My cat died and I need answers..

Hello. My 16 year old cat passed away. Im still in pain but also "what ifs" are eating my brain. So I needed to talk to a vetenarian. My cat was vomiting so often lately, like 4-5 times a day right after eating mostly. He started to lose also appetite so we took him to a vet. Other that these problems, he was looking completely healthy. Vet did some tests, only the fpl was abnormal so he diagnosed him as pancreatitis. His treatment was iv fluid therapy, cerenia, butorphanol and Baytril antibiotics. Right after he took these meds, we came home and he was looking so unhealthy, irritable, like drunk, with also very rapid breaths. I felt like these medicines are not ok for him but I didnt have a choice. He took them for 3 days. After that, his breathing was never so ok. I dont remember if his breathing was abnormal before all these, I didnt pay attention but after those iv meds, it was so visible. After weeks his vomitings continued with ups and dows, one day after eating he got a seizure like thing, then he lose so much weight in weeks, breathing got worse, he got lethargic, in the end he got another crisis with panting and drooling, the they put him to ICU, diagnosed him with fluid in lungs and heart failure, gave him O2 and diuretics and some heart medicines, the he got embolus to his leg, days after he passed away... Now, I need to know if my cat died from pancreatitis, old age or misdiagnose and wrong treatment? Did he develop heart failure and respiratory distress because of the medicines and fluids they gave to him? Would it be better if I didnt bring him to vet and wait? My soul is so restless and I hope you answer. Thank you.

Hello - and I am so sorry to read about your loss.  It's distressing when pets pass away in hospital at any time and I can understand why you are looking to know more about it.  It would be fairly normal and advisable to give a cat with pancreatitis fluids, opiate pain relief and an anti-vomitting drug to start off with. Butorphanol can have some side effects in some cases, and I wonder whether some of what you saw was an adverse effect, or whether something else was going on.   How did your vet explain it?  It can be difficult to balance treating pancreatitis (which requires fluids) with a heart problem (fluids change the blood pressure and can sometimes affect breathing). I am in no position to provide an independent voice here but hope it would be helpful and cathartic for both yourself and a senior vet to sit down with the clinical notes and talk about your experience.  You can request a copy of the clinical notes / hospital sheets. If you are still dissatisfied after talking to them, it would be reasonable to ask them what the options are for an independent opinion on the matter.