Almost sudden death.

Question
Our cat just died on the way to the ER vet.  She was an indoor/outdoor kitty.  The neighbors found her crying in their yard, seemingly "lost."  She was bleeding lightly from her vagina and during the time it took us to crate her up and get going, it became extremely heavy.  She continued to get more disoriented.  The smell wasn't "rot-like," but more of a strong menstral cycle smell.  Any idea as to what happened to the cat?

Answer
Kris,

I'm so sorry for your loss.  It's so hard to lose something you care for.  

Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to be able to say what may have caused your cat's death.  Being that she was an indoor/outdoor cat, she could have easily have gotten into any number of poisonous or deadly things.  She could have eaten a poisonous plant, she could have ingested rat poison or some other toxin in a neighbors yard or in the street (which could have been present accidentally or intentionally); she could have been pregnant (you didn't say whether she was spayed).  If she was pregnant, she could have aborted (miscarried) the babies.  You also don't say how old she was.  If she was relatively young, if she was pregnant and aborted, she could have been sexually immature, had a uterine infection, and/or there could have been fetal abnormalities causing her to abort.  This could certainly explain the blood coming from her urethral/vaginal area. Even if she had a uterine infection, this could cause the bloody discharge from the vagina. The uterine infection is called pyometra, and occurs in unspayed females.  Bacteria enters the uterus through the cervix, and from there just progresses.  In early stages of the illness, the cat may show no symptoms, or may have a purulent vaginal discharge, but because cats are fastidious, she may clean it up before you'd ever notice it.  Eventually, it can get so severe that the abdomen will become distended, and the uterus may rupture, spilling the toxic uterine contents into the abdominal cavity, and ultimately, resulting in sepsis (all over body infection) and then death.  

Your cat could have had any other number of health problems going on that were undx'd.  However, based on the fact that you state there was an odor, my guess would be there was some sort of infection, and that is what you were smelling.  Or it could have been the blood that you smelled as well.  But in bad infections, depending on the type of bacteria that are present, there can be very foul odors that the bacteria emit.  

I wish I could give you a more definitive answer, but unfortunately, that isn't possible.  The only way to know for sure what happened is to have a necropsy.  This will tell you what happened and why you lost her, and your vet can do it.  Fees vary depending on the area you live and the vet, but if you really want to know what happened, I would recommend a necropsy.  

Again, my condolences on the loss of your cat.  Remember to take care of yourself as well.  I know how hard it is, because I lost my darling last June, and I still cry everyday.  I wish you the best, and please allow yourself to grieve.  

Savannah