My 1 year old cat passed away after being sick for 1 day

Thank you for taking time to read this. On Friday, my 13 month old cat, Charlie, slept a little more than normal, but nothing to cause alarm. Then on Saturday she was very lethargic, to the point where she kept putting her head straight down, she wasn't eating or drinking. She also felt warm, so we took her to the vet.

She had a fever of 105 and was dehydrated. So they gave her fluids and a shot of Meloxicam. They did not see anything else wrong with her. So they suggested putting her on antibiotics. She was given a shot of Ampicillin. And we were to give her Clavamox every 12 hours. It was also suggested she be tested for FeLV/FIV as we only tested one of her litter mates when we first got them.

When we got home she was still very lethargic, but I did get her to eat some wet food. She also was purring. I was giving her water with a dropper. She used the litter twice.

The next morning, Sunday, she walked around a little more. We gave her medicine at 6am. Then from about 8:30 on she got gradually got worse again. At around 11:30 I tried giving her food, but she didn't want any. Now her breathing became hard. She was extremely off balance, so I placed her on the bed and layed with her. She acted as if she had a really bad itch on her left shoulder, then it was as if she stretched all four of her legs, then she just stopped breathing at 12:40.


The vet called and said they saw a minor infection, nothing to be too concerned over, and everything major came back negative. The vet did an autopsy that afternoon and again came up with nothing.

I am extremely distraught about this. I have other cats and a dog and am worried about them. Charlie was a very active happy cat that we got when she was about 5 weeks old. She was an indoor cat. Anything you can tell me will be helpful. I just don't understand.


Dear Grieving Cat Owner,

I am so very sorry for your loss. Although I could certainly never say for certain, I would never, ever in a million years give a cat Meloxicam, as it is associated with acute renal failure and death. I recommend visiting Metacam Kills for more information on the Metacam toxicity in cats and encourage you to share this site with your veterinarian. Doing so may save other cats’ lives.

Letters like yours break my heart because, although it saddens me to hear that any cat has died, it is especially heartbreaking to hear stories of cats so young that probably didn’t have to die. Again, I am so very sorry for your loss and wish you peace during this difficult time.

With deepest sympathy,
Dr. Neely