Does anyone know if cats get any care when waiting to be enthusized?

Question

Are they crammed in with other cats in a cage. Ignored and not fed. Put in a back room to wait? How long do they have to wait? Do they smell danger coming?

Reason: My adopted kitten was rescued by a volunteer from being put to sleep and taken to a no kill shelter three hours away. She seems to have been mistreated and doesn't want to be touched.

Does anyone know what goes on or doesn't go on in the death waiting room?

Answer 1

First off I can only speak from experience where I use to work. I worked in an animal shelter for a year. We were lucky that we weren't overwelmed with cats and dogs everyday. We never had to euth based on overcrowding. Aggressive animals, sick animals, or animals that were very old were put down. Where I worked we had a back room where each cat was in its own cage (it was a bank of cages with plenty of room for an animal to move around in without being stressed), and waiting processing. All the animals were tested for FIV/FLeuk, and given time to adjust before being put out for adoption.

Sadly some cats did not make the cut :( Don't think that the cats were put into a small cage and left to sit for hours and suffer. Once a decision was made to euth we would take the cats back right away. Again I worked at a very small shelter in a small town so we maybe had 3 euth a week.

The number one thing I was taught was to make the euth as stressless and calm on the animal. We always made sure the table the animal was on was clean. If a cat smells another cat was there they can be stressed out.

The euth itself takes a few seconds to register. Basically it is like drawing blood on the leg of the animal except you inject instead.

Do you know how long your cat had been at this other shelter? The home it first came from? The cat may have lived in a stressful environment at its original home.

Hope this helps you out, give your new kitty some time. It has been moved alot it sounds like.

Answer 2

I would be very surprised to learn of any mistreatment of a cat waiting to be euthanized at a shelter. The shelter employees, including the Certified Euthanasia Technicians take their responsibilities very seriously, and their commitment to the animals is unparalleled. If the kitten was scheduled to be euthanized, she would still have enjoyed her own food, water and the kind words and gestures of volunteers and staff. They are not kept in a room where other animals are being put to sleep and a tech would have stayed with them until their last breath.

My guess is, your cat has been through a lot of change (traveling, shelter life, new home) and it's possible that she was traumatized long before she arrived at the shelter. Time and patience will almost certainly prevail.

Answer 3

It depends on the shelter. I'm sorry to say that no kill shelters are not always the best places for pets. They tend to be over crowded and under funded, leaving the kitties to fend for themselves the best they can.
Do some research into the facility you got her from. Look it up on the internet. Did you tour the whole place, or did they keep you in one spot? If they won't let you look around, you have to ask yourself what they could be hiding.
Ask how long the kitty had been at the facility and where she came from. Some rescue cats have been living wild and don't like people.
I personally have seen shelter attendants gloss over, or not mention, potential problems to get the pet adopted. That might be the case here.
Give her time. She may just need time to adjust to new surroundings. Cats hate change and love routines, let everything settle down and she may come around.

Answer 4

In most vet's offices where the cat is waiting to be euthanized, the cats are in cages, sometimes alone and sometimes with others. They are fed and cared for. The same is true in no kill shelters. Many animals in shelters get specialized attention depending on who is doing the caring, who owns the shelter and the animal to person ration. It sounds like your kitten may be suffering the loss of her mother and litter mates. Sometimes it helps to get another kitten so that your kitten learns to trust and feel social again. Sometimes it is just a matter of time and giving the cat lots of affection without touching. You might try a little catnip ball to loosen up her cat feelings. Cats are also territorial and your kitten may not loosen up until she feels that she really going to stay somewhere permanently.

Answer 5

Generally they're in their own cage or with a friend they know (two rescued together). They are cared for like all the other animals they usually are held for an adoption period. They're in the cat room until it's time to go then they're given the injection to put them to sleep. It's not about terror and torture. You have to consider that she was in a shelter for a reason. She could have been mistreated first or simply not handled. Most shelters don't have time to tame and calm the animals in their care they do the best they can. No kill shelters can refuse animals when they're full to give time and funds to the animals they have, pounds have to except what comes in and have to make space when necessary. Just love your kitty, thanks for adopting

Answer 6

If you are talking about cats being euthanized at a shelter, at the shelter I volunteered at, yes, they are taken care of. They have their own cage with food and water. Usually, it is done at the end of the day after closing.

If you are bringing in a cat to your veterinarian, you're usually with them until the end if you want to be.

It could be that your kitten was traumatized from the 3 hour ride, being shuffled from place to place, the noisy room in the shelter, it could be a number of things. Patience and lots of love and attention will make that go away with time.

At the shelter I worked at, all the animals were treated with respect.

Hope this helps, good luck with the kitten.

Answer 7

It all depends on where you take them. Some people are gentle and caring, some are not. If you can handle it it is best if you can be with them. Our vet gives them a tranquuilizer before they are euthanized, but we only do this if the animal is suffering and cannot be cured. I am sick and tired of people who put their cat down because it becomes inconvenient, ie, their boyfriend does not like cats, they can't have it in their new apartment, and the very worst, "it doesn't match my new couch". Yes, that happened. A pet is a living, feeling creature, feeling fear, love, grieves at the loss of a loved person, a best friend, and a responsibility, If you will be the only caregiver don't adopt until you are mature enough to realize this.

Answer 8

Usually when we euthanize pets, they are with their owners until it's time, then we ask if they want to be in the room during the procedure.
In your case, the kitten probably wasn't in a cage with others, most places have one animal per cage, but being in a shelter as a kitten is pretty stressful. Lots of noise, lots of strangers, etc. They are fed and watered, not ignored (especially not a kitten!) Your kitty is probably stressed out. Give her some time and she should come around.
I am a vet assistant, and just because I see death everyday doesn't mean I'm not compassionate towards that animal. During the procedure I pet them and talk to them until they are gone. It's the hardest part of my job, but most of the time they are in pain and we are letting them have their dignity by euthanizing them. As an owner, you want to remember them how they were, not how they are.

Answer 9

Cats waiting to be euthanized are not handled much, but they are cared for and there are usually more than one cat per cage.

Kittens born to a wild mother may or may not be handled in the critical weeks after birth. If your kitten wasn't, it will take time to get her to accept you and she probably won't take to cuddling. She will probably hide from strangers and be stand-offish until she knows you and knows you control the food.

DO get her fixed. A fixed female, even a half wild one, is friendlier and much more willing to be touched.

Answer 10

That cat was mistreated before the shelter ever got it. Odds are it was ferral.