A warning before you euthanize your cat. (sorry--it is long)

Thinking about that possibility may help my heart begin to heal from
this. Right now I feel like I failed my best friend when he needed me
the most.
Thanks for 'listening.'
AJ

Good Lord... I am so sorry for what you've been through. Don't beat yourself up
over it. You did what you thought was best, and that's all we can do. The
important thing is that you were with Merlin, and he knows that.
Sherry

"AJ" wrote in message
om...
sad story snipped
Thanks for 'listening.'
AJ

AJ,
I can sympathize with you and your experience. When I had my cat put to
sleep it hurt him when they put the needle in and he cried out.
Fortunately, the doctor hit the vein so there was no further struggling, but
the way he cried out will haunt me forever and I'll never forget it. I so
wish that the time directly before his death could have been a happy one,
and it makes me feel so sad when I think about it. Just know that your baby
is now in a good place and all pain is gone.

So sorry for your loss,
K.

"AJ" wrote in message
om...
sad story snipped
Thanks for 'listening.'
AJ

AJ,
I can sympathize with you and your experience. When I had my cat put to
sleep it hurt him when they put the needle in and he cried out.
Fortunately, the doctor hit the vein so there was no further struggling, but
the way he cried out will haunt me forever and I'll never forget it. I so
wish that the time directly before his death could have been a happy one,
and it makes me feel so sad when I think about it. Just know that your baby
is now in a good place and all pain is gone.

So sorry for your loss,
K.

I am posting this in the hope that if the time ever comes when you are
faced with having your cat euthanized, you will learn from our
experience.

Euthanasia is not supposed to be this way at all. I was with my cat as he was
allowed to go to sleep mercifully. They shaved his leg and already had an IV in
when they brought him into the room wrapped in a colorful blanket. My husband
and I sat and pet him, telling him how wonderful he was until he was purring
and relaxed. They administered the shot and he was gone in two seconds. His
heart had stopped almost instantly. He purred til the very end. I did tell the
doctor ahead of time that I didn't want phenobarbital, I wanted the more
expensive less painful injection. A shot of pheno to the abdomen will paralyze
the animal but it will be alive for a bit. I personally feel you should write a
letter to the owner of that hospital so someone can educate the vets so that
horrible experience will never happen to anyone else again. What a horrible
event for you, your family and your kitty. At least now he is finally at rest.
My prayers are with you all.

I am posting this in the hope that if the time ever comes when you are
faced with having your cat euthanized, you will learn from our
experience.

Euthanasia is not supposed to be this way at all. I was with my cat as he was
allowed to go to sleep mercifully. They shaved his leg and already had an IV in
when they brought him into the room wrapped in a colorful blanket. My husband
and I sat and pet him, telling him how wonderful he was until he was purring
and relaxed. They administered the shot and he was gone in two seconds. His
heart had stopped almost instantly. He purred til the very end. I did tell the
doctor ahead of time that I didn't want phenobarbital, I wanted the more
expensive less painful injection. A shot of pheno to the abdomen will paralyze
the animal but it will be alive for a bit. I personally feel you should write a
letter to the owner of that hospital so someone can educate the vets so that
horrible experience will never happen to anyone else again. What a horrible
event for you, your family and your kitty. At least now he is finally at rest.
My prayers are with you all.

"AJ" wrote in message
om...
Hi
My first time posting here, but I need to say something that might
prevent others from having the sad experience I had yesterday
regarding our wonderful cat, Merlin.

Snip painful story

AJ, what you went through was very traumatic and I'm sorry. You had the bad
luck of being one of the few that expereience a problem with euthanasia.
What sounds like happened is that your cat was dehydrated somewhat from his
illness. Dehydrated animals are very hard to find veins on. Unfortunately,
not enough education goes on in vet schools about exactly what to do in a
problem situation involving euthanasia, and I'll bet this was the first time
your vet has been confronted with it himself, despite having been in
practice for a while. Or, maybe he was reluctant to go to the abdominal
method immediately, because that sometimes causes the owners more stress
than the cat. Either an intramuscular or interabdominal shot of a small
portion of the euthanasia solution would have allowed your cat to become
unconscious. (Cats have their eyes open when sedated, so don't fear that
the animal wasn't "asleep" when he finally passed.) Then, as your animal
was difficult to get a vein on, the vet should have explained to you than an
intracardial stick now that the animal was sedated would be the quickest and
most peaceful route for your animal to go. The direct shot to the heart is
not something vets really enjoy doing, much less in front of a pet's owner,
but it would have been a lot better than many attempts to find a vein.
Again, your experience is atypical. But, that doesn't resolve your vet of
the responsibility of communication with you and he should have talked with
you and reassessed the situation after the second attempt to find a vein.
As I said, euthanasia doesn't receive much coverage in vet school, and
sometimes vets need additional training in their people skills and
communication as well.

Do rest assured that your animal *was* asleep when the fatal dose was
administered. He was probably dreaming of the good times with you.

"AJ" wrote in message
om...
Hi
My first time posting here, but I need to say something that might
prevent others from having the sad experience I had yesterday
regarding our wonderful cat, Merlin.

Snip painful story

AJ, what you went through was very traumatic and I'm sorry. You had the bad
luck of being one of the few that expereience a problem with euthanasia.
What sounds like happened is that your cat was dehydrated somewhat from his
illness. Dehydrated animals are very hard to find veins on. Unfortunately,
not enough education goes on in vet schools about exactly what to do in a
problem situation involving euthanasia, and I'll bet this was the first time
your vet has been confronted with it himself, despite having been in
practice for a while. Or, maybe he was reluctant to go to the abdominal
method immediately, because that sometimes causes the owners more stress
than the cat. Either an intramuscular or interabdominal shot of a small
portion of the euthanasia solution would have allowed your cat to become
unconscious. (Cats have their eyes open when sedated, so don't fear that
the animal wasn't "asleep" when he finally passed.) Then, as your animal
was difficult to get a vein on, the vet should have explained to you than an
intracardial stick now that the animal was sedated would be the quickest and
most peaceful route for your animal to go. The direct shot to the heart is
not something vets really enjoy doing, much less in front of a pet's owner,
but it would have been a lot better than many attempts to find a vein.
Again, your experience is atypical. But, that doesn't resolve your vet of
the responsibility of communication with you and he should have talked with
you and reassessed the situation after the second attempt to find a vein.
As I said, euthanasia doesn't receive much coverage in vet school, and
sometimes vets need additional training in their people skills and
communication as well.

Do rest assured that your animal *was* asleep when the fatal dose was
administered. He was probably dreaming of the good times with you.

AJ wrote:
snip

I suggest that you impress upon your vet
that you want your cat pre-sedated in
some manner to avoid having his/her last
moments spent in fear and pain. I also
wish so much that I had had the presence
of mind to stop the proceedings the
first instant that I saw that it was
causing pain and fear. I am devastated
by this and as desperately as I wish I
could--I can't go back and make it
better for my dear kitty, but maybe
someone here will learn from our
experience. Thinking about that
possibility may help my heart begin to
heal from this. Right now I feel like I
failed my best friend when he needed me
the most.

You didn't fail your best friend. Sometimes these things happen and we
have no control. Hindsight is always 20/20, but even then it's possible
that what we think we shoukld have done wouldn't have made a difference
either. I'm sorry you're in so much pain, but please don't feel guilty
for a situation you could not control.

On December 1 I had my vet come to my house to euthanize my Sadie, who
had been battling a serous illness for 9 months. I thought that since
she had always been a sweet and mellow cat that things would go
smoothly, but it was not to be. She had started to develop fluid on her
chest and was starting to have trouble breathing. When they tried to put
a catheter in she got stressed and made it impossible to get the
catheter in. I tried to calm her, but her breathing trouble stressed her
more and it became a vicious circle. The vet then gave her a sedative
and it had an adverse reaction and just made things worse.

