advice please

WeAreGhosts

At least he is at peace now (however it happened), after having 20 lovely years (90+ human years!).

catkins

fawd1 wrote: »

Hi, I am back and frankly I am neither ashamed nor embarrassed at my plans. As it turns out I did find a home for my cat because god forbid a nearly 20 year old cat be put to sleep. He died 3 days later according to the vet "because of the trauma of moving at his age". He moved less than 2 miles. I'm sure it would have been much kinder to have him in a cat box for 3 days, on a plane, and then into a country 20 degrees hotter than he was used to. He did so well with a 5 minute car journey.

Sorry to sound so bitter but frankly the vitriol shown by some posters who clearly have never met my cat, let alone have any idea of what he can and cannot cope with and who have assumed I am some sort of evil cat killer amazes me. I have had this cat for 18 + years. Clearly I looked after it well, or it wouldn't have still been here!

In your shoes I would be ashamed and embarrassed. You can't put an animal to sleep just because they are old and interfere with your plans. If they are sick that's different but at no time did you say he was.

I too find it hard to believe a 5 minute car journey killed a healthy cat and cats can be perfectly healthy at 20. I have one of 19 and she has nothing wrong with her. Many cats live to over 20.

You say you had the cat for 18+ years and yet in your first post you said:

"In all honesty we didn't expect him to live long as he was 15 at the time. It is now 5 years later (so the cat is 20 odd) and he's still with us"

pinkandblueshoe wrote: »

You asked about the cost of getting the cat put to sleep. That's what people reacted to. Not in a million years would I consider getting a pet put to sleep if I couldn't find a home for him/her if I were moving.

But personally, I'd never move and leave a pet behind. Other people can do it, I couldn't. If that meant missing opportunities so be it. Pets are for life, not until people can't be arsed looking after them anymore.

Totally agree. Me and OH got a dog when living in France and after a couple of years we wanted to come home, mainly because I was so unhappy there. At the time it would have meant our dog going into quarantine for 6 months which I just could not bear the thought of so we stayed in France. When the rules changed we came home with him

Feral_Moon wrote: »

And in hindsight it would probably have been far kinder to have the vet put him to sleep at his age than cause him so much trauma in his last few days that he died anyway. The OP was damned whichever decision she took. People are far too judgemental, especially when hiding behind a keyboard.

If the OP had said the cat was ill then it might have been a slightly different story but she didn't. She talked about a 20 year old cat who was an inconvenience to her and her family.

Sorry but I will be judgemental when someone talks about killing a perfectly healthy animal just because it doesn't fit in with their plans

fierystormcloud

Petra_70 wrote: »

Exactly. There was nothing wrong with the cat. He was perfectly healthy. As I said in the post earlier, I am not even sure that I believe that the cat actually died 3 days after rehoming him (as the OP claims.). Seems a little too convenient. Also, the poster is acting like she thinks it gets her off the hook; it doesn't. And i still can't believe that she doesn't think she has done anything wrong. FGS, she was thinking of putting her cat to sleep so she can move abroad. (For all we know she did but just isn't letting on!)

I am still in shock that someone would want to have their cat put to sleep because they want to move abroad. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone doing this before. And as 'gettingready' said, the cat was perfectly healthy, and so it makes no sense that he died 3 days after being rehomed,.

If he did genuinely die, maybe it was from a broken heart, from knowing he was no longer wanted, and he was a huge inconvenience to his owner, and his owner was considering having him euthanized. Cats aren't stupid; they are very perceptive and they know when they're not wanted.

As I said, I don't know what to believe with regards to what happened, but I am convinced that the OP is not telling the full story here. Either she did put him to sleep after all, or she is still trying to figure out what to do, and she is telling us she rehomed him and he died, to shut us up, and to try and get herself off the hook by saying 'see he died anyway...'

What a sad tale.

:T:T:T

Person_one wrote: »

You can use nice euphemisms like 'euthanise' or 'put to sleep' all you want, but what you're talking about is killing your cat because it doesn't fit in with your plans. Which is, of course, a completely and utterly appalling thing to even consider.

