Hi

A few weeks ago I decided to take my cat to the vet. She had been having breathing difficulty for a couple of months and a previous visit to the vet and a course of antibiotics had done nothing to help.

She had been in a steady and consistent state - i.e. she was not getting better or worse.

The vet examined her and at one point inserted a syringe through her side into her lung, where he pulled and pushed on the syringe for a few seconds. He withdrew it and said there was no fluid in the lung.

He said that she likely had cancer and that she was very poorly and should be put to sleep. Sadly I agreed to come back the next day (I knew my wife would want to be there to say goodbye).

However, on returning home my cat got steadily worse. After an hour or so she let out a howl and began hissing, and then collapsed. She lay panting for a good hour, occasionally yowling in pain, before finally choking on blood.

It was horrible to see, and we were devastated about the way she died. But I am wondering why she died to suddenly after the vet visit - as I say, she had been unwell, but consistent, for weeks, and after visiting the vet, who stuck a needle in her lung, she died in this way...

So I guess I'm asking - what the vet did with the syringe... is that normal practice? I thought at the time that he seemed a bit cavalier with it and the way he stuck it in. I know my cat was unwell, and perhaps terminally, but she clearly went downhill drastically after the vet visit. Any advice on this is appreciated.