At this point we had to move fast so my last memory of my beautiful,
lovely girl was not one of me looking into her eyes and saying goodbye
while she drifted away, but instead one of me scruffing her tightly and
keeping her from struggling long enough so that the vet could quickly
find a vein and inject her. All I could do was apologize through my
tears and hope it went quickly. It was not pleasant, but the
circumstances were such that it was unavoidable. Sometimes this is just
the way it goes and we don't get the peaceful ending we'd hoped for. I
have lost 7 cats in the last few years and some of the euthanasias have
been very calm and peaceful, and sometimes they have not. (Check the
Google archive for "What Happened To Benjamin" to see my horror story.)

There are also times when we don't get to really say goodbye, either.
Last week I brought my cat Natasha in for surgery to remove and biopsy a
tumor I discovered in the back of her mouth. The vet called me while she
was on the table and said it was really bad, so I told her to keep her
under and I would be there right away.

When I got there she showed me what was going on and there were
cancerous masses all the way down the back of her throat. There was
nothing to be done and I had no choice but to euthanize. I would have
loved for Natasha to see me and hear me one last time, but was it fair
to wake her up from that just for my satisfaction? No, of course not, so
I sat with her and talked to her and hoped that some small part of her
would know I was there and hear me tell her how much I loved her. She
slipped away peacefully, but it was still devastating because I so
wanted her to know I was right there by her side until the very end no
matter what, but I'll never know if she knew I was there.

Whether we have had good or bad experiences with euthanasia the facts
are that as long as we choose to have cats in our lives, we will most
times have to face this sort of decision again and again. I think most
times things will go well, but there are always going to be other
factors we have no control over and sometimes that means that it will
not go the way we hope it will.

You can't beat yourself up over this. Yes, it's a tough memory to have
to live with, but that memory is just a blip on the screen compared to
the lifetime of *good* memories you have in your heart and mind, and
those are what you must hold on to and cherish.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

AJ wrote:
snip

I suggest that you impress upon your vet
that you want your cat pre-sedated in
some manner to avoid having his/her last
moments spent in fear and pain. I also
wish so much that I had had the presence
of mind to stop the proceedings the
first instant that I saw that it was
causing pain and fear. I am devastated
by this and as desperately as I wish I
could--I can't go back and make it
better for my dear kitty, but maybe
someone here will learn from our
experience. Thinking about that
possibility may help my heart begin to
heal from this. Right now I feel like I
failed my best friend when he needed me
the most.

You didn't fail your best friend. Sometimes these things happen and we
have no control. Hindsight is always 20/20, but even then it's possible
that what we think we shoukld have done wouldn't have made a difference
either. I'm sorry you're in so much pain, but please don't feel guilty
for a situation you could not control.

On December 1 I had my vet come to my house to euthanize my Sadie, who
had been battling a serous illness for 9 months. I thought that since
she had always been a sweet and mellow cat that things would go
smoothly, but it was not to be. She had started to develop fluid on her
chest and was starting to have trouble breathing. When they tried to put
a catheter in she got stressed and made it impossible to get the
catheter in. I tried to calm her, but her breathing trouble stressed her
more and it became a vicious circle. The vet then gave her a sedative
and it had an adverse reaction and just made things worse.

At this point we had to move fast so my last memory of my beautiful,
lovely girl was not one of me looking into her eyes and saying goodbye
while she drifted away, but instead one of me scruffing her tightly and
keeping her from struggling long enough so that the vet could quickly
find a vein and inject her. All I could do was apologize through my
tears and hope it went quickly. It was not pleasant, but the
circumstances were such that it was unavoidable. Sometimes this is just
the way it goes and we don't get the peaceful ending we'd hoped for. I
have lost 7 cats in the last few years and some of the euthanasias have
been very calm and peaceful, and sometimes they have not. (Check the
Google archive for "What Happened To Benjamin" to see my horror story.)

There are also times when we don't get to really say goodbye, either.
Last week I brought my cat Natasha in for surgery to remove and biopsy a
tumor I discovered in the back of her mouth. The vet called me while she
was on the table and said it was really bad, so I told her to keep her
under and I would be there right away.

When I got there she showed me what was going on and there were
cancerous masses all the way down the back of her throat. There was
nothing to be done and I had no choice but to euthanize. I would have
loved for Natasha to see me and hear me one last time, but was it fair
to wake her up from that just for my satisfaction? No, of course not, so
I sat with her and talked to her and hoped that some small part of her
would know I was there and hear me tell her how much I loved her. She
slipped away peacefully, but it was still devastating because I so
wanted her to know I was right there by her side until the very end no
matter what, but I'll never know if she knew I was there.

