<p>I have always loved the Ragdoll kittens! We decided after the cats were gone we would not get cats again. I am the cat lover (well all animals), but my husband has never cared for cats. The kids got the two kittens while my husband was recovering from back surgery; he really didn’t have a chance to object!</p>
<p>Now my husband will be a basket case when the dog’s time comes; those two are the best of friends. It isn’t that he hate cats, just doesn’t see anything in them. My husband is just a dog person and I am a pet person. </p>
<p>It was odd this morning picking up the extra food and water bowls that I had out for sick kitty. I wanted to make sure he had water in several places so he would drink more often. Today I need to vacuum and lint brush the special areas he liked to sleep and then decide what to do with his bed. The cats have several sleeping areas/tents, and beds; only one of these did they not share and that was his bed. It is funny, that was their first bed and it is a round one that he loved to curl up in; his sister never set foot in that bed! The bed is coated in his long gray hair and I can’t imagine anyone else would want it, it is filthy but there was no good way to clean it so I have always left it alone. Maybe the other cat will decide to sleep there now.</p>
<p>Snowball, I am so sorry for your loss. We too are people who treat our pets like members of the family and it tears us apart each time we lose one. We’ve lost two cats to renal failure - the only thing remotely positive I can think to say about it is that they don’t seem to suffer. Just as you said, they quietly fall asleep.</p>
<p>Your daughter likely lashed out for many reasons. Maybe she had had a stressful day in school and was tired. My D’s probably would have reacted the same way if they were exhausted.
Maybe she felt bad because she would wanted to be there but knew it was not possible. Maybe has some guilt associated with not being there for a beloved pet.
Also, kids sometimes speak harshly to parents because we are the safest people in the world they can do that with. Although it is not pleasant, we understand and love them anyway, and they know that. It will blow over.</p>
<p>Our 10 yo dog was diagnosed with MVD recently. I drove 200 miles round trip to take him to a veterinary cardiologist last week, crying the entire trip. He is our soph D’s dog and beloved by the entire family. He now has his own medication account at Wal-Mart and the past several weeks have been a roller coaster ride. It is never easy.</p>
<p>I have just been missing having a cat. We had two for many years ( they died a few years ago at 20 & 19, the older one had, had to have subQ fluids every day for about 4 years- however she was a very sweet smallish cat- even though she ran from me), and although we still have a well loved 14 yr old lab, now the neighbor cats come to visit on a sporadic basis, however since I don’t feed them, they like D best.</p>
<p>Snowball, you made the right decision. I’m sure it’s hard for your D, especially being away. I still remember when my first dog, a dachshund, died when I was 16. He had a heart attack a few hours after successful surgery for kidney stones and after recovering from paralysis due to calcium deposits between vertebrae (learned to walk again, just couldn’t jump).</p>
<p>My older S was 16 when we had to put our last dog to sleep, but he understood and missed half-day of school to come with us to the vet. The 90-lb dog had been arthritic for quite a while. We came home from work and he was drooling and couldn’t stand. Vet said it was a “cerebral incident” (could be cancer, stroke, tumor–only a CT scan would tell). It didn’t seem humane to have to drive 3 hrs and sedate him for a 14+ year old dog only to find out it was something untreatable anyway. Like your cat, this dog was not a happy patient. I remember the only way he would swallow pills was if we hid them in a piece of jelly donut. Vet put him on steroids to see if that would do any good. Finally, after a week, he no longer even raised his head when we came in the room, and we knew it was time. That doesn’t make it a lot easier, but we couldn’t watch him like that anymore, even though he didn’t seem to be in pain. </p>
<p>Maybe she would like a collage of photos of the cat, or you could decide together to make a donation to the humane society, or even to animal rescue groups that are helping people along the Gulf Coast who have to evacuate care for their pets.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry for the loss of your cat. As a fellow pet owner, I can appreciate how deep the bond goes, and how much they are really a part of the family. I dread when the time inevitably comes for our dog.</p>
<p>So sorry for your sadness in the loss of your cat. I had to have the family dog put to sleep many years ago. I cried all the way home. Our next dog is now very old with several health problems. I can tell his time is not too far off. We have loved this dog more than any we’ve ever had. Making the decision is so hard but it is the right thing to do when they are suffering.</p>
