2 cats have died in a period of 5 years

Question
Hi,
I am looking for answers as to why my two beautiful cats have died.  My first cat got sick suddenly after only having her for 3 years. She stopped eating, even though she wanted to eat but she would feel nauseous and stop. I took her to my vet and they thought it was her teeth. They pulled 3 or 4 out but this did not help she was the same. She felt as if she had a temperature and kept swallowing and did not sleep at all at night. After 3 weeks i asked her to be euthanasia as i could not see her suffer any more. My suspicions are that she was poisoned by rat poison. She used to catch mice everyday. My neighbors have birds and there are plenty of mice. They have used rat poison before. My vet said that this would not be the cause. I am certain this was the cause. I then adopted another cat from the shelter and a few days ago it also died suddenly. I left it at a shelter where they would care for it for a few days as i went on vacation. Two days later the owner called to let me know that he died suddenly. He was there when it happened. He fed my cat and patted it to say that he was a good boy for eating his food. He walked out and came back 2 minutes later to find him dead on the floor. He believes he may have had a massive heart attack. He rushed my cat to the vet immediately. My cat was a perfectly healthy cat, his coat was beautiful and glossy and soft with no hair loss. The man that was looking after him was devastated and could not believe this as my cat was the healthiest out of all the cats there. I am totally devastated as he was a happy and healthy cat. I have only had him 2 years and he was 3 years old. Now i am totally convinced that it is the mice they are catching that is poisoning my cats. Please help me find an answer. I can not have another cat and this happen all over again.

Answer
Maria -

You are talking about the deaths of two cats over a period of five  years.  It would be very difficult to determine if these deaths were related due to the long span of time that occurred between each death.  

Death from rat poison usually occurs over a period of three weeks.  The symptoms you describe do not sound like the symptoms one would have after ingesting rat poisoning. Your veterinarian would have discovered the indications through bloodwork and radiographs; you may have noticed a difference in the way the cat was breathing because cats affected by rat poisoning often experience internal breeathng and suffer from respiratory problems due to blood in the chest cavity.   

Heart attacks do occur in cats, but have to be discovered at the time of death.   A necropsy (post mortem exam) would have been the step to do after the sudden death of your second cat.  

If you decide to get another cat, have it regularly checked by the veterinarian. Visits to the vet twice a year are a good way to keep your kitty healthy and may help the doctor to discover any unnoticed health concerns.   Outside cats have a much shorter lifespan than inside cats so you may want to consider making your next kitty an indoor cat.  Indoor only cats have a lifespan of 10-15 years, while outside cats have a lifespan of only 3-6 years. Inside cats tend to get less exercise than outside cats, but if you keep the kitty busy it will help to increase the exercise level.  

It is highly unlikely that the two deaths were related due to the long timespan between each deaths.  Good luck on your next cat venture.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM