Puzzled by the sudden death of our 4 month old kitten

We had been letting our 4 month old male kitten (Mi Nu) out to play in our back yard on a limited basis without any problems until I found him the other afternoon laying in a chair sleeping with small amount of blood on various parts of his body and in his mouth. There were no puncture wounds and no symptoms of sickness until the next day when he became overly sleepy. We noticed what looked like bruising spots inside his ears, gums and tummy so we took him to the vet who treated him for poisoning by spider or plant, wasn't sure so he was given an IV, vitamin B and antibiotic shot. No vitamin K because of his age. Later that afternoon (this is two days after the event) he became very sick with loss of balance, sight, movement and before the vet could make it to our house, he had two seizures and died with us holding him. We live in Guatemala so the Vet care here is nothing like the US... It was very traumatic for us but we're still wondering if he ate a poisonous spider or centipede or even a plant in our backyard. We have two grown cats that play outside during the day without any problems but now I'm keeping them in until I can find some answers. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you...


Answer from Kate
Oh my goodness this sounds awful, I'm so sorry to say that i dont think i can help either. However i am wondering if in your area you have either some poisonous insects or plants which could account for these varied symptoms.

If this is the case only a toxicologist would be able to give you more of a definite answer after a postmortem ad this may not be available in your area.

If poisonous insects and or plants are in your area then there is not much you can do apart from keeping them inside.
There are many plants which can be poisonous to cats, this page mentions a few of them

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/toxic-plants.html

I hope you can move on from this terrible experience and enjoy other pets.

best wishes kate

Comments for Puzzled by the sudden death of our 4 month old kitten

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Thank you for your kind words
by: Phil

Kate,
Thank you for your kind words. We asked our gardener if he had put any chemicals down and he said no so that narrows it down to a plant, insect or possibly a genetic problem, i.e. heart worm...

We're still keeping our other two cats in until we can check all the plants and rule out as many obstacles as possible.

You are correct in the fact that reliable vet resources are limited here so we'll probably never know for sure but thank you again for your kind response.

Phil

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