Dying cat.. did I do the right thing??? Please advise...?

Question

This morning I found a cat that had been hit by a car and was struggling to reach a puddle of water to drink some.... it was crawling on its front legs only, but I thought there would be some hope and called a vet. But the vet said her backbone was fractured, she was paralyzed from the waist, and would starve to death in a matter of days or weeks, depending on how much she would manage to crawl for food....
I asked whether there was anything to do for her, he said that we could keep her alive for a while, but she would be like a disabled person, not able to move or control the lower part of her body, and that eventually, if no one adopted her, she would die in great suffering...
So I paid him and asked him to put her to sleep. It was a homeless cat, she must have had a very tormenting life, I thought the least she deserved was a painless death....
But now I have doubts... did I do the right thing? Wasn't there a better option for the poor cat?...
Please give me your honest answers...

Answer 1

What a kind person you are. Our cat was knocked over and suffered exactly the same sort of injury, he crawled away and hid until it got dark. My husband spent ages looking for him but couldn't find him. ( We didn't know about the accident at this point).. In the middle of the night our other cat woke us up banging the cat flap with his head, we found our other little chap on the doorstep. He must have hidden in some bushes at the bottom of our 50 metre long drive and then dragged himself up at night. We were heartbroken but had him put to sleep. I was most heartbroken at the thought of him pulling his broken body all that way and could only have wished that whoever had hit him had as much decency and care as you have shown. It's 7 years ago now and I'm filling up typing this.

Answer 2

Babes - your so kind for stopping and taking the cat to the vet - your a lovely LOVELY person and did more that the average person would do... you made a VERY hard decision - to take the life of an animal - and you weighed the situation up with expert advice from the vet - if you both decided the kindest option was euthenasia then that WAS the RIGHT decision. That poor cat must have been in absolute agony - petrified and god know what else - by stopping - helping and ending its misery you did the kindest most wonderful thing so dont you feel bad - its sad - heartbreaking that this happened but life is very cruel sometimes and you can only try and make the best of a bad situation - which you did - well done. I would have done the same - without a doubt - a wild cat would have had NO quality of life as a disabled animal - if their bowels and bladder were also damaged (which i suspect they would have been) then as a clean animal the cat would have found messing themselves very upsetting - keeping themselves clean would have been hard and also caused them to be unhappy. Tell youself this - I know i did the kindest thing for the cat and made the best choice in a bad situation - the feellings i have now are sadness for the loss of a life and NOT gulit because i know i did the best thing for the cat..... and give yourself a pat on the back for helping her. take care XXX

Answer 3

You absolutely did the right thing - and not only that, you did a lovely and caring thing that many people would not do.

Cats are elegant, gracious, dignified creatures and this cat would have wanted to save his dignity and not live the rest of her life without the use of her lower body. Not only did you put her out of her suffering, but you also saved her dignity.

Please do not doubt yourself - what you did was absolutely the right thing. Although this cat was homeless, I know that many people lose their pets due to car accidents, and if it were my cat in the road, I would only hope that somebody as kind as you would help him.

Do not listen to the person that said you should have paid for an operation on the cat. For a start, it was not only her legs that were injured. The vet told you she would suffer if she was kept alive. She would likely have had many health problems later in life too. Aside from that, it is a very sorry and saddening thing to see such agile creatures bound to a pair of back wheels. Some rescue cats are put up for adoption in this situation, but they were often either born with hind leg problems and have no other health difficulties, or injured only their legs and are able to live a happy life otherwise. This really wasn't the case for the cat you found. Humans can often adapt to wheelchairs because we are capable of doing so, and we can often do so with dignity, but it is very different situation for cats.

You did the best thing possible for this cat.

xx Emmie

Answer 4

You did the right thing love.

Dont feel bad what your vet said was true. I know it is sad to see an animal put down but you are correct in saying it deserved a painless death and that what you have given it a world without pain or suffering. Its happy now.

You are a very very kind person to have done that for a stray animal you wouldnt believe how many people would not have done that for that animal.

You truelly are wonderful for what you did and you certainly made the right choice. Sleep happy knowing that that poor little cat is happier now than it probally ever has been.

I thank you for being such a brave individual =)

Answer 5

Well you could have done 2 things:
1)Put it down b/c you dont know the cat and it is homeless

or 2) could have spent a fortune on a cat you dont know anything about on a wheelchair or something.

If it was my own cat I would have done more to save it. But you know, you ended her missery and now she is in kitty heaven with all the food and mobility she wants. I think you did the right thing for a homeless cat that was suffering. Other people would have probably left it. Or in some countries would have eatin in..............
But dont feel bad. Imagine if you were in pain and couldnt do anything, would you want to be alive? I think you did the correct thing any humane humanbeing would do.

Answer 6

You are a wonderful person. Many would not have helped. You must look at it this way. Imagine the pain and suffereing the poor cat must have had from the accident.
You stopped the pain, If it was not curable you did the right thing.
A wild cat is use to it's own independence and would never of had it back, it would have been so sad. He/she is in a better place (pain free now).
Thankfully there are People like you about, willing to go the extra mile and help.

Answer 7

Cats are born to be active and jump in trees, scratch furniture, run away from predators, rub up against people, hunt, chase after things.... what out of the above could this cat have done? Exactly. You made the right choice, don't kill yourself over it. It was a really sweet thing to do to go through all that trouble and i'm sure this cat appreciated what you have done for it more than anyone. People don't adopt enough strays as it is, what makes you think they want to adopt a cat who can't even drag itself to the litterbox? In nature this cat would die and for good reason, because only humans find it necessary to cling to life in such a way it loses all quality and hence the whole meaning behind it. You absolutely did the right thing. Thank god for decent people like you.

Answer 8

You did the right thing. The only other valid option would be to adopt the cat, who would spend the rest of her life in your house, paralysed, with constant need of care (to be cleaned from peeing, etc.). I am not sure if this life would be pleasing to the cat. many could argue that it is still life, and invalid persons are not being put to death. I agree with that, but it is also understandable that this way you would be keeping an animal to a constant suffering. So I think you did the right thing.

Answer 9

There is always a glimmer of doubt when one has a furry friend that has to be euthanized. Those 'what ifs' don't seem to leave you alone. Ultimately, what you did for this creature was an act of love and mercy! That cat may have been beaten and kicked it's whole life, but in her last few moments she had a best friend!! Perhaps you may consider going to a shelter and let one of those many hard-life felines pick you out. Sounds like you have alot more love to give.

Answer 10

It was the right thing to do. You said it yourself if you didn't do anything it would've starved to death. If you kept it alive by feeding it, it would still have suffered and would attempt to find a corner and die that way. Giving it a painless and peaceful death was a more kind gesture than to have helped it live in pain and disability.