<p>Sorry about your cat. I love cats too. We also have two dogs (and one cat.) My H also likes dogs better. Our cat slipped out unnoticed one night last winter, and the dogs seemed unaware that he was gone. He did return after two and a half weeks, in poor shape, but he did recover. My other cat died about 10 years ago. She wasn’t old, but she got suddenly sick, and in two weeks she was gone. She was so sweet. The thing about animals is the love that they give is so much, and that they ask so little in return.</p>
<p>Snowball, so sorry for your loss. I had to put my cat to sleep about 10 years ago … it was so difficult to make the decision … my kids & H couldn’t do it, and I had to be “the one.” Her sister really missed her, but I don’t think she was surprised. She had been taking care of her, grooming her when we weren’t around (we didn’t know how sick she was because of that). It was such a sad time. You are in my prayers.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry for your loss. We had a similar situation but as our cat got elderly she fought going to the vet so much that we just didn’t subject her to that stress. She was at least 17, and the thyroid/kidney thing did her in, but like you, we decided that treating it medically would have been cruel. There is a time to move on to the grasshopper-hunting place in the sky… (OK, in the south it’s really the cockroach hunting place, but grasshopper sounds much more Zen)
It was hard to tell the kids. We had to kind of back up and tell them a few day’s worth of back story first.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your cat. When we had to put our first dog to sleep, it about killed me. The vet gave me the “quality of life” speech, but it still hurt.</p>
<p>btw, your sarcastic son would fit in with our family. That certainly sounds like it could have come from any of us. Last year, our neighbor (who has 8 cats) had to have her oldest one put to sleep. She brought the cat back home to bury it. She was trying to dig a hole, and the ground was like concrete. I came in and highly-suggested to my husband that he go dig the hole for her—I knew she was really upset. Before he left, I made him promise not to try to make any jokes… he’d thought of a bunch of them by the time he finished his grave-digger duties. :o</p>
<p>I went away to college and my dad had to put down my life-long best friend cat. Dad could not bring himself to go in with her. Luckily Mom told me and anything awful I said was said to her and not to him.</p>
<p>Years later, I made H take in one of our cats - one he did not like - because I was too upset to do it myself. Even H had a hard time with it. </p>
<p>Nothing like wearing someone else’s shoes to gain a little understanding.</p>
<p>I understand my daughter’s want to be there when the cat was put to sleep, but for me, I could not be there. I see no sense of peace by watching the vet put a needle in his arm and watching him go to sleep.</p>
<p>I had a dog before I was married that was our “first child.” I had to put him to sleep when he was 14; my kids were 5 and 8. I was so upset the day I drove to the vet, I am not even sure how I drove through the tears. I had called the vet before I left home so they knew I was on the way. This was a vet group that I had been using for about 20 years and they knew me well. I pulled up to the curb, opened the hatch to my mini van, and got back in the drivers seat. The tech came out and carried my 75 lb. dog in as he could not walk. She closed the hatch and I drove away; sobbing the entire time. I told the kids that our dog was sick and needed to stay in the hospital a few days. Two days later I told them he had died; I didn’t want to tell them he was put to sleep as I felt my daughter was too young to really understand than. This white lie gave me time to compose myself and be able to focus on the kids. They were able to tell him goodbye before I took him, although I think they might have assumed he was coming back. They knew he had been sick and couldn’t walk sometimes, but I don’t remember how much they really understood. Years later I explained what happened, and my daughter in her typical behavior, was mad I didn’t tell her the truth. </p>
<p>I noticed the remaining cat was sniffing all the beds this morning. I know she is looking for her brother, but she seems to be doing fine. I believe my daughter has settled down, but since she is at school I can’t really tell. I am doing better although seeing his gray hair on every piece of furniture is a constant reminder. I am trying to get all the hair up, but as he was a long hair cat, I think I will be seeing his hair for years!!</p>
<p>I just received a sympathy card from my vet this afternoon. She wrote a nice note and said while I had to make a difficult choice, it was the kindest one for our cat. All the girls in the office also wrote a short note and signed the card. I thought this was a very sweet thing to do. I am sure everyone that deals with their pets death also received a card, but I thought it was nice anyway.</p>
<p>I, too, am sorry. We went through the same thing this past year with our then 19 year old cat. Lots of tears, though we all knew it was the best thing for her. We have had such a bad year with our beloved pets. It is heart wrenching to lose our 4 legged family members. Some of us often do not react so well to the news or event. Try to give everyone a little space because of that.</p>
