My 4-Year-Old Cat Died Suddenly

My cat was a normal 4-year -old orange and white short hair tabby that lived indoors and did not have any cat diseases or so I thought. There were no warning signs of sickness but that did not mean that my cat would not die suddenly.

We rescued Dini when he was a baby kitten. He was the first kitten I saw in the trash bag that was dumped in the grassy section of the highway. My husband and I parked our car on the side of the road, crossed the highway carefully and walked slowly to rescue the orange and white baby cat that was meowing and looking very scared. I prayed as I approached the kitten that he did not run into the highway traffic.

Dini / photo taken a few days after we rescued him

We reached the trash bag and kitten extended its paws toward me, It was so small that I put it in my coat pocket then learned that there were other kittens in the bag. We rescued all of them and looked around to see if there were more before taking them home to bottle feed, help go to the bathroom and remove the fleas. My husband and I did not sleep for 10 days because these babies needed our care.

Photo of all rescue kittens on day they were weaned to mushy solid kitten food

The kittens survived and Dini (short for Houdini) was a normal 8-week old kitten even though he was the runt. He had the energy and the courage of a lion and we should have named him Romeo because he was so loving. This kitten kept us entertained because there was no room, cage, the carrier that would confine him., He would slide under doors, open cages, carriers, doors, and cabinets. He would study it by watching me. hence his real name Houdini.

Dini / at 5 weeks old

Dini and littermate Larry fascinated with the vacuum cord. This was the day we bought cord covers to keep the cats safe.  Dini is a one-year-old here.

He absolutely did not like being away from me so he would slide under our bedroom door to snuggle up next to me. I would awake with a kitten on my head. Like I said, Dini was a healthy kitten and 4-year-old cat who brought joy to our lives. He was talkative, played with his toys, played with other cats, loved to eat and even retrieved his plastic cat ball.

I work out of my home so I am with the cats 24/7 so if Dini was not feeling well I would know. But this cat was never sick, not a day in his life until he dropped dead at 4-years-old. Dini died from cardiac arrest from complications of an enlarged heart and suspicion of cancer.

I have read the cats will hide their sickness from their owners and from other cats, I also read that when cats have the same diagnosis as my Dini that they generally die suddenly.  

When a beloved fur-kid die suddenly it breaks your heart.

Here are a few articles that I published about Dini

When Cat Opens Cabinets and Crates

Meet Houdini my Rescued Kitten

What to Do When Stray Cat Looks Sick

Two days ago when I went out into the woods to feed the feral cats I noticed a stray cat off to the side, sitting alone on a rock. Since I did not recognize the cat as being one of the colony cats I took the cat's photograph. The photo indicated that the cat is sick or something is wrong.  Whenever a cat looks sick we then will put out the traps.  The cat may need veterinarian care. The photograph indicates that there is something wrong with the stray cat, it looks sick so the cat becomes a priority.

Know that this cat could be from the neighborhood, and it may have crossed the line with a tomcat or other cat. Since the cat looks ill we decided to not wait to find out if the cat went home, back to the neighborhood. My husband and I decided that it was best to trap the cat and bring to our shed shelter where there are cat cages, heat an air conditioner.  Once trapped we will be able to put out flyers in the neighborhood to find its people. 


When handling new cats that show up in our woods we do the following;  

1. Make up a chart with the cat's photograph and start a feeding schedule. 
2. Watch the cat for a few days to determine if it is going back to the neighborhood which would indicate that it belongs to someone. 
3. Determine if the cat is domesticated, comes to us, rubs on us and is friendly then we will take the cat indoors and start the search for its family. Because it could be lost and the woods is not a safe place for a domesticated cat.