Has /an/ ever put down a pet? I have a cat thats about 21 years

>>2324042
I had to put mine down last week.

Does your cat still have a good quality of life? Is she in pain or just not happy? These are things to consider. Many animals in their old age (and 21 for a cat is extremely old, equivalent of over 100 for a person) stop grooming themselves, so that in itself is not enough to have them put down. Is she still eating well (even with missing teeth)? Does she still seem aware of her surroundings and what is going on? If she still seems to be "with it" then I'd say hold on, but if there are clear and obvious signs of pain or mental deterioration then take all that into account to assess her quality of life.

Yes by all means make your poor decrepit cat suffer in agony and pain until its last dying breath of relief comes and that twinkle of light disappears from its eyes that were begging you for months to let it go with dignity and mercy. After all death is the most horrible thing that can happen to the owner of a pet and since they exist solely for our own selfish pleasure and emotional needs, their physical and emotional needs should be ignored and thier misery prolonged as long as possible.

Quality of life is hard for many people to determine because they don't want to see certain frailties in someone they love. It's easy for people to overlook the sense of pain when the animal lays down or stands, signals of pain and emotional disturbance that are caused by that pain can be easy to overlook. Remember the animal cannot tell us with words where and how intense the pain is, we have to be careful observers of our animals to detect the subtle changes and signals of poor health and pain. Most people are not willing to be objective observers of these signs.

Some examples of invisible pain that animals dont really tell you about but may be quite intense include shaking while awake, a sort of constant twitch, difficulty walking or abnormal walking patterns limps gaits ect, difficulty when laying down or standing up, difficulty remaining standing, slipping and falling more frequently bumping into things frequently, signs of emotional stress caused by pain may include signs of agitation and fear from common noises and objects even being touched. The changes to their personality can be subtle indicators of underlying pain and health decline. Not wanting to walk or go out, not wanting to be pet or held like before, not being friendly to animals and people that were best friends before. These can be hard to judge but usually come in combination with physical signs such as shaking, shuddering, twitching, even seizures are commonly overlooked by owners unwilling to accept that thier pet is decking in health.

>>2324042
Nah, your cat deserves to suffer. Your mom seems to understand this.

>>2324042
Lucky fuck, today i had to put down the best cat i ever had due to kidney failure. She was only 6 fucking years old
be happy you got a whole 21 out of her, I wish my cat could have been so lucky.

>>2324469
>only 6
t. Outdoors

>>2324042

When you guys put down your pets what do you do with the body afterwards?

I don't live in a house so i don't have the luxury of burying it

>>2324527
nope, indoor. She only went outdoors to sun bathe in the back yard or just to hang out really.

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>>2324697

>>2324697
into the trash it goes

>>2324042

Not long after I graduated from college, my dog had bladder stones that made it hard for him to pee and when he did there was blood. We took him to the vet and they managed to clear his bladder but a few months later I noticed he was struggling to pee again. Eventually blood. We took him back to the vet and, in the course of a month, a malignant tumor developed in his bladder.

I'll never forget the numbness when my dad showed me an xray of his bladder with this large mass in it. They took a piece of the mass to test and, not long after the xray, it was proven to be malignant. My parents and I knew the day would come when he would be put down but he lasted a year before it became obvious the pain pills and whatever pill it was that could shrink the mass wouldn't work anymore. His bladder was near entirely swallowed by this mass and, just a few days after the 4th of July, we took him to the vet.

It remains one of the hardest choices I've dealt with and I continue to second guess myself. How do you kill something that still has such a zest for life? Something that helped you through some of the worst of your life? I try to justify that he was suffering and that it was worse to keep him alive, but they're just words when I remember holding him as the vet shot him up with pentobarbital. The last gasp of breath before he slumped in my arms, the death rattle of his body expelling remaining air, the far off stare as he lay on his side.

>>2324697

Cremated by dog through a service. I have his urn close by.

>>2324042
21 years is a pretty fucking long time. Definitely don't want until they actually die because that's too much suffering. I did that by accident. I was going to take him the next day to put him down by appointment but then he died during the night.

If she still eats give it a go. The second she stops eating though is time.

>>2324527
Yes, kidney failure is caused by going outdoors. Idiot.

>>2324697
The vet keeps it and sends it to a cremation service. About a week later I got the ashes back with some clay paw print casts.