<p>snowball, I’m really sorry to hear about your cat. You made the right choice. Holding a dying animal in your arms and hoping to be able to get to the vet before she makes her last breath is much more heart wrenching.</p>
<p>Please watch the sister’s behavior carefully. One of my cats died last month(she was on a daily medication for years, and we knew her days were numbered even when she was diagnosed, but she managed to live happily for almost 4 years since her initial diagnosis). My other cat, who was a couple of years younger, was somewhat upset about the sudden disappearance of her older feline housemate: sniffed corners, started eating less, became more cuddly. When my D left for college, this kitty went on a total hunger strike. We tried to entice her with every treat possible, but she was stubborn and refused any food (still drank water and behaved like she was healthy and normal). After a couple of days, upon the vet’s advice, we started force-feeding her and took her to the vet. The vet did not find any abnormalities, so we brought her home and thought that she’d be OK after a while. She still refused food, but drank water and used her box normally. Several days later, I thought the cat felt too warm when she was snuggling on my side of the bed. H took her to the vet again - her bloodwork showed some unidentified infection. She was given an antibiotic and we were advised to watch her carefully. After a couple of days, it seemed that she was doing better, but still refused food. It was a beautiful weekend day, and H and I went hiking. When we came back, the cat did not look too well to me. I picked her up, H ran to get the emergency vet phone number… A few minutes later my beloved kitty died in my arms. Even H could not hold tears. We called D, and we all cried together. I do not know what happened; most likely, the kitty’s immune system was weakened by her “hunger strike”, and she picked up some sort of a bug… If she was chronically ill and I knew her time was almost up, I would have taken her to be put to sleep, but this was very sudden.</p>
<p>Your D will be OK; I think she just needs her space to grieve, and it is a normal thing.
My deepest sympathy to all posters who lost a pet…</p>
<p>Snowball, my thoughts are with you also. My beloved cat lived to be 23 years old, and when she died I grieved for a long time. Even though we’ve had two other cats for about 5 years now (who I love dearly as well) I still miss her.</p>
<p>Oh, snowball, I’m SO sorry about your cat. From <em>way</em> too much experience, there is no easy way to put a cat to sleep and no pleasant way to share or receive the news.</p>
<p>I lost one (Jack, approximate age 14) to chronic renal failure about two years ago. We (well, I) kept him alive for almost 6 months with the sub-q fluids and I’m not sure I’d ever make that decision again. It was painful for him and broke my heart each time I had to insert that needle. In the end, the result was the same.</p>
<p>Never feel you didn’t make the right decision. You let your family member go in a humane and painfree way. Many, many hugs to you.</p>
<p>I had to put my dog of fifteen years asleep a few weeks ago. Well my dad did it, rather, but I still couldn’t manage to go home for awhile, and when I do go home (I’m at school now) I still get sad over her. She was such a great dog, but she suffered from a stroke that left her unable to function that well. I somehow made it out without crying, but I still get really sad over it…</p>
<p>And my other dog had a similar problem in that she had a lot of trouble adjusting to her lack of older “sister” (wasn’t eating regularly, etc.) but we went ahead and purchased a new dog, which helped the whole family, including the younger dog, transition better.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry about the kitty. I had to have one of our cats put down this spring; he was only 5 1/2 years old and was my favorite. He went into complete renal failure. In a couple of weeks he went from being a normal, lively cat at the prime of his life to a bag of skin and bones that could barely move. We spent about 10 days and beaucoup bucks trying to get him through it, but no luck. The vet was scratching his head over it - he said that it’s extremely unusual in such a young cat. His sister knew that something was up. They were good friends (although he let her know on a regular basis that he was the dominant cat), but once he got sick she sniffed him and then stayed away. After he was gone she didn’t eat much and noticibly dropped some weight, but after a few days her appetite came back. It took me longer than that; I was sobbing over him for weeks. </p>
<p>The worst part was letting my daughter know, since the cats were her 8th grade birthday present. I wanted to wait until the weekend to tell her, but her brother told her. Then she called us up and berated us for not telling her right away. I talked to her the next day when she was calmer and told her that I had made a mistake and the next time there was bad news (not soon, I hope) I would let her know right away.</p>
<p>This summer she printed a couple of color pics of him for her dorm room, which I got frames for, and they are now prominently displayed. Also, she acquired a cat from someone who graduated (cats are allowed in her dorm), so now she has a pet to fuss over.</p>
:(</p>