Speedbump died last night.
Buttons has what now seems to be a permanent issue with his innards. As a consequence, from here on out once a week or so I’ll quarantine him in a room in the basement so I can make sure that he eats his food, and poops properly. None of the cats think this arrangement is proper; when the door’s closed he wants out, the other cats want in. When the door opens, the other cats come rushing down the basement stairs to try to get in the room.
Last night I left the room and went up the stairs in the darkness… and found Speedbump laying at the top of the stairs. Billy and Banshee were running around as normal. Speedbump was not breathing, no heartbeat, unresponsive. As I examined him, he started slowly peeing. I rushed him to the emergency vet, but he was truly gone at that point. The vets examined him and found no signs of trauma, choking, infectious illness or poison. Their best guess is that he had a heart attack or threw a clot, both of which cats are apparently distressingly prone to.
The evidence suggests that when he heard the basement door open, he came running and simply fell over dead. It was quick and non-theatrical; he made no sound that I heard, and Billy and Banshee did not seem to pay him much mind. Previous experiences with live cats coming across dead cats has been traumatic, so whatever happened to Speedbump was fast and silent. I suspect I missed him by *seconds,* not that I could have done anything but freak out. Which I kinda ended up doing anyway.
If I had known that one of my cats was going to suddenly die, I would have been quite certain that it would have been Buttons, as he has been unwell for a while. But Speedbump was normal and lively only an hour before, giving no signs of distress.
He went quickly, and, it seems, pretty much painlessly. That, at least, is a relief.
A photo from a month ago: Speedbump watching Billy look out at the snow.
My last photo of Speedbump from a few days ago, sacked out with Buttons. He and Buttons were buddies; I imagine Buttons will soon come to miss him.
All in all… WTF.
5 responses to “RIP Speedbump”
I’m sorry to hear that. Nasty rebound from Buttons’ reprieve.
I once had one go suddenly, just not showing up for longer than usual. Found her curled up in a favorite closet, seemingly having gone in her sleep. If death remains inevitable, at least something similar beats their having to go through extended bad health, or our having to add the painful decision of putting them out of it.
You and your cats take care.
Very sorry to hear that. Losing a buddy like that is a nasty hit. Best of luck to you.
Damn. That always hurts. They’re friends.
We lost one suddenly last November. Got him as a semi-feral kitten in September of 2014, the runt of a litter of five Balinese (long-haired Siamese). He’d lost a bit of weight lately, but not rapidly, and he’d always been rather scrawny. One afternoon he let out a yowl and collapsed. We rushed him to the vet, but he was gone a few hours later. The vet said his blood work was crazy; the tentative verdict was multiple organ failure, possibly a congenital defect. Goodbye, Oliver.
So sorry, Scott. I feel as if I’d lost one of my family of kittehs, too. 🙁 It’s tough to lose a family member, furry or not. RIP, and my sincerest condolences to you and the rest of the felines…
Sad to hear. They have to go sometime and it would be odd if they had to outlive us.