Mercy Killing for Pets

[Doogie]

I have a cat that if he made it to April would be 22...I say maybe cause his backlegs stopped working the last couple of days and he is having a hard time even getting to the litter box or food and water. Mind you when I got this cat, Ronald Reagan was still president of the United States and he still gets around without his back legs, or he drags himself. But I fear he is in the last days of his life as that strain will get to him.

Do I bother with the vet who will tell me his legs are now useless and possibly cancerous?? Or do I go the route of killing him myself?? The latter I cant even being to want to carry out, but will if I feel it isnt worth the vet's opinion.

My mother has been over my place for the last few nights just checking up on him and she says to me "I think he is seeing his last days." And that kills me. My mother is the first to break up when pets die, but on this one she knows he is old. And I cant say it...Hence why I asked if it is my honor or right to do it myself. I would rather if I had to put him down it be at my hands and not the vets. I know he is old, ancient perhaps, but he is my cat and I raised him from a young kitten and even typing this I have tears in my eyes. I am torn...

[PapaBear]

Don't do it yourself. You don't need to go to the vet, either. Take the cat to the local ASPCA. They will put him down humanely. The place where I volunteered was very sensitive to the feelings of the owners, and took it seriously.

[Doogie]

He just crawled into me now and jumped (with my assistance of course) to jump onto my lap...as if to reinforce against what I wrote tonight. I cant deny that my eyes havent been fiilled with tears since I got home thinking I might have a XMas death. And my other guy is 19 years old...wonderous.

But his crawling in here is almost like "hey...I'm not gone yet. Be cool. I like to sit in laps." Ugggghhh...I wish I was more of a socio-path and not care. But I do...

[PapaBear]

You'll know when the time is right. Enjoy having him with you for a while longer. But, when the time comes, please don't do it yourself. You're very lucky to have him for so long.

[landarch]

You'll know when the time is right. Enjoy having him with you for a while longer. But, when the time comes, please don't do it yourself. You're very lucky to have him for so long.

Yeah I second that. We were recently in the same situation with our 15-17 year old cat. We adopted her as a 2-4 year old cat. She had been sick for a while, but when the day came we knew it. Took her to the vet and the Dr. agreed. Two shots and she was gone. It was a peaceful, easy way for her to go.

[SHANEFROMGA]

"Do I bother with the vet who will tell me his legs are now useless and possibly cancerous?? Or do I go the route of killing him myself?? The latter I cant even being to want to carry out, but will if I feel it isnt worth the vet's opinion."

from personal experience , take him the the vet. i had a kitten that got its neck broken and it was laying on the floor struggling to breath and not in a good way, so i decieded to put her down. the feeling of her going away in my hands from my hands still haunts me.
let the people with the drugs handle it. doesn't make the lose any easier, but....
i feel for you.

[Chigworthy]

These days, we tend to have anthropomorphic feelings about our pets. Regardless of what the cause of this is, it does add a level of difficulty for us in dealing with the end of a pet's life. The most important thing to consider when a pet is getting old is that animal's quality of life. Unfortunately, we tend to put our own emotional pain in front of the animal's physical pain. I'm not pointing fingers, this is common to most of us. The way I look at it, a pet does not ponder the afterlife, and is much more comfortable with death than we are. Animals live in the moment, and to them physical discomfort and pain is far more devastating than death. Our difficulty with having a pet put to sleep stems from us imagining what it would feel like for us to be taken to a vet and euthanized, but this is invalid as they have completely different thought processes than us. What I'm getting at, is if a cat is 22 and is losing the use of it's legs, it is probably pretty unhappy. I'm not trying to diminish your own feelings on the matter, as after 22 years, I'm sure the cat is a significant part of your life.

I would not recommend you doing the euthanasia. While in the old days this was pretty common, we have had a cultural shift in emotion, and it is pretty painful for the modern American to deal with. I am fortunate enough to have an Uncle-in-law as our vet, and when we've had to put our pets to sleep, he brings the injection to the back of his practice, where I can hold and pet the dog in my truck while it is administered. It sucks no matter how it is done, but this seems to help me deal with the loss of the pet.

Whatever you decide to do, always consider the well-being of the animal over everything else, but also consider the least-regretful path for yourself.

[JohnCharles]

Do not do it yourself.

A friend's family had their father "put down" their cat suffering a similar traumatic life ending event.

Unfortunately, what he did wasn't enough and the cat suffered much more, even if it was brief.

Have the cat put down humanely by a vet.

[angrymissy]

You can have a vet come to your house and do it if you don't want to put the cat through the stress of going to the vet. That's what I would do.

[RhinoinMN]

If you do have the cat put down I would suggest you being there while it is done. It is very hard, but if you are not there when the animal passes you will regret it later.

I really feel for you. Damn these animals for being so loving!

[JimBeam]

Sorry to hear but I think you should take the cat to the vet so they can let you know if it's really suffereing and if there's any long term future.

If money's an issue you can explain that to them and they might work with you.

