Our cat lost another pound and still had shallow breaths with a
jerking movement of the head and body so my wife took her back to the
vet.

The vet suggested an x-ray. Did the x-ray and said it showed an
enlarged heart and fluid in the lungs. The vet said the cat wasn't
doing well and suggested she keep the cat over the weekend in an
oxygen tent. My wife left the cat and went home to bring my son back
with her. Just as my wife got home the vet called and said the cat
wasn't doing well. When they got to the vet a few minutes later the
cat was dead.

The vet said the stress of the situation was too much for the cat's
weakened and enlarged heart.

I'm having difficulty understanding this. The wife didn't see any
distress at the vet's before the x-ray. No mouth breathing or panting.
If the cat didn't look so near death, why would stress of taking an
x-ray kill her?

If the cat were so precarious and weak, shouldn't the vet see
something and do the x-ray in a less stressful manner? Sedation?

Why didn't the vet see anything wrong last month? The cat died from an
x-ray one month later? There should have been a clue.

My feeling is that vets aren't too good with physical diagnosis. My
cat's problems should have been obvious by listening with a
stethoscope even last month.

In the end, our cat died, but without the huge bills that most people
get. Maybe our vet isn't so bad. Same results without the expense.

-rr