3 weeks ago, my male 4 yr. old cat started stooping, sitting real low and looking uncomfortable. I kept an eye on him and by the next day, he changed for the worse. He started to arch his back and make sounds. I called my vet and he went in and got a shot of an anti-inflammatory. My vet believed that he may have injured his back jumping. I was told to keep him at a single-level for at least 2 weeks. This worked and I saw an improvement. All of the sudden, 2 weeks later, (last night) he started the crouching again. I waited to see how he did through the night. By the morning, (today) he had become stiff. His front legs were straight out in front and his heads was stiff and tilted to the side. He would cry out once in a while. I took him to the vet around 11 when I saw he was not getting any better. The vet wanted to put in an IV for dehydration (not real bad) and do blood work. After 10 min. of being there, he started gagging and then his heart stopped. He is now being hand pumped to help him breath (he can't on his own). We are going 1/2 hour to 1/2 hour for his life and I can't figure (nor my vet) what this could be! Please help!

I used to work at a vet hospital.. why isn't this guy taking x-rays?? Maybe the cat has something lodged in his stomach, maybe he ate string and it's running through his intestines.. When I read that it was the first thing that popped in my head.. tell him to take x-rays and see if there is also any broken bones.. I am NOT a doctor but it helps to hear people opinions.. good luck and I'm sorry for you cat!

Could also be acute colapse (almost like fainting, not moving) or Epaxial muscle diseases. The latter fits more of the symptoms that you were describing, crouching, moaning, pain along in the back... usually if jumps off high places and hurts its back... ask your doctor if he's heard of these

Thank you for that information. Unfortunetly, he passed away yesterday. I am still interested in finding what happened and hope it wasn't because of something I caused like my yard supplies. It all happened so suddenly, I am still in shock.

So sorry for your loss. Have your vet do an autopsy on him

I really wanted to but didn't have the money. I buried him yesterday. It just doesn't seem real. I have e-mailed a cousin that is a vet in CO. I explained it all and waiting for a response. Thanks again for the info. The Epaxial Muscle Disease seems close to Solomon's symptoms, just can't see where if left untreated (not knowing what was going on) would cause his heart to stop?

That's really weird that he's charging you for the autopsy, my old boss (veterinarian) never charged for that... he was always curious as to why the animal died if it was out of the ordinary.. you're vet doesn't seem to be very competent.

I didn't know that there wasn't an option. I am concerned now. I keep hoping/thinking that I did the right thing. Guilt is so full in me. I will wait for my cousins response. Thanks!

Don't feel guilty, you did the right thing by bringing him to the doctor.

Thanks. I never had to do this before. I appriciate the help.

Please don't feel guilty. And anyone I've known who has had an autopsy done, did have to pay for it.

There's certainly no reason to feel guilty over something you had no control over.

I know you want answers, but sometimes there just aren't any. And finding out information can be useful, if you can use it in the future for another cat. But as much as I know about cats, especially conditions common to older cats, I've never heard of this apaxial muscle disease. So I imagine it's not terribly common or I'm sure I would've heard about it.

I'm also sure there isn't any way you could have known or really done anything about it. I just looked it up and did a little reading. One thing I've seen several places is that it's easy to confuse with abdominal pains, and that even the vets can't necessarily know which it is. I also read one place that neoplasia can affect the spinal column and therefore cause this type of pain. (i.e. cancer) A common sign of cancer is not eating. Because of the heart problem, I have to wonder if this was indeed related to other organs and not the spine. Heart disease is not that uncommon.

Cats are very good at hiding things, and cannot tell us where something hurts. It's fairly common for things to exist for a long time without being noticed by us humans. And then people always feel guilty. I run a cat group, and I'd say the vast majority on there feel guilty because they didn't notice something earlier, or blame themselves for all kinds of different things. A lot of us have regrets. But we are, after all, only humans, and we can't spend the rest of our lives kicking ourselves over things we cannot know.

So please don't do this to yourself. This was sudden. You are in shock and grieving at the same time. It's bound to take its toll. It's bad enough when we expect it, let alone something sudden like this, especially when we can't explain it. I will tell my sweet kitty up at the Bridge to look out for your kitty. Mine has lots of friends there and they will soon be friends with yours too. He will miss you, but he'll be happy to be rid of whatever that pain was that made him suffer.

I'm sorry this has happened. Try to be at peace.

Thank you. He wasn't a big eater anyway so for him not to eat right away was normal at feeding time.
I like that there is a type of group for this. Everyone around doesn't really seem to understand the pain that this gives you along with helplessness. I feel like I am supposed to just keep it inside and get on with life. It is hard but each day gets easier!

Lots of people don't understand the bond we can have with animals. I tend to feel sorry for them. I also got lucky and have some family members and friends who, while maybe not feeling this way themselves, do respect and understand how I feel. Plus a whole community online. Unfortunately you do have to move on with your life, but it doesn't meant you aren't allowed to hurt. After one of my big losses, I just called in to work and said there was a death in the family. (It was the truth as far as I'm concerned.)

I should have suggested this before, speaking of having "this type of group for this"... you might try petloss.com. As the name suggests, all they do there is deal with loss, and everyone there will certainly understand. They have a list you can add your kitty's name to, a Monday night candlelight ceremony, lots of stuff to read and books recommended (including how to deal with guilt), and a chat where you can talk live with other people.