My wife and I have a 16 year old Lhasa Apso and she's fairly blind from what we can tell ( we give her drops and stuff every day ) and she was struggling w/ her legs a few weeks ago and I didn't think that was good news.

But now she's fine.

She's obvioulsy losing some spring in her step because she has to try harder to get up the 1st step when going up but once she's going she's fine.

She's still got 100% of her personality as she bounces around like a puppy when there's food in the kitchen and after she gets her eye drops and knows that she'll get a treat.

I dread the day she slows down and I also dread the idea of ever having to decide to keep her blind and otherwise healthy or put her down.

[Doogie]

Update...he is doing a little bit better today and able to get around a lot more than yesterday. Almost like it was a bad muscle pull or something. Perhaps he read this thread...LOL.

I know he wont be around forever, but if he could just hang in there a little while longer that would be cool.

[RhinoinMN]

Update...he is doing a little bit better today and able to get around a lot more than yesterday. Almost like it was a bad muscle pull or something. Perhaps he read this thread...LOL.

I know he wont be around forever, but if he could just hang in there a little while longer that would be cool.

Great news. I am glad to hear it.

[sr71blackbird]

I had to kill two animals, and it still haunts me. Do not do it!

[sr71blackbird]

I hope the cats get better, but if it does become more humane to put them out of misery, do it as others have suggested by bringing them to a vet. They really feel no pain and drift off to tranquility. Keep in mind you are doing it for love, not malice, to releive their agony.

[JimBeam]

You want a mix of sadness, determination ( by both humans and the cat ) amazement and joy read this :

http://chasenoface.blogspot.com/

[Farmer Dave]

I'm not going to read the other post, just give you my opinion. Take him to the Vet. and let him put him to sleep. It will be painless and done properly. You owe him that dignity.

[disneyspy]

i have an angel fish that ive had for over 2 1/2 years that is swimming like a retard,i know i should flush her now and not wait wait til the morning to see if she's dead,i dont want her diseasing up the tank and getting the male sick but i cant bring myself to doing it,i threw in some medicine but i know its her time,i'm not really looking for advice,i'm just sad and know i should express myself,so there you go .net,thanks for listening,going to bed and i'll give a progress report in the morning

[Chigworthy]

i have an angel fish that ive had for over 2 1/2 years that is swimming like a retard,i know i should flush her now and not wait wait til the morning to see if she's dead,i dont want her diseasing up the tank and getting the male sick but i cant bring myself to doing it,i threw in some medicine but i know its her time,i'm not really looking for advice,i'm just sad and know i should express myself,so there you go .net,thanks for listening,going to bed and i'll give a progress report in the morning

Maybe you can set up an iso tank?

[Death Metal Moe]

My cat is like 18. Suddenly one night it was in BAD shape. Like "I need to find a 24 hour vet to put it to sleep" kind of shape. But instead after a trip to the vet the next morning and a few meds it made a full recovery.

I always try to give pets a few days unless it's not possible.

[Dude!]

My cat is like 18. Suddenly one night it was in BAD shape. Like "I need to find a 24 hour vet to put it to sleep" kind of shape. But instead after a trip to the vet the next morning and a few meds it made a full recovery.

I always try to give pets a few days unless it's not possible.

Can we put you to sleep instead?

[Death Metal Moe]

Can we put you to sleep instead?

Only if I can fuck your mouth 1st.

[Dude!]

Only if I can fuck your mouth 1st.

i knew you were a fag

[Death Metal Moe]

i knew you were a fag

Is that a yes or a no big boy?

[opie's twisted balls]

i have an angel fish that ive had for over 2 1/2 years that is swimming like a retard
whats she doing....keep bumping into the side of the tank with her helmet?

[JPMNICK]

dont do it yourself, there is much better advice in this thread.

sorry to hear it pal, but 22 years is pretty amazing.

[A.J.]

Can we put you to sleep instead?

Ummm yeah...Forum?

[Serpico1103]

I have had to put two dogs down. Very sad. But at the vet u can hold the dog as they give the shot. The dog is gone in a second. No pain, no fear. I can't think of a better way to show your love. Putting the dogs needs ahead of your attachment. Much if not all of our griefing is selfish.

[disneyspy]

whats she doing....keep bumping into the side of the tank with her helmet?

ya and shes still doing it,the swimming sideways and straight up and down i dont know why i said flush,she's too big to flush,i'll take care of her after work

[disneyspy]

she was still alive when i got home but still messed up,i just threw her out in a snow bank,hopefully she dies quickly

[Jughead]

she was still alive when i got home but still messed up,i just threw her out in a snow bank,hopefully she dies quickly

I did that with my salt water fish after an ice storm in 1991 it sucked!!!...sorry Buddy about your Fish...JUG

[opie's twisted balls]

she's too big to flush
wedge of lemon and some tartar sauce?

[Crossweird]

Ummm yeah...Forum?.

[celery]

You want a mix of sadness, determination ( by both humans and the cat ) amazement and joy read this :

http://chasenoface.blogspot.com/

This is amazing - thanks for posting this.