On Jul 1, 3:24 am, "Phil P." wrote:
...
Your FeLV+ cat had nothing to do with your deceased cat's death.

It's good to have that possibility eliminated; especially
since two others of my seven remaining cats also were
exposed to the FeLV+ stray tomcat.

I know that no one can diagnose my oldest cat's symptoms
and determine cause of death without having examined her,
but her symptoms might ring a bell, so here they are as I saw them:

She had had weak back legs for two or three years, not
jumping high at all, preferring to climb steps one at a time
rather than jump up on a porch. She would jump up in
my lap, but she had her front paws to help.

Lately, when walking, as when coming to a meal,
she would stop and settle down over all fours for a minute
or two, and then get up and continue walking. I thought
that probably was a sign that her back legs were
becoming still weaker, and I was planning to take her to
the vet soon to have them examined and possibly X-ray'd.

But maybe it was a tiredness that had nothing to do
with her legs?

The other symptom was that she had been eating less
than usual, and usual had never been much, compared
to my other cats. Lately I had been taking her favorite dry
food to her between the wet food meals. She always ate
some of it, and always part of the meals, but she was
eating so little that I was starting to get concerned, and
that's when I should have taken her to the vet, on Monday
or Tuesday of last week, but I didn't.

Wednesday night late, when I gave the cats snacks, she
came for them as usual, and I was glad to see that she
drank some water, and that she ate more when I made it
a point to put it in front of her. But it still was not much.

Then she walked back toward the wooded area where
she had liked to spend most of her time lately, and I
found her body there after she didn't come to breakfast.