cause of death

Question
Our cat was recently attacked by a dog. We were able to rescue it from the dog, but once we brought it inside, we noticed it was bleeding from the mouth. When I had tried to take a look at it, it bit me and ran away. Only a couple minutes after that, when we were looking for our cat, we found it had passed away in a corner of the room. There were no external injuries to the cat, but the fur around its belly was wet and matted (where we assume the dog's mouth was over or around our cat). We initially thought our cat was okay after the attack as he was able to walk and there was no external bleeding, so his death came as a shock. I'd greatly appreciate expert opinion or information as to what might've been the cause of our cat's death, aside from the general his bleeding internally.  Thanks.  

-Hoping for peace of mind

Answer
It is hard to really speculate without having seen the cat, but I think what you are really asking is whether there was anything else you could have done that might have kept your kitty with you longer. From the way you describe the situation, I don't there there is. While many of us think of cats as incredibly resilient (the whole "nine lives" thing) the fact is that they are extremely susceptible to shock and trauma. An injury that may not, in and of its own, be life-threatening, can become so if it is accompanied by a truly terrifying experience that sends the cat into emotional/psychological as well as physical shock. In such a case, the cat's system just starts shutting down.

Internal bleeding can often result from a fight or fall even if there is no external evidence of an injury. It is also possible that the dog bit your cat in the belly hard enough to damage internal organs and yet did not break the skin. In any case, it does sound like a combination of internal bleeding and shock is what killed your cat and those two thing together can end a cat's life so quickly that even if you had been able to "beam" him to a veterinary emergency room immediately (a la Star Trek), they probably would not have been able to save him.

You did do one good thing for your cat though, and maybe this will give you some solace -- you got him away from the dog and back into his comfortable house/safe place where he could pass away quietly and in peace. And sometimes that is all we can do for them.

I hope this give you some comfort. You may also want to do a web search on the phrase "rainbow bridge". You will find a LOT of pet loss support resources by doing so, including some pet loss support hot lines that may be able to give you more info than I can, if you still want it.

iris