We have a cat who had had some on-going mental problems. He’s been quite a interesting pet over these past years. Now he’s gotten up there in age and is getting quite sickly. His teeth are starting to get rotten, he won’t eat much, and… well… he’s old.
I plan on taking him into the vet in the next week and having him put down. I just can’t see spending a bunch of money just to milk a few more months out of his mentally unstable life. I mean, I love the little guy but sometimes you have to take quality of life into consideration.
My wife doesn’t like the idea of carting him off to a vet and having him put down. He gets scared so easy and she hates the idea of his last hours freaking out. She wondered about a nice way to do it at home.
I couldn’t come up with a way I thought would be peaceful for him.
I’ve never really thought about it before. All the past animals I’ve ever had to put down were next to death from an accident or so old and sick they didn’t even know what was happening to them.
Are there any sure fire home cures for something like this?
My wife bought herself an cut little Lahso Apso puppy about 10 years ago. We only had Earnhardt (she named him) about 6 months when he was hit by a car. It crushed the whole back half of him. My wife wanted to run him to a vet but I could tell there was nothing that could be done for him. I took Earnhardt in the garage and using a hammer, put him out of his misery. I balled like a baby while doing it.
Vets will make housecalls to put animals to sleep. It costs, but I’ve had it done, and making my cats as comfortable as possible for their last time with one is very important to me.
It’s terrible, pets dying. It makes me not want to ever have a pet again.
Another thing you could consider is to get the vet to prescribe an oral tranquilizer to give to the cat before you take him in. Then he won’t spend his last hours freaked out. The vet gives me a tranquilizer to give to my cat before taking her in for routine visits - otherwise she totally spazzes.
When I was about 13, my dad (an MD) and I humanely put down my aged pet rat when I was younger. We put her in a plastic bag, got a Calor [Benzene] gas canister, and filled the bag with gas. She dropped peacefully off to sleep, and died of asphyxiation. I wrote a very moving poem to the poor rat.
Unfortunately, my next-door neighbour, of the same age, heard what we had done, and one day a few weeks later, when his parents were out, decided to put his gerbil to sleep in the same fashion.
He dropped it in a bag, filled it with Calor gas, but then released the top of the bag. The result was that the gerbil revived slightly and started twitching. My friend panicked, and for some reason decided the best way to despatch the gerbil was by setting fire to it, so he got a cigarette lighter and lit the gerbil’s fir. It awoke fully by now and started squeaking in pain.
My friend was greatly distressed by this, so in his panic he ran around the kitchen holding the poor smoking creature, and beat it to death on the kitchen counter. He then lay on the kitchen floor and howled so loudly that my sister heard him in our house, even though all the doors and windows of both houses were shut.
I am afraid that, despite all the distress in this story, the image of him running round the kitchen flailing a burning gerbil tickles me greatly, in a sick fashion.
When we had to put our 13 year old chow chow to sleep, we had the vet come to the house to do it. It was one of the most horrible things that I have ever had to do but it was 100 times better than if we had to take her to the vet to do it. Plus, the whole vet office didn’t have to be subjected to watching my wife and I crying our eyes out.
My heart goes out to you, Seven, in this tough time.
Eeegh. I’m not sure I like the idea of Crazy Bean beaten to death with a hammer. I’m not sure I’d count that as a “peaceful ending”. LOL
Having a vet come to the house is a damn good idea. As well as drugging him into La-La Land before I take him to a vet.
I think the 2nd choice there will be the best and cheapest. Perhaps I can get enough kitty qualudes to know him out all together so his last memory is falling asleep on the couch.
You do not want to do it yourself. Take this from a guy who had to shoot a broken leg horse. You want the vet to do it because you can be sure that the vet will not screw up and the beast will be put down quickly and cleanly with the minimum of pain and fright. As far as I can tell the only reason to try to do it yourself is if you have both an emergency and an animal in pain.
This may be an urban legend, but I’ve heard once or twice that with modern ('90s and beyond) cars, the emmisions are not foul enough to kill you on any reasonable time frame. If you have a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, you can kill yourself with CO poisonic, but with a ‘99 Plymouth Prowler it ain’t gonna’ work.
I’m not sure about that. I remember a case around my way a year or two ago where a whole family died of carbon monixide poisoning from a running car in the garage. Admittedly I don’t know what kind of car they had, but it was prob not circa 1969.
If you know anyone who works for a pharmaceutical company, see if they can get you some isofluorane, a widely used anesthetic. My friend and I did this when we had to put down one of her beloved pet mice due to illness. The isoflo will evaporate readily, so pour a little bit on a piece of paper towel, stick it in a bag, put the bag over the animal’s head, seal off the bottom with your hand, and wait. The mice didn’t jerk around or anything–they just peacefully went off the sleep and never woke up. It was completely painless, quiet, and free.
While you might be able to do it yourself, especially if you have a source that can get you something like isofluorane, I personally would take him to the vet. I’d just be afraid of botching it and causing him a painful and traumatic death.
Maybe your vet could give you some cat tranquilizers. That would keep him calm for the trip to the vet.
Agreed, other than a reliable oral tranq, I probably wouldn’t put an animal in any condition other than one that was extreme (like the case mentioned above) to sleep myself; I would prefer some stress at the vet over the chance of botching an overdose, etc.
I assume that cats are put to sleep in a similar fashion as ferrets are (I had to have a ferret put down in the last 6 months). First a sedative is given to make them limp and barely responsive. Then when they’re well under from that, a double dose of a typical anesthesia is given - the vet told me it’s injected into the bloodstream in cats and dogs, but in ferrets it’s often simply injected into the heart to make it easier. I stayed for the procedure, gently petting her while it happened, and she didn’t even flinch at the final injection.
Thank you for thinking of ways to make it easier on the animal, and for not wanting to prolong suffering.
Get the vet to do do it, DEFINITELY, and I think at home is a nice idea actually. Only remember that when you put animals to sleep (same as putting a human or any living thing under anaesthetic) muscles will relax and bladders empty.
I used to work in a vets and held animals while they were put down, and it was totally painless and humane. To relieve an old, arthritic, suffering animal is hugely hard for a loving owner, but it is a really noble sacrifice.
Going to the vet would be the most humane thing you could do for the poor cat. They give the cat a shot first to relax it…then the next shot is the one that takes the cat to “heaven”. Good luck…