Question for Veterinarians

[jcdenton]

My sister's cat just died. There was nothing wrong with her visibly, and earlier that day, she seemed perfectly fine and active.

She was about 1 year old and had just been fixed 2 weeks earlier. Seemed to be a perfectly healthy cat and had a checkup just a month earlier, and everything checked out fine.

What are the odds it was due to a problem with getting her fixed? What could cause such a sudden death with no signs of injury? It seems like if there was a problem with the surgery, there would have been some preliminary signs of some kind. But it was just a sudden death that nobody saw coming.

 

[NickDanger]

I have a friend that had that happen twice. Same vet.

 

[accuratehorn]

Not a vet, but you could look up the incidence of fatalities from the type of surgery the cat had on google. There is bound to be some data somewhere.
I'm sure there is a risk factor in any type of surgery, but without doing an autopsy, which costs more money, you will not know if the cause was a disease or surgery related. Feline leukemia kills a lot of cats, I believe. Some pets don't "complain" much, even when in pain, and it is hard to see that they have a problem. Are you sure the pet did not get hit by a car?

 

[jcdenton]

Yes, the cat lived indoors only. I heard heartworm can cause instant death like this, but she had been tested for parasites about a month earlier and came back clean.

The cat's body has already been cremated so it's too late for an autopsy, but we would like to have some idea of what caused her death and if the people who performed the surgery were responsible.

 

[jcdenton]

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