats just died Friday morning after a few days of lying around napping a lot. She was very old but never frail or sick, she didn’t develop any smell either but it was obvious she was in the shut down stage because she refused food and drank minimal water, looking for spots to go lay down alone. We kind of knew she was on her way out because she let my little dog lie down beside her and she’s usually really mean to him.

this topic is so sad. I know if my dog is about to go, i will drop everything and spend all the last moments with him.

One of my cats apparently had a heart attack in the night. We found him dead under a living room chair the next morning. One of my parents’ cats died in her sleep. She was still curled up in a ball the next day but was stone-cold. I also know of a cat that had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, so it is possible for a cat to “drop dead” suddenly.

However, typically you will notice that your cat moves slower, is losing weight and/or fur, stops eating and sleeps even more than cats normally do. Most of my cats have gotten an illness (cancer, kidney failure, hemobartenellosis) and I have had them euthanized once it appears that they are no longer enjoying being a cat. As long as your cat is eating, drinking, peeing, and otherwise living a normal cat life, your cat is fine.

My grandmother’s Siamese made it to age 26, at which point he could no longer jump onto the couch because he was so weak. She had him euthanized at that point because he was so obviously distressed that he couldn’t get up on furniture or laps any longer.

That’s for all the stories!

Ruby is living what I like to think as a retired cat’s life. She doesn’t do much other than sleep (or simply lie on the couch with her eyes open), and she has definitely lost some weight (went from being overweight to a normal cat’s weight). I notice changes since I’m usually away at school but I see her every couple months. She looks noticeably smaller now than she did at fall break. Some of her teeth have fallen out and she has grown some moles.

She still jumps on the couch, but then her claws get stuck when she lands. She has trouble jumping onto my bed, so I put a chair next to my bed as a halfway point to jump to.

She cries at night, once she’s alone. This began after the other cat died last year, so we thought it was a lonely thing. A year later she’s still doing it, and my dad thinks she’s in pain but waits til the night to show it.

It’s funny, we dug her grave about four years ago when she was “getting old” so if she died that winter we could bury her since the ground would be frozen.

I hope we don’t find a stone cold furball one morning:( I am grateful that we didn’t have to put down the other cat, that she died peacefully at home, and I hope the same for Ruby:)

@airowDee That’s so nice. I agree completely, and that’s why I’m worried that Ruby will pass on while I’m away at school. I want her to make it to Christmas so I can get a chance to hold her in her final days! I picked her out when I was three (the only gray cat in the litter) and I want to be there for the end.

With most pets, when they lose their appetites. it is a sure sign they are on the way out, although not eating or drinking for a week is more like going to sleep forever than dropping dead. However I did hear of a cat who fell from a high-rise balcony and it literally “dropped dead”

Haha that’s one way to do it.

I love animals, they are just a valuable as babies to me.

Sorry @airowDee Sometimes I just can’t help it. (slices-50%, not bad eh?)

@galileogirl Ha not bad at all:)

I bet cats can drop dead just like people do at a very old age. My parents’ cat probably would’ve if they didn’t put her down. She just stopped moving one day after 22 years. She had been getting progressively worse and just couldn’t go anymore.

Some not-so-old cats die suddenly, too.

We have some friends whose cat is assumed to have dislodged a blood clot that went to her lungs and just… died. Our friend fell down the steps and scared the cat. She started wheezing and couldn’t stop, so they took her to the vet. She didn’t make it very long once she was at the animal hospital.

:(

Now watch THIS! to brighten the mood!

Oops *THANKS for the stories, while back.

Haha @ubersiren that is priceless. Going to watch that whenever I’m feeling down.

Cats are very good at hiding when they are sick. A few things to look for is their intake of food and water, their usage of the litter box (too often or too little), leakage from the eyes, coughing and sneezing, and lethargy.

Thankfully when my cat got sick it was obvious – he completely stopped eating. I took him to the vet and they told me he had Fatty Liver Disease. I paid $800 to have a feeding tube inserted, but it didn’t work and in the end I had to put him down – I couldn’t let him live like that. He was miserable.. but I am glad I got the chance to say goodbye.

@stemnyjones Lethargy?? Oh no, she’s been sick her whole life!!:)

That is good that you got to say goodbye. We had the same experience that Gracie was obviously in bad shape, but the vet did all this blood work and gave us medications for her. Thus, her finals days were spent suffering through my mom and I trying to force pills down her throat, since she wasn’t eating. We would much prefer that she had just taken it easy those last few days. The vet should have just said she was on her way out.