Oh, Petra, I am so sorry for your sudden loss. I'm afraid that I have no answers for you, having never lost one of my own in the way you describe. The only way you'd likely have any sort of definitive explanation would be with a necropsy, Without a necropsy, there's little value in tormenting yourself with the "what if's".

Allow yourself to grieve, and when the most acute pain has subsided, reflect on all the lessons your boy taught you while he was part of your life. Those lessons and the love he left behind are his legacies to you. Treasure them and share them with those who come later.

I wish you a peaceful grief,

Laurie

Laurie has wise words for you. This came so fast, didn't it? You took such good care of him over the years. So very sorry; I know you are heartbroken.

I am no vet but I am very confused. We have foster kitties and sometimes we foster senior cats with elevated potassium levels (hyperkalemia) and one of the symptoms is collapse. Our vet always checked for bladder and kidney problems, such as UTI, urinary obstruction (common in male cats), urinary tract rupture, kidney disease, renal failure, and also check for gastrointestinal problems.
Hyperkalemia can cause diminished ability for blood to flow normally, therefore our vet always does an electrocardiogram to record the heart's electrical output.
My vet always treats the high potassium FIRST, while he checks out the other issues. Standard protocol is 0.9% saline administered slowly (over a half hour) for cats with high blood pressure and administered rapidly for cats suspected of having dehydration or cats with low blood pressure.
After treating the high potassium, my vet does the other workups, including urinalysis, ekg/ecg, bloodwork to check for kidney issues, and a re-check of potassium levels.

I am not saying your vet was wrong because I don't know what other tests were run on your kitty. I just fail to understand why she did not treat the elevated potassium, when one of the symptoms for elevated potassium is collapse and that can be treated quite easily.

I am truly sorry for your loss.

Petra, when you wrote "borderline potassium", was that borderline low or borderline high?

Laurie and Socks and Aurora, thank you so much for the kind words, they are much appreciated.

I should have specified, it was borderline low potassium, on the low end of normal. Except for his brief bout with diabetes, he was a pretty healthy guy over all. He had major dental surgery for resorption not too long ago and breezed through it.

The vet (who is very good at her job) said it was some sort of sudden cardio-vascular event. She offered to refer us to a vet neurologist in the city, but with him deteriorating so quickly there was no way we wanted to drive over an hour and maybe have him go into acute distress during the drive and not be able to do anything to help him.

Ok, that makes more sense! I was worried for a bit. Low potassium is a whole different story. If it was some sort of cardiovasuclar event (excluding a brain stroke, which would involve the heart and brain), a vet neurologist would have been of little help, as they treat neurological diseases, not cardiovascular. There are SO many diseases and illnesses that can crash an old kitty quickly, including stroke. If a stroke is caused by an embolism, that embolism can travel to the brain, and if large enough, there is nothing anyone can do. If the stroke travels to the heart (cardiac ischemia, aka heart attack), it can kill quickly, A pulmonary embolus is also something that could be considered a quick killer. And any of the above types of stroke (ischemic attack) can cause animals and people to appear "off".

If it is any consolation, if your kitty deteriorated that quickly, chances are, he felt no pain. If he was trying to hide in the days leading up to his passing over the Rainbow Bridge, or if he was more or less needy than usual, he most likely knew his time was coming. Many cats will seek out isolation and want a quiet, dark place to pass away. Other cats will become overly affectionate and become extremely distressed, if the people and other animals they have bonded with leave or stop giving them affection.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss. Know you did all you could and you gave him the best!

This post was edited by AuroraWA on Thu, Oct 16, 14 at 12:31

I'm sorry for your loss. It's been a while since I lost a pet, but my 7 y.o. daughter recently lost her frog. I can remember how it feels . . . so sorry.

Aurora, thanks for the info. My mother passed from a pulmonary embolism (post-surgery complication) and I know how quickly it happens. I thought the symptoms might be different in cats, but when I looked them up they appear to be similar.

I think the vet offered the referral because there was nothing else she could do since he was deteriorating so quickly. He had been more needy for quite a while now, wanted to be picked up and cuddled a lot more. We thought it was due to his eyesight going and a need for reassurance. It's just a big shock and since we lost our 20 year old kitty a few months ago, it makes it even harder. Who'd have thought the house would feel empty with 4 remaining kitties and one big dog?

Queen, I am sorry about your daughter's frog. They are darling little critters and it's so hard for kids (and everyone else) to lose companions they love.