I miss Scooter

Hi everyone,

Scooter died very unexpectedly on September 17th, 2005. I know, I know, it's been over a year, but not knowing what happened to him still has me grieving. I watched him die. He jumped up onto the cat tree and had a seizure. He screamed in pain. It kills me to think about it. He was only 5 years old. It's a horrible memory I wish I could erase. I have moved on, but the thought of his death still haunts me. My husband was out of town for training, he's in the military, when it happened. I know he misses him too, but he didn't see it happen. I just wish I knew what happened. I should have had a necropsy done. I regret not having it done. At least I would know what happened. I've talked to friends who are vet technicians, and they have said it sounds like he had heart worms and died from a heart attack or seizure from that, but who knows. I just wish I could quit thinking about it. The saddest part is, I knew something was wrong. He seemed sweeter than usual for the last two weeks of his life. Scooter was a very loving cat, but he was never a lap cat. He preferred to let you love him on his schedule. lol The last two weeks of his life I noticed that he was very much a lap cat and seemed to want more attention that usual. I wondered, out loud, to my friend who was staying with me at the time, if he seemed ok. She thought he did. Then, two weeks later, he was gone. I wish I had taken him to the vet. Now, with my surviving cats, I am very parynoid. I take them to the vet too often, for everything.

I miss my Scooter. I miss him so much. He was a cool cat. He was the feline version of James Dean. He only loved my husband, me and our Gabby cat. She still misses him. I know she grieved when he died. She still won't sleep on his side of the cat tree.

I just want to know if anyone has lost a cat so suddenly and unexpectedly? Do you know what happened and if so would you please give me some idea of what happened to my Scooter.

Thank you so much...

MJ

I am sorry for your sadness. I have lost a kitten suddenly... She was taken from his momma cause she killed all the other babies, and we tried saving her. We thought Sunny was doing well. It just happened. We still don't know why. I hope you are feeling better soon. Remember, Scooter is looking down on you, missing you just the same.

Hello,
I am so very sorry to hear about Scooter. I can tell by your letter how very much you loved Scooter. Please don't beat yourself up over this. 20/20 hindsight is no way to live. You did the best you could with the information you had. PLerhaps the reason Scooter spend extra time with you is because often animals have a sense that their time is short and Scooter wanted to show how much love he had for you and you for him. Scooter knew he was loved and he had a good life I am sure thanks to the love and care you gave him. When one of my animals die I always rescue another, saving and loving another furry friend is my way of paying tribute to my lost pet and saving a new one. Take care, Monica

I am very sorry to hear about your Scooter. It is always very hard to loose our dear pets, but when it happens unexpectedly it is terrible.

At my shelter we had one or two very young kittens who suddenly died, but they were not very strong and fighting to survive so it is different.
But three days ago an adult cat among the permanent residents (he was not social with humans so he could not be adopted) suddenly died. He was 4-years old. We found him half-way out of the litter box. :( One hour before he was perfectly OK...an autopsy has been made and we wait for the results. We were all shocked.

And some years ago a friend of mine suddenly lost her 8-year old cat (also apparently perfectly healthy). He was sleeping on an armchair an never woke up.

These things also happen to humans, even young. For the kitty who died three days ago, I prefer to think that he had a pretty good life and that he could have died in much worse conditions (disease, ...). I am sure your Scooter had a happy life too and he would not want you to be too sad ;)

Our baby Sylvia Purrogoli was with us only 2 days when she died of distemper. It still breaks my heart to think about what a very short time we had with her...She was about 6 weeks old...

Scooter wants you to know that his passing was not your fault, and he loves you very much and will be your Angel again when you meet in the Rainbow Bridge, a far better place where Pets and Pet Lovers enjoy thier afterlife.
And Scooter will be your Friend.
One Fine Day.

So sorry to hear about your kitty. Yes.... I too have had to deal with the fast unexpected death of my 6 yr old siamese Pricilla. It was amazing how she was totally fine......as I thought fine and then on a Friday my husband and I came home from work to her crying she wouldn't stop she just carried on all night long. So in the morning we brought her into the clinic and the vet was not sure what was wrong with her and then she had a seizure a small one and to us that was extremely strange. Pricilla was NEVER that scared to come to the vet. But that vet was almost sure that was what was wrong with her. So she sent us home to observe her. Well one seizer lead to another and another and finally on Sunday she went into a straight seizure so we were sent up to the University where she would be handled by a specialist they did tests and spinal tests everything and nothing showed up they wanted to do a Cat scan (Literally) but they didn't think it would show us anything that would change her fate. So I actually held her as they put her to sleep....... It was totally aweful but I owed her at least that much. I still don't know what happened I wouldn't allow them to do an autopsy on her I didn't want them cutting into her. I needed to know that she was treated humanely up to the time I received her ashes.......Our loved ones always understand that we loved and cared the very best for them..... You can not blame yourself for your kitties untimely passing. Just know that you gave Scooter the best life any kitty could have he was loved and cared for the best way possible. I understand the loss you are feeling its been almost 2 years and it still feels like yesterday. I hope this helps its understand how hard this is...... Welcome to PT there are some wonderful people in this forum....Many that will help you with your loss ;)

I lost my baby Chuck very unexpectedly 2 months ago and am still reeling.

I dunno why these things happen. But they have to for a reason. All I know is that he is waiting for me in heaven, and I will see him again.

((((((hugs)))))

~Aki

I just had to reply - I also had a cat named Scooter who died last spring. I had been gone and when I came home didn't see Scooter, but didn't think that much of it since he was more of an independent outdoor cat. I found him the next day and he had died. He was such a funny cat. He was friends with our family dog - they would curl up together and take naps. He also didn't like to be held, but when I would sit on the couch, he would sit on the back of the couch behind me. When I was outdoors, he would follow me around and meow if he couldn't see me. I would say I'm right here Scooter and he would run to where I was.
Scooter was sort of a stray kitten when we got him. My son had had another cat that had died - I got him another kitten, but some neighbor kids took her away from him. I was talking to an aquiantance and she said they had a litter of outdoor kittens that they were wanting to give away, so I took my son over and told him he could pick out one. We ended up with a little gray kitten with a very long tail. It took us a few days to come up with a name, but it was decided when we seen how he could scoot under a bedroom door to hide because he was so little.
I really miss him and like you I wonder what happened to him. I feel so guilty because I had been gone when he must have been sick. I hope there is some sort of heaven for animals - he would definitely be there.

[QUOTE=Sonia59]

At my shelter we had one or two very young kittens who suddenly died, but they were not very strong and fighting to survive so it is different.
But three days ago an adult cat among the permanent residents (he was not social with humans so he could not be adopted) suddenly died. He was 4-years old. We found him half-way out of the litter box. :( One hour before he was perfectly OK...an autopsy has been made and we wait for the results. We were all shocked.
QUOTE]

You may find that he had a cardiac episode. Cat anatomy is similar to humans. A vagal nerve response can occur when toileting, causing the heart to slow down greatly, and when there is a heart condition present, this can be enough to cause cardiac arrest. If this is the case, the kitty went quickly with little pain.

I am a R.N. and Paramedic, and I have seen many a person on the toilet in this condition over the years.

So sorry to hear of the sudden passing of your beloved Scooter. I think that Gabby is not laying on that part of the cat tree because Scooter is there. :)