Death of a cat...

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My daughter is with her father this weekend. This evening she called me and was hysterical. Some critter got a hold of her cat and pretty much ripped his tail off. There was a lot of blood and his fur was... it was a mess so she could not really tell how bad the damage was. I found a vet hospital that would take the cat tonight so her dad agreed to drive the cat out for an inspection as I had agreed to pay the first visit and possibly the surgery depending on cost and extent of damage.

The cat could not be saved. Apparently the tail was not the only part of the cat's backside that was ruined. He would have needed at least three surgeries before the physical reconstruction. That was not even enough to guarantee the cat would ever be able to digest food or use the bathroom again. It was amazing he was still alive at that point.

She called me from the vet crying. She told me they were going to put him to sleep. She kept asking if it was the right thing to do. I told her it was. It seems unfair to put an animal through multiple surgeries and extensive pain to still result in a possible death. Why draw it out? That seems cruel to me. It seemed cruel to her as well, she just felt bad for thinking it and wanted reassurance. They let her sit with her cat before they gave him the injection. She said he put his paw on her, rested his head on her, looked at her and meowed. She just cried. She said it was like he knew. I think she is right.

They stopped back here after the vet trip. The cat will be buried here tomorrow afternoon. She wants her cat here because her dad is in an apartment and wants to move. She wants her cat close to her. Tonight I am trying to think of a good place for him in the yard. I think by the magnolia tree. I think that would be nice. I have no idea what I am trying to say... It has just become a difficult night and I needed to clear my head.

That's awful, I am saddened by the story, I hope your daughter gets over the sadness, shock and horror quickly.

I'm sorry to hear about the cat. I'm in no position to judge whether it was the right or wrong thing to do, and sometimes there is no right or wrong thing to do.

However I would like to say that cats are actually very resilient and have been known to survive amazing ordeals and cope with injury and illness quite well.

I think it is adult humans who have the most difficult time with such things because adult humans like to dwell on how much pain they are in, how unwell they are feeling, and what it's preventing them from doing. Studies of chronically and critically ill children have found that they tend to cope better than adults. The reason is likely that children get distracted easily. A child might be laying there half conscious in a hospital bed thinking "I want to go play the new game they have for the Playstation" and spend their time looking forward to that.

Cats, on the other hand, seem very concerned with keeping their schedule. My older cat started to go blind the last few months of her life but as long as she could get to where she intended to go she seemed content, and cats generally do well without vision as long as they are indoors and have people who care for them well.

My grandmother, on the other hand, put her cat to sleep when it started to go blind. She felt bad because the cat was bumping into things. I think a lot of times people really put their pets to sleep because THEY can't bare the illness or the injury, not the pet.

Thank you. It is so hard to lose a pet, but to lose one like that... I just want to fix it for her immediately and unfortunately it does not work that way. I hope she can recover quickly as well. All things heal in time... it is just the wait sucks. In the meantime, she has some friends who want to come to the ceremony/funeral for him tomorrow. Hopefully that will give her additional support and comfort. It is nice that her friends are there for her now. I thought that was very kind and decent of them. They are good kids.

For what it's worth. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

The vet was not at all optimistic. He told my ex that the first surgery needed would only be enough to allow the cat to make it to the university hospital (either michigan state or university of michigan... i forget which) where he could get the other surgeries. The whole thing is really awful. I mean, I do not want to get into the details because it is awful, but what was left of the tail and fur covered up what was missing from the back of the cat... there was no way to save it. It needed things like intestines reconstructed and that is just a small part of the reconstructive surgery aspect. Major parts of the cat were ripped out and away is what I mean. It was really bad.

If there was any way to save the cat, I would have done so. I tend to be a sucker for rescue animals and have dumped money, time, and trips to the vet for sickly snakes... I would do so for a cat as well. I tend to like animals more than people. People have told me before that animals are not the same after surgery. I have not found that to be entirely true. I had a cat once who lived through a surgery and he was back to his normal self afterward and proceeded to live another ten years. But yeah, it can be hard to know what is right or wrong or even if there is right or wrong. It seems sick and wrong to have to make decisions about life and death when dealing with living beings... but so goes life sometimes. And it always sucks.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry. I've been through it and 13 years later, it still hurts. But you do the best you can in the moment and that's all you can do. You and your daughter have my sympathy.

I am sorry you had to go through this as well. I would like to add more to this, but I find myself 'hitting glass walls in my head' at the moment. My words are not working well for me. Meh.

I do appreciate you sharing that you have been through such an ordeal. Thank you for reading, responding and your sympathies. It is appreciated.

I am so, so sorry. I know what it feels like to have to put a cat down. It's very saddening, especially for a young cat owner. You and your daughter have my condolences.

I'm really sorry. I can't imagine having to go through that. It brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I am sorry you had to put a cat to sleep as well. I agree that it is sad for a younger person to have to go through that... not that it is not sad for older people, but it seems somehow more cruel when the person involved is young. Thank you for your kind words.

Thank you. Eh. I keep thinking I should have better things to say in return to all of you who took time to reply, but really what do you say in situations like these? I keep saying thank you and it is appreciated, but I am appreciative that you all took time to read and respond and I do appreciate the kind words...