I have had pets my entire life, everyone I know has had pets. We’ve all had pets be very ill for a while, then die in their sleep, or had to have them put to sleep.
But do cats and dogs ever just fall over dead? Lively & healthy, Romping and playing one moment, thump, dead as a stone the next? (I’m talking about a heart attack, not getting hit by a car or shot, etc) I’m sure it musy happen, but I’ve never actually heard of it happening. What about horses or cattle. Any farmers out there? Do otherwise healthy cows ever keel over?
My sister-in-laws cat just keeled over one day, and since she worked for a vet she took the body in to work - heart attack. Horses can also keel over, a notable case was last year before the Sydney Olympics when Chesterfield dropped dead while being ridden.
Yeah, Weezer, one of the most sociable cats I’ve ever known, and a great companion, came and sat in my lap and absorbed some foolin’ around and as I put him back on the ground, he spread his legs out to land and went limp. My GF was looking at him and alerted me before I’d really realized it.
I tried CPR (which is hard with a cat even if you’ve had training), but one final signal cat fart let me know it was over.
Brutus, a Boxer we had years ago, fell over dead during a walk one winter night. He was out with my dad and they were walking past a nearby hospital when the dog stumbled once and dropped to the sidewalk, without even a sound.
My dad used that as his reason never to walk a dog again.
One of my cats, Dorothy, was SUPPOSED to fall over dead, like, ten years ago. She was born with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart condition where the muscles of the heart wall are too thick to pump the blood effeciently. The vet said that—even with her two pills a day—she’d probably die by age one, and cats with this condition “never live to be six.” They usually just keel over dead like that.
Well . . . She’s 12 now. Still on the meds. Still as bumptious as six Lucille Balls on crack. I have told her when she goes it better be quick and it better be while I’m at work.
A dentist I use to work for had his dog for about 13 years. One Christmas the dog was all excited and runnign around because everyone was home, (the dentist’s two sons had gone to college) when she just suddenly fell over dead. Not a very happy Christmas.
We had a gray tomcat, indoor/outdoor boy, seemingly healthy but pretty old. One summer afternoon I happened to be looking out the window and he was on the patio looking decidely bad; within maybe half an hour he simply died. This isn’t the sudden keeling over some others have mentioned, but he was fine the day before and there was no sign of illness or animal attack.
