What happens when a cat is put to sleep?

Doodles

Hi everyone
Looking for a bit of advice please from any cat owners who have had to make the decision of putting their kitty to sleep. I'm feeling rather sad.

I had to take my eldest cat to the vets again tonight (4th visit in 10 days) as he has been going downhill rapidly recently. He was weeing blood again and so I took him to see the vet.

Whilst examining him on his belly she was able to feel a lump . Reckons its near his liver but may be in his intestine. Weirdly she didn't feel it a week ago when she saw him last and is a little alarmed at this. They have taken him in overnight and are doing bloods, rehydrate him and take xrays. But the vet said that she agreed he really had gone downhill since the week when she saw him last and he had lost even more weight during that time.

He is 20 years old. Has liver problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, heart mumour and arthritis. Medication was controlling all this and he was having a comfortable life, but last few weeks has been eating less, vomiting, constipation, losing weight, sleeping an awful lot and generally losing interest in things he likes eg. lounging on the grass in the garden, playing with his pinky toy.

So to cut a long story short I am prepared for the fact that the vet may give me bad news tomorrow and I'm so scared but need to be prepared.

So, please would anyone be prpeared to share their story of when they had to put their cat to sleep? What actually happens? Does the cat feel anything? Is it peaceful or do they get distressed? Is it quick?

So sorry for such a depressing question folks and thanks for listening.

moggylover

Doodles wrote: »

Hi everyone
Looking for a bit of advice please from any cat owners who have had to make the decision of putting their kitty to sleep. I'm feeling rather sad.

I had to take my eldest cat to the vets again tonight (4th visit in 10 days) as he has been going downhill rapidly recently. He was weeing blood again and so I took him to see the vet.

Whilst examining him on his belly she was able to feel a lump . Reckons its near his liver but may be in his intestine. Weirdly she didn't feel it a week ago when she saw him last and is a little alarmed at this. They have taken him in overnight and are doing bloods, rehydrate him and take xrays. But the vet said that she agreed he really had gone downhill since the week when she saw him last and he had lost even more weight during that time.

He is 20 years old. Has liver problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, heart mumour and arthritis. Medication was controlling all this and he was having a comfortable life, but last few weeks has been eating less, vomiting, constipation, losing weight, sleeping an awful lot and generally losing interest in things he likes eg. lounging on the grass in the garden, playing with his pinky toy.

So to cut a long story short I am prepared for the fact that the vet may give me bad news tomorrow and I'm so scared but need to be prepared.

So, please would anyone be prpeared to share their story of when they had to put their cat to sleep? What actually happens? Does the cat feel anything? Is it peaceful or do they get distressed? Is it quick?

So sorry for such a depressing question folks and thanks for listening.

Hi Doodles, sympathy and hugs for you first. I'm an old hand at it - but it is still so very sad.

However, there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. When I take one of mine for their final journey I usually elect to cuddle the animal whilst the injection is administered. The vet will usually ask if you want the nurse to hold them - but I need to give that last contact with myself as re-assurance to the animal and to whisper to them that I love them as they go.

They then take a front paw and shave off a little fur, and you or the nurse may then have to press a bit to get the vein to stand out (not hard, just gently down towards the paw pressure) for the needle to be inserted. Most cats do not seem to be bothered too much by the needle, and then once the euthatol has been administered it is usually very swift. There appears to be no pain, just the heartbeat slowing, the eyes glazing over, sometimes the tongue lolls out - and then the vet will check for the heartbeat and when it ceases that is it and he will close the lids. It is very peaceful and quick - and the kindest thing for an old cat that appears to be very ill. At that stage you can either take the body home for burial (if you have somewhere you can do that - no plastic bags though, just wrap in a soft cloth) or you can leave the body for cremation and disposal, or you can have the body cremated and the ashes returned to you - but this is very expensive.

Just occasionally I have had an animal so ill that no vein could be raised in the leg - and the injection has been administered in the tummy - but this did not seem to pain the animal either.

My 13 year old son insists on coming with me as he cannot bear the thought of not knowing what happens at the end - so it is not terribly scary - he has seen three lives end at the vets and the first time he was only 11. Would not take my word and leave me to do it alone though - determined to be the man of our family is my lad.:o

I do wish that I lived near you - I would offer to come and hold your hand. Good luck with this - I hope you have good news from your vet - but if not then I hope that what I have said has made it a little less scary at least. BTW my vet is very good, doesn't care that I shed copious tears, and always gives me a few minutes to collect myself together before I leave with my sad bundle. If the news is not good - then ask if you can come at the end of a surgery - then you will not have to come out through a waiting room full of live animals and curious owners!

Aw big hugs. It's a rotten job - but something a loving owner does cos it is for the best.

breezerockz

hi
firsty i am so so sorry about your cat,
my beloved cat tiddles was found on my mums bed one day and was paralysed back down, we took her to the vets and told she had a blood clot , and that although asprin had a small chance of helping it was unlikly, so i decided that it was wrong to have her laying there wandering what was happening, for any longer than needed, and had her put to sleep, it was very peaceful, and she went to sleep. i still cry when i think about her, but im glad that i was able to stop her suffering.
i hope this helps.
i also agree totally with what moggylover has said, i am also an old hand and it is what animal lovers have to do when its for the best, i know have 13 cats, 6 fostered ferals,

Loopy_Girl

The injection is just a dose - relevant to your pet - of barbiturate which depresses the central nervous system and ultimately stops the heart. It is all very very quick and your cat will just feel sleepy. They will not feel any pain and just think they are going for a sleep - a bit like when you feel like just as you are going under for an op.

Like another poster, I would advise going at the end of the day but usually the vet nurse will suggest this discreetly to you just in case.

It's the hardest decision in the world but take comfort that he will not be in pain. xx

Doodles

Thanks to everyone for your very thoughtful answers, which I am reassured by. I cannot bear to see any animal in pain so don't want it to 'hurt' him. I was hoping it might be like going off to sleep for them.

Moggylover: thanks also mentioning about your son - my 12 year son says he wants to be there and I was a little concerned he might get upset, but seems my fears are unjustified.

Will try and post back in the next few days if I can with an update.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply everyone.

zzzLazyDaisy

Big hugs to you, how awful for you.

I had to have my old cat put to sleep at 19 when his kidneys failed. H'd had bad kidneys for a few years but it was kept under control with medication and special diet. When the end came it all happened so quickly - one day he caught a bird and came into the house with it. He rarely caught birds because he couldn't move that fast, so this was very unusual. I rescued the bird and let it go, the cat was purring like mad, he seemed so pleased with himself!

The very next day, he couldn't get up, he stayed huddled by the radiator refusing to eat or drink. I took him to the vet the following day, and blood tests showed his kidneys had failed.

The vet advised me to have him put to sleep and did it there and then. I held him while he slipped away and then brought him home. It was heartbreaking, but I knew he'd had a good life.

You have done your very best for your lovely cat, and he knows you love him.

He trusts you and depends on you. He has had a good life in spite of all his ailments. If the vet tells you it is time to let him go, it will be painless and peaceful, and you will know you did the right thing for him.

hugs

Daisy

lowis

so sorry you are having to face this

as others have said, it is a very peaceful process and i would not hesitate to let a young adult see it happen. the animals really do just look like they are nodding off.

the eyes do not close though...the vets usually gently pull the eyelids down. and when my cat was given the sedative just before she was put to sleep, she started to lick her lips a little as if she had a taste in her mouth that she wasn't sure about it...it was a little disconcerting, but apparently happens fairly regularly, she seemed very peaceful otherwise.

foreign_correspondent

Doodles wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for your very thoughtful answers, which I am reassured by. I cannot bear to see any animal in pain so don't want it to 'hurt' him. I was hoping it might be like going off to sleep for them.

Moggylover: thanks also mentioning about your son - my 12 year son says he wants to be there and I was a little concerned he might get upset, but seems my fears are unjustified.

Will try and post back in the next few days if I can with an update.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply everyone.

If your son wants to go, I think you should let him - I know he will likely get upset at the time, but I understand that research shows that people who have witnessed a peaceful human death find it is easier to accept and deal with then if they were not there.

Having worked with children who are bereaved (of siblings) I know that being left out of things (usually for their own protection by well meaning parents) is often more worrying for them than being included. We try to shield children from death and this can make their fears or imaginary narratives much bigger and scarier than the reality)

I think it is probably the same with the death of animals - I was abroad when my last dog died, and although she was with my dad and apparently died naturally in her sleep after being lively and happy the day before I couldnt help but have niggling doubts somehow.

Conversely I was with a friend (human, not animal!) recently when he died, and I remember thinking 'if thats all there is to it, why are we all so scared of it' - the event itself was nothing really, (I am not trivialising the event - its just that the moment itself was so quiet and natural) and I think i found it easer to accept than I would have if I hadnt been there.

Anyway, I am getting off topic here, but I do think it is a good idea to let your son decide for himself, after all he has known the cat all his life, and probably loves him very much.

I am so sorry you are having to make this decision, but 20 is a fabulous old age for a cat and I am sure he has had a lovely full life with your family.

moggylover

Doodles wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for your very thoughtful answers, which I am reassured by. I cannot bear to see any animal in pain so don't want it to 'hurt' him. I was hoping it might be like going off to sleep for them.

Moggylover: thanks also mentioning about your son - my 12 year son says he wants to be there and I was a little concerned he might get upset, but seems my fears are unjustified.

Will try and post back in the next few days if I can with an update.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply everyone.

Doodles, your 12 year old WILL probably get upset - as in cry - but I do think it is a good thing for them to know what happens as my DS said he felt it was more scary when he didn't know how it happened.

You will have to know how well your son will deal with crying in public - and make that decision yourself - but it is not a scary ordeal, just a very sad one.

I do hope I didn't put too much detail - I worried after - but you did ask, and I always feel much better when I know pretty much what to expect from a situation - so tried to explain it all.

lowis

just a thought...and might make it a little less difficult...but have you asked your vet if he would come out to your home to do the job? my vet did, it costs around £100 plus travel costs. (thankfully my vet waived his fee, he had grown so close to my cat throughout her 18 months of treatment!)

*hugs*

spookylukey

Really sorry to hear about your cat, my experience was very similar to moggylover, a very sad moment but also very peaceful. I held her in my arms and told how much I loved her and how sorry I was. One thing to be aware of, after they have gone the muscles relax so their bowels or bladder might empty. My cats bladder emptied afterwards, it happened just as I looked down and I managed to move her out of the way.

I couldn't bare to walk out of the vets with an empty basket so they let me out the back, to this day I still have no idea how I managed to drive. My situation was unexpected, had I known I think I would have got somebody to come with me and drive me home, I was hoping they would be able to give her something to make her feel better. Like your cat the vet found a lump in the intestine that was not there just a week before.

This link is very good, it explains how it normally happens and things to be aware of such as apparent breathing after death.

http://www.felinecrf.org/the_final_hours.htm#euthanasia_what_happens

Really hope your cat has a peaceful end if you do have to make that decision :grouphug: