Found her yesterday in a corner in my garage gasping for breath and howling. Vet did not have a clue as there was no signs of injury poison and she didn't have a temperature. I had no option in the end to have her euthanized. She seemed to be fine earlier and ate some food. Does anyone have any ideas about what happened to her? She was an adopted stray so I have no idea how old she was but she must have been close to 10.

I'm sorry you had to go through that its very difficult to watch a pet suffer, but if the vet could not tell you what happened there is no way anyone here can, your guess is as good as ours.

A post-mortum examination is probably the ony way to find out the cause of death.

It sounds like your cat was extremely anxious, even panicky, at feeling out of breath and unable to 'catch' it. The first evaluation on seeing an animal like this makes us focus on either the heart, or the lungs individually, or working together as the most likely source of the visible problem.


Considering the heart and the lungs there are several problems that would produce this condition. Any heart condition that reduces the amount of blood through the lungs, or any lung problem restricting the flow of air through them. For example, a blood clot from the heart can cause considerable trouble when it hits the lung, blocking blood flow to a portion of the lungs. Any interruption in the normal function of the heart has a negative effect on blood flow through the lungs, which reduces oxygenation of the blood. We all have experienced being 'out of breath', but don't worry about it until it gets worse in spite of efforts to correct it.

The apparent suddenness of onset and lack of signs of illness prior, tends to rule out some conditions, while increasing chances for others. Being an outdoors cat opens the door to some sort of trauma... such as a chest wound, or a collapsed lung from a broken rib puncturing a lung? Or a BB gun or pellet wound?

Without knowing the exact nature of the problem it would be impossible to start any sort of effective treatment. Without making further unsubstantiated 'guesses' at an actual cause of the problem, let me say that I feel you and your vet did all that was possible, under the extreme conditions you were facing.