One of you can drive down with the cat and come up with some solutions to help it settle into the new home, or you can pay the £850 for somebody to take over responsibility for the cat you made a commitment to, a bargain really.

:T:T:T

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

I think what has actually annoyed and disgusted people is the fact that the OP even brought up the possibility of euthanising the cat in the first place. If the animal is a much loved family pet, then in most people's minds, that would never even be an option in the first place.

The fact that someone even considers it to be so should be thoroughly ashamed and disgusted with themselves. The fact that the OP isn't, along with her attitude speaks volumes IMO.

:T:T:T

catkins wrote: »

In your shoes I would be ashamed and embarrassed. You can't put an animal to sleep just because they are old and interfere with your plans. If they are sick that's different but at no time did you say he was.

I too find it hard to believe a 5 minute car journey killed a healthy cat and cats can be perfectly healthy at 20. I have one of 19 and she has nothing wrong with her. Many cats live to over 20.

You say you had the cat for 18+ years and yet in your first post you said:

"In all honesty we didn't expect him to live long as he was 15 at the time. It is now 5 years later (so the cat is 20 odd) and he's still with us"

If the OP had said the cat was ill then it might have been a slightly different story but she didn't. She talked about a 20 year old cat who was an inconvenience to her and her family.

Sorry but I will be judgemental when someone talks about killing a perfectly healthy animal just because it doesn't fit in with their plans

:T:T:T

I absolutely agree with these posts, and the majority of the posts on here. And I am also pretty much knocked sideways with what the OP has suggested, and am relieved that the majority of people are as outraged as I feel. As several people have said, it's not only what the OP said that is disturbing and horrible, but the fact that she seems to have no comprehension of how horrific what she is proposing really is.

In fact she seems rather irked that people are upset by it, which is literally terrifying. How she can consider having her cat put down, and not have the decency to admit that what she was considering was wrong, and she is in the wrong just baffles me.

Like several others, I am also struggling to believe what she said about the cat dying just a couple of days after she had him rehomed. I simply cannot see why that would happen.

I wonder this, because as Catkins pointed out, the OP said she had had the cat 18 plus years, (later in the thread) and in the first post she said she had had him for 5 years, after her mother could no longer have him. So it looks like she posts whatever 'facts' suit her argument.

fawd1 wrote: »

We adopted my parents' cat when they moved home as their new place wouldn't accept pets. In all honesty we didn't expect him to live long as he was 15 at the time. It is now 5 years later (so the cat is 20 odd) and he's still with us. Are there any organisations that take really old cats? And if not, do you know the rough cost of euthanization?

Then she said!

fawd1 wrote: »

I have had this cat for 18 + years. Clearly I looked after it well, or it wouldn't have still been here!

So which is it Fawd?

I am also gobsmacked that a small handful of people see no wrong in what she has said, and are jumping to her defence. How anyone can defend someone who wants to have their cat put to sleep because it's no longer relevant in her life, speaks volumes about them.

As Catkins said, I WILL be judgemental when someone considers killing a healthy animal because it does not fit in with their life plans. And I agree she SHOULD be thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed!

Poor cat.

Person_one

fawd1 wrote: »

As it turns out I did find a home for my cat because god forbid a nearly 20 year old cat be put to sleep.

Killing a healthy cat is always wrong, age is irrelevant. There isn't a specific birthday where it suddenly becomes acceptable to kill them. Its not Logan's Run!

I'm sorry that the overwhelming negative response to your desire to kill your cat because you didn't want it anymore didn't make you realise how despicable that desire really was. I'm also very very sorry for whatever has really happened to the poor animal. I hope you've got your story a bit straighter to tell the original owners who trusted you to care for him in his final years.

Person_one

Petra_70 wrote: »

I am still in shock that someone would want to have their cat put to sleep because they want to move abroad. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone doing this before.

Actually, there was a similar thread a while back, but an alarming number of posters defended the decision! I'm heartened to see that on this thread, so many are rightly horrified by the idea that an animal is just disposable when no longer wanted, and that its life is so worthless that it can be destroyed on the owner's whim.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4708783