Whether we have had good or bad experiences with euthanasia the facts
are that as long as we choose to have cats in our lives, we will most
times have to face this sort of decision again and again. I think most
times things will go well, but there are always going to be other
factors we have no control over and sometimes that means that it will
not go the way we hope it will.

You can't beat yourself up over this. Yes, it's a tough memory to have
to live with, but that memory is just a blip on the screen compared to
the lifetime of *good* memories you have in your heart and mind, and
those are what you must hold on to and cherish.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

This is very beautiful, Megan.
I don't want to think about the day it may be my lot, but your post should
be read and memorized by all of us, for further use - to strengthen our
spirits.
Thank you.
Yvonne

wrote in message
...
AJ wrote:
snip

I suggest that you impress upon your vet
that you want your cat pre-sedated in
some manner to avoid having his/her last
moments spent in fear and pain. I also
wish so much that I had had the presence
of mind to stop the proceedings the
first instant that I saw that it was
causing pain and fear. I am devastated
by this and as desperately as I wish I
could--I can't go back and make it
better for my dear kitty, but maybe
someone here will learn from our
experience. Thinking about that
possibility may help my heart begin to
heal from this. Right now I feel like I
failed my best friend when he needed me
the most.

You didn't fail your best friend. Sometimes these things happen and we
have no control. Hindsight is always 20/20, but even then it's possible
that what we think we shoukld have done wouldn't have made a difference
either. I'm sorry you're in so much pain, but please don't feel guilty
for a situation you could not control.

On December 1 I had my vet come to my house to euthanize my Sadie, who
had been battling a serous illness for 9 months. I thought that since
she had always been a sweet and mellow cat that things would go
smoothly, but it was not to be. She had started to develop fluid on her
chest and was starting to have trouble breathing. When they tried to put
a catheter in she got stressed and made it impossible to get the
catheter in. I tried to calm her, but her breathing trouble stressed her
more and it became a vicious circle. The vet then gave her a sedative
and it had an adverse reaction and just made things worse.

At this point we had to move fast so my last memory of my beautiful,
lovely girl was not one of me looking into her eyes and saying goodbye
while she drifted away, but instead one of me scruffing her tightly and
keeping her from struggling long enough so that the vet could quickly
find a vein and inject her. All I could do was apologize through my
tears and hope it went quickly. It was not pleasant, but the
circumstances were such that it was unavoidable. Sometimes this is just
the way it goes and we don't get the peaceful ending we'd hoped for. I
have lost 7 cats in the last few years and some of the euthanasias have
been very calm and peaceful, and sometimes they have not. (Check the
Google archive for "What Happened To Benjamin" to see my horror story.)

There are also times when we don't get to really say goodbye, either.
Last week I brought my cat Natasha in for surgery to remove and biopsy a
tumor I discovered in the back of her mouth. The vet called me while she
was on the table and said it was really bad, so I told her to keep her
under and I would be there right away.

When I got there she showed me what was going on and there were
cancerous masses all the way down the back of her throat. There was
nothing to be done and I had no choice but to euthanize. I would have
loved for Natasha to see me and hear me one last time, but was it fair
to wake her up from that just for my satisfaction? No, of course not, so
I sat with her and talked to her and hoped that some small part of her
would know I was there and hear me tell her how much I loved her. She
slipped away peacefully, but it was still devastating because I so
wanted her to know I was right there by her side until the very end no
matter what, but I'll never know if she knew I was there.

Whether we have had good or bad experiences with euthanasia the facts
are that as long as we choose to have cats in our lives, we will most
times have to face this sort of decision again and again. I think most
times things will go well, but there are always going to be other
factors we have no control over and sometimes that means that it will
not go the way we hope it will.

You can't beat yourself up over this. Yes, it's a tough memory to have
to live with, but that memory is just a blip on the screen compared to
the lifetime of *good* memories you have in your heart and mind, and
those are what you must hold on to and cherish.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray