Strider :( Options

[Pippin's Mom Kel]

Unexpectedly, our cat Strider died last night. He had just gotten a clean bill of health from our vet yesterday afternoon. He came home, played, ate, did normal Strider things... my husband and I went to find him before bed and found him dead in the litterbox.

We are devastated. We can't wrap our minds around how our healthy 6 year old black cat is dead. And I can't cope with the fact that he died in his litterbox, without us right there. We were HOME. How did we not hear him??????

The other cats are going to grieve terribly. Lancelot and Earl Grey were very close to him. They got to sniff his body before we took him to the vet, at least.

I don't... I have no words. I'm lost.

[DannysMom]

Kel, I did some research and it looks like Strider could have had HCM (hyperthrophic cardiomyopathy). It is difficult to diagnose and can't be detected by listening to the heart, x-rays or blood work. So that may be while Strider had a clean bill of health he could have had a heart problem. Please see link below for the article.

http://www.sfgate.com/pets/yourwholepet/ar...ath-2362628.php