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We just made the decision to put a cat down--he's in pain and doing poorly. The appointment is for this evening. This is the second animal I've had to make this decision for. Its just wretched. And I'm worried/sad for my four-year-old, who is also close to this cat. Sigh... Thanks for listening.
Posts: 785 | Registered: Mar 2007
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Sorry to hear that. If it helps, I have gone through this to, with a cat and 2 dogs. All I an say is, you know when the time is, so don't second guess yourself. You are doing the right thing. As far as the 4-yr old. We had a horse die this past winter, of old age, and my 4 yr old daughter took it hard. We tried to explain the horse was in heaven, and didnt really shy away from what death was. But she didnt fully understand. She still occasionally asks if "Scotty" is coming back. Now I think she understands he is not coming back. To make her feel better we talked to her about the good times we had and remember what a happy home you gave the pet while it lived.
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I don't know how old your daughter is, but this might be a character-building experience for her, so all is not lost.
Posts: 2195 | Registered: Aug 2006
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I have also have had pets put to sleep due to age related problems.
My favorite cat Shanerat was 19 years old when we put her sleep in 2000 because she had cancer. Our dog in FL Calie was 12 and had a relapse of cancer and was put to sleep in 2004 and our cat Damn Cat who also had cancer was put to sleep a few weeks ago at age 18.5
I don’t like it when pets die. It is quite heart breaking when they go for they don’t live as long as us and we will out live any animal we can ever own.
I am waiting until the DNA project for dogs if complete to have the DNA of mine rewritten for them to live longer (if that is possible in 10 years) I don’t think I can stand loosing another pet, again.
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I've been there far too recently. My oldest is at the point he understands what it means that the cat isn't coming home. Right now, he's saying when he dies he wants to be buried next to Scout (our dog who died of a stroke in December 2006 - we have 5 acres so the pet cemetary is in the woods behind the house). My other son, who was 5 when Scout died and 7 this year when Funky Cat died, didn't understand what it meant/means.
There are some good books for kids to help them deal with death. I'll pull them from the shelves tonight and add them to this post.
While making that decision is hard, it's often the best thing for the animal. Hang in there.
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When I came home from the vet I told my son that Slink (the cat) had died while at the office. He isn't quite sure how to deal with it, but its going okay. When I cried, he offered me his favorite toys (I think to cheer me up).
He wanted to see the body and then help with the burial, shoveling in the dirt. He suggested and found a flag to mark the spot. We let him make his own decisions about what he felt okay with. He's been talking about it, and asking for another cat. He really seems to get what death is. We all miss Slink.
I cried this morning about IB. How awful, and very frustrating!
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