>>2325853
Did they use some of the ash to make the clay?

>>2324042
I've shot plenty of pets

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I just got back from putting down one of the sweetest cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was a stray and very touch and go, but I did my best to feed him and house him whenever I could.
I'm hurting right now /an/ but I hope I rest easy knowing my little buddy isn't fighting whatever myriad of problems he was going through.
Pic related. Take care in the afterlife Gemini

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>>2326267
I thought a pic of Gemini from when we first met would be appropriate.

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>>2324042
Yeah it's a tough call to make op. Pic related is raggedy is hell and poops all over the place, but is still pretty active and eats a lot. He doesn't seem to be any real pain; thankfully. If you think your cat is actually in pain or stops eating I'd say put her down.

>>2324042
I'm debating having one of my mother's cats put down. It got hurt recently, and it's had trouble walking and can't jump anymore, i think it has some kind of neurological damage.

Quality over quantity.

>>2324042
i had mine put down on the 8th of this month.

it really sucks. but if you think you're cat isn't suffering and you think it can live happily longer idk.

mine stooped eating and drinking water for almost 2 weeks. Took him to the vet and ended up spending over $1,000 on him. they couldn't find anything wrong with him as to why he'd suddenly stop eating.

I miss my cat every fkin day, today would've been his birthday and he would've been 17. I'm glad for the 16 happy years i got with him though. wish i could've had more..

put down my 23 year old cat last week, got it when i was 1 years old. Not even that sad about it since he was so fucking old. holy fuck that cat fucking refused to die, only had to get him done because his kidneys had failed.

My cats were sibs that died within a few months of each other at around 19 years of age.

In my case, the decision--while still heartbreaking--was easier, as the first one to die was suffering from a fluid build-up in his lungs caused by cancer or something. Basically, he got to a point where he was no longer able to breathe without a lot of effort. We brought him to the vet when he seemed to be straining, and they actually put him on oxygen for a short time so we could say our goodbyes, and then he received the injection.

It was a pretty clear cut case in this instance--keeping him alive would not only be cruel, but the notion of extending his life by forcibly keeping him on oxygen/life support and wheeling him around in a chair like you would do to a human is kind of absurd.

Like people have already said, if your cat is in a situation where she's in constant discomfort and can't enjoy life anymore, then it's something to think about.

I dont even know why people find putting down old pets so sad, like dont get me wrong if your cat was like 4 and got sick and had to be put down that would be soul crushing, but when animals get to be like super old and they're moving all slowly and going blind and whatever else its just kind of like yeah whatever at this point, putting them down almost feels right and like not sad at all

I held my cat when it got put down by the vet.
He sustained severe internal damage after falling out of the window that we didn't properly secure.>>2324042

>>2324042
i'll give my two cents to the responsibility of the remains first, not the morality of the discussion as it's a pretty heavy topic.

if you rent, cremate. if you own but don't plan to own for much longer, cremate, if you own and plan to own for life and are okay with burying your pet, yeah, you can bury your pet ceremoniously as you see fit. but what if you come to own many pets throughout your life? your property may start to fill up over the years. what if you feel a responsibility to exhume should you ever move from your property?

speaking from my parents experience, they now choose to cremate over burial. our pets are always precious to us and deserve the same respect, mourning, and customs as humans, but they could no longer handle the amount of plots laid on our property. if they'd ever to move, they'd feel it to be too disrespectful to not bring them along.

cats that live past 17, exceeding 20 full years, is exceptionally long for cats. i could actually congratulate you for being a great pet owner at that point. they've lived extremely full lives, they've seen all a cat can see, and done all one could do. you've done an excellent job keeping them healthy and mobile until an age which is now equivalent to almost 90 human years. now all you can do is take care of them, in all of their ailments, until their time comes. your question is what you should do to your beloved pet, which is a very tough question to answer at this stage in a cat's life. i think only you can answer that question, and i don't see a reason to accept an answer from someone who posts here. we're not personally in touch with your pet, we don't really know her, we don't know you, we don't know your connection to her, we don't feel her pain, we don't know yours. i can only tell you that if you want to know if you should euthanize, you have to make the decision yourself.

>>2325900
No, it's just normal clay. The ashes are returned in a bag inside of a box.