Expert: Dear Tabbi - 3/29/2009

Question
We came home from a 7 day holiday and our 9 month old kitten was dead in her litter box.  She was curled up and had her eyes open.  We have a second older cat and the two have gotten along well enough.  They were together while we were gone.  We had neighbours come over to change their water,feed them and check on them. She looked healthy and we found no evidence of choking or chewing on something. She seemed healthy before we left - we didn't notice any behavior to indicate something was wrong. She had been spayed in January but seemed to recover just fine.  What happened to our kitty?  Did she die of loneliness?  It was the first time we had left her for longer than a weekend. I feel heartbroken and sick.  Any insight you have would help.

Answer
Bren,

I'm so sorry about your kitty. Unfortunately, short of taking the body to a vet for an autopsy, you may never know what happened.

I can tell you she didn't die of loneliness, especially with another cat for company and a neighbor feeding them.

Cats, like people, can die suddenly and for the same reasons. She may have had an unknown congenital defect that caused a heart attack or some other organ failure. Since she was in her litter box, there is a slight possibility that she swallowed something that caused a blockage in her intestines. But usually that is not sudden and your neighbor would have noticed her acting strange or in pain.

Cats are only ours for a short time, and sometimes that time is shorter than normal. And when you have pets, unfortunately things can happen to them, either medically or an accident.

It's sad and unfortunate but it wasn't anything you did, or didn't do. Again, I'm sorry.

Tabbi

EDIT:
here is an EXCELLENT site for emotional support, and where you can have a memorial for your kitty:
http://rainbowsbridge.com/hello.htm