Tragedy

One of the four cats I vaccinated last Friday, as a favor, to friends of friends, died today. They just called and told me. Even though they say they don't blame me, or the vaccine, I know they do. When someone you love dies suddenly, first inclination is to blame somebody or something.

What they told me tonight, however, and didn't tell me Friday, was that the cat whom they found dead on the stairs tonight, suffered a traumatic event of some sort two weeks ago.

The wife went out and found him laying on the mat and drops of blood there also, where he had been laying. He was dirty, crying and then slept for 24 hours. The wife felt he must have been attacked by a wild animal and gave him antibiotics for a week figuring something must be wrong and antibiotics probably wouldn't hurt, in case he had an absess.

These are folks who do home doctoring. They are elderly and have usually home doctored most of their animals. They had bought their own vaccines, as they always have, but the husband has always given the vaccines. He's had a stroke and now can't do it. The wife tried, messed up one, then a friend, whom I know, suggested she ask me to do it.

I was late arriving due to the big Albany wreck.

There are few clues I could garner about the cats' event two weeks ago. The cat would have had no infection, because he was acting "down" right after he suffered whatever he did, as evidenced by his back and rear legs being dirty. So the injury was not infection, it was mechanical, like brain trauma or a ruptured vessel or a million other possibilities. So the antibiotics she gave the cat for a week, would have not been useful. The fact the cat slept for 24 hours afterwards is telling.

What would cause a cat to sleep that long, drops of blood, dirty, and showing pain but no injury to his shoulder area?

Head trauma. Internal injuries. Broken blood vessel. The cat died on the stairs, which is also a clue. When a cat climbs, the heart pumps harder and if the cat had a broken blood vessel, he could bleed out completely. I would guess the cat was hit by a car. He had no missing hair, no outward sign of a fight with another animal. That to me is consistent with being rolled by a car. Or trampled by livestock. Or a fall. But the dirty back half is more consistent with being hit by a car and thrown off the road. He could also have been shot and fallen off something when shot.

The cats' death was not related to vaccination. I did lecture them about over vaccinating since it was a five way vaccine they'd bought for each cat and give them every year.

I offered tonight to pay for a necropsy, so they could be assured it was not vaccine caused. And not caused by me. I wonder why they didn't tell me about the traumatic event. But then, they called me last minute, when the wife messed up one vaccine in trying to give it to one of the cats and I don't know which one, maybe the one who died.


Anyhow, they claim they don't blame me, but I think they do. I won't do that kind of favor again. I've never had a cat or heard of a cat dying because of a vaccine unless they have an allergy, then it's immediate. Vaccines depress the immune system and it could have added too much to whatever had happened to him already.

But my guess is that the cat had suffered a traumatic internal injury and tonight, on the stairs, that injury resulted in his death. They put their cats out at night which is the most dangerous time of day for a cat to be outside, in the country.

I know I did nothing to cause the cats' death. Nonetheless, I feel absolutely horrible about it.