Why do you think he died?

Question

My partner and I own a pet shop, and take in kittens to sell. My partner insists they are 7 weeks, and last week one came in that he didn't think was that old so he brought it home to look after for a week or so, as he thought it was about 6 weeks. It was such a sweet little black and white cat, who our own 2 cats seemed to love (which is unusual for the male), and who loved cuddles, and was a really good eater. He was brought home on the Friday, and as he was quite skinny and I wanted to check how old the vet thought he was I made a vets appointment on Monday. Monday morning he seemed fine, had had a couple of toilet accidents but we'd cleaned them up and thought nothing of it. I took him to the vet who agreed he was probably about 6 weeks or a little older but the runt. He was a little grubby, so she said he probably hadn't had the best start to life and might never grow to be a particularly large cat, but he should be fine to sell on in a week or so. She also gave him some ear drops

for suspected ear mites, and we went home. That day he seemed fine, he was still eating great, and drinking, although my partner did have to clean up after him a couple of times, and later said his stools were quite soft. In the evening he cuddled up with my 2 cats, and we left them in the living room together and went to bed. When my partner got up in the morning to get ready for work he found him dead under the table in the living room with some poo coming out of his rear end. There was no sign he'd been attacked by our cats, and in fact when my partner entered the room they ran to him, then to the kitten, then back, as if to make him aware of the death. What I really want to know is why you think he might have died, and do you think there is anything we could have done to prevent it, or was it just one of those things and due to whatever had happened to him during his first six weeks or so he was kind of doomed? It was very upsetting, I'd grown really fond of him :-(

Answer 1

I am sorry for your loss. It really hurts. You and your partner take a moment and thank yourselves for trying. That is more than most. The little kitty was lucky to know some love in it's short life.
As far as why he may have died? There is really no way to know. Anything from parasites to one of the feline viruses.
And, he was seemingly too young to test for any of those - even if you had, it wouldn't be precise.
I am just happy to hear that there are kind people out there.

Answer 2

I am sorry for the loss of this little cat. It's quite obvious that you liked him a great deal.

The exact cause of death is impossible to determine without a necropsy. From your eloquent description of the sequence of events, it seems as though the death of this kitten was likely cumulative from being the runt and not getting enough nutrition in the first few weeks of life.

It does my heart a lot of good to know that you're one of the very few responsible pet shop owners who actually care about the animals you sell. Well done. I wish all animal merchants were like you.

Answer 3

at 6 weeeks old he was far to young to leave his mother and litter mates. you did the right thing by taking him home then to the vets.. kittens do go through a lot of stress when being rehomed and some are just not strong enough to cope with it .. as the runt of the litter your little boy was already disadvantaged..
sometimes there is no rhym or reason for a kitten death.. vats put it down to fading kitten syndrome..

reasurred that you did everything possible and fo the few days he was with you he was loved and very well looked after.

Answer 4

Being the runt of his litter, he might have had some internal problems that the vet overlooked (which would be easy to do if the kitten seemed fine). Maybe he had malformed organs, or a weak heart. Poor little guy :-(

Answer 5

thats terrible!!! I am sooo sorry for your loss. he probably died from a nutrition problem. he was the runt, so maybe he had an internal problem. sounds like he had diareahh and that is fatal for kittens. your vet must have overlooked his disease. i am sooo sorry.
you did the right thing by taling him in. at least there are some people on this earth that actually care. thankyou!

Answer 6

That's so sad, but good for you for trying so hard to help him.
My old cat died on her own recently, on the way to the hospital, and her bladder and bowel apparently relaxed when she went, as I found waste on her by the time I got there. It's natural for that to happen; happens to humans too.

Answer 7

Very sorry to hear this, but if he was the runt, he didn`t get all the good stuff from his mother, the others did. Also threre is a thing called failure to thrive. It even happens to human babies.

Answer 8

From your description it sounds like he was sick from the get go and unfortunately your vet missed it. Due to the diarrhea and the fact he was underweight etc., it was probably something he was born with or contracted early on. You did everything right and I'm so sorry for your loss.

Answer 9

Perhaps he had a partial blockage or twist of the intestines which would account for a slightly odd feces he passed. Its very very odd that he dies suddenly when he had been eating etc. Did he get vaccinated by the vet? could have been vaccine reaction.
Did vet check for cleft palate? could be partial and difficult to see and takes small amount of food water to enter lungs and choke.

You poor thing - its soo hard when they die and no signs of why. Do you still have kitten could get post mortem done.

Answer 10

transition of environment... the little one have not adapt with its new lifestyle