My cat died suddenly. Can hairballs or asthma cause sudden death?

Hello and I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your kitty. It is so heart breaking to lose them. Without an autopsy, one can't be certain, but most often in a cat without any other clinical signs, it's usually a bad heart that will cause sudden death. One of the most most common heart diseases in cats is called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It often has no symptoms. It is often not detectable on a physical exam. Sometimes there will be fluid in the lungs from congestion in the lungs that can leak out after passing. I hope this helps to provide some closure and with time, I hope your heart heals. My condolences, Dr. Elizabeth

I am very sorry to hear that. This could be either due to an acute cardiac problem or respiratory one, but it is likely that the lungs filled up with fluid. A post-mortem examination would help to shed some light on the underlying cause of it.

I am so sorry that your kitty died. The fact that he had a heart murmur means that he likely died of a blood clot in the lungs which then actually killed him. There would have been no way to save him and you would not have been able to prevent it. It is just one of those terrible things that happen. But he had 5 great years with you and that is something you can be proud of.

I'm so very sorry for your loss of Rosie. There isn't any way to know what Rosie died from without an autopsy, but the most common cause of sudden death in young cats is heart disease. The signs you described seeing a month ago may have been due to an episode of heart disease that she recovered from. Unfortunately, there often isn't any way to know that a cat has heart disease without performing an ultrasound of the heart. Many of these cats never have any heart murmur or any other signs of disease until they die. I'm so very sorry for your loss of Rosie, but that type of heart disease is generally a very fast death and is not treatable even if caught early, so I don't think there is anything you could have done differently.

I am so sorry you lost Buffy! I think it’s unlikely that the heater was the cause of death - I would think you would see some kind of burn or hair loss externally if that was the case. Heart disease is one of the more common causes of sudden death in cats and can cause bloody fluid to quickly build up in the lungs and come out of the nose and mouth. Other possibilities would be kidney disease, blunt trauma or a clotting disorder. You could ask your vet about a necropsy (autopsy) which might reveal a cause of death.

My condolences on the loss of your cat. Without a post mortem exam, the cause can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine. Potential causes include cardiac conditions (including congenital defects), toxicity, infection or trauma.

Poor Coco! He could be coughing due to asthma or a hairball, but it could also be to cardiac disease or a respiratory illness. I would have him seen by a vet for this coughing. The vet can do a physical exam, blood tests, urinalysis, and x-rays to diagnose what is causing his coughing so he can be treated.