old suffering cat euthenasia at home

Death by hypoxia is completely painless and will cause no panic, anxiety or any negative feelings. It will feel like falling asleep for your cat. Watch this video:

[link to www.youtube.com]

It's done by letting the animal breath an inert gas. At 4:15 you can watch how it works on a pig. The pig is completely unaware that it doesn't breathe normal air until it becomes unconscious.

The inert gas could be Helium, Neon, Argon. Better not to use carbon dioxide. Easily obtainable would be probably pure Nitrogen. Were I live, gas stations or service stations have it. They use it to pressurize tires. You could go there with your cat in a small box or a little aquarium (better, because you can watch the cat). Let the gas steadily stream through this box so that the air is replaced. The cat should very quickly become unconscious and then die in his sleep within a few minutes.

Inert gases are also used for welding (MIG, TIG). Maybe you know someone in your neighbourhood who can lend you a bottle of inert gas.

ATTENTION:
1. Do not use toxic gases!
2. Hypoxia ist not the same as asphyxia which is a horrible death. So do NOT block the respiratory tract (mouth and nose).

It's not agonizing, it's very quick. A lot quicker than gasses they give at the shelter.

Fact is, there is no perfectly easy way at this point.

Decades ago, I had to shoot my horse (legal in that time and place). Does not matter that I did it properly and well, it was indescribably horrific.

Once, in the mountains, I had to brain a bunny that had been irretrievably mauled by some animal. It would not have lasted the two day hike out.

When purblind, idiot drivers have hit a dog and kept on going, I have stopped to drag them out of the road and sit with them as they finish dying. Did that once with a deer, as well.

I once, as a teenager, had to shoot a rabid skunk that was chasing my mother.

I have had pets die naturally at home. Sometimes they suffered and sometimes they went in their sleep. Sometimes death was expected - and sometimes not.

I have taken pets to the pound or ASPCA, or like organization, that euthanize pets for those who have little or not money.

I have taken pets to vets, with a wide variety of experiences. Needless to say, I have been through a number of vets as, sometimes, their true sentiments have been shown in such moments, and I would never again entrust a pet to them. For several years, I have had an excellent vet.

Sometimes allowing a pet to die in its own time is okay. Sometimes it is just cruelty to do so. If it is part of your religion to force something to suffer and you enjoy a religious experience as you watch it die horribly, we really have nothing to say to each other. Otherwise,

This is just me. It does not include the hundreds of stories of others on this thread.

I HAVE NEVER SELF-MEDICATED OR POISONED A PET TO DEATH, OR DELIBERATELY MADE A PET DIE FROM DEHYDRATION.

Have you, personally, ever watched a human in hospice die from dehydration? If not, speak not.

Find the money! If you spent years saying you love this cat, don't be a monster toward it now.

I would make the cat as comfortable as possible and let nature take it's course. If it's not eating or drinking it want be able to last long. I wouldn't make it's last days traumatic by carrying to the pound. I'm so sorry for your loss. Cats will naturally look for a quiet dark place when it's there time. Just provide that and love if you can't give it anything for pain.

I went thru this a year ago with my Lucy cat.She had been with me thru many illnesses and never left my side. One morning it was obvious that she had had a stroke. She could barely move, kept following me with her eyes and would cry every so often. I wrapped her in her fav blanket, put her in my w/c and held her close to me and talked to her all day. She took her last breath at 2:30 pm in my lap.
It was heartbreaking and at times I still weep for her.But she died in her own time, in her own place and I am grateful for that. Just hold your kitty until she is gone.

Well, Hell's Bells! OP if you are REALLY, REALLY in your own personal end-of-the-world scenario and cannot rub two bills together - and have absolutely NO ONE who would or could help you, and there is utterly no agency within reach that assists with humanely ending pet suffering - then the above poster's scenario is all you've got.

It is so, when pets know they are dying, they will sometimes cease eating and drinking. Cats, especially, may seek a dark, isolated nest to die in. It might not be pretty. It might take a long time - days can be forever.

Just try to not make the cat's last memory of you being one of you poisoning it, or painfully and traumatically murdering it (my post above notwithstanding).

If love is all you've got - then give it all the love you have.

Curious why someone would wait til Sat. after the Vets closed, to post this, when the cat has supposedly been sick for 3 days, I used the search function. Search function showed this as the OP's only post.

I allllllways gets suckered in to the humanitarian posts. Going to start using search function first. At least I wasn't alone on this one.

Apologies if I'm wrong OP, but it sure looks odd.

By law it is not humane. It is extremely painful and agonizing for the cat.

It sounds like you have done this. So here's a quick way to find out if it was humane or considered animal cruelty. Call you local Animal Control office and tell them that you did this. See what happens to you.

You'll get what you deserve.

OP, one last thing.

There is a credit source you can use at vets. The one I've seen in vet's offices is called CreditCare. You can apply for it right in the vet's office. It is like a credit card.

The payment terms are very low - very little per month. Credit Care is supposed to be national but I am sure there are others. The pamphlets are in most vet's offices or call your vet and ask about Credit Care or something like it.

OP: I will be straight with you.

Cats of different kinds have existed in some state for millions of years. They know how to die. When your cat senses it is it's time to go, it will try to find a dark quiet place to go and pass on. The best you can do for it is to give it just such places. Put some familiar comfortable objects in dark, cozy, out-of-the-way places around the house and just wait.

YES, the cat is probably in pain.

YES, it will tear your heart out.

But please, don't try to kill you cat in some crazy GLP way. Give it the dignity and respect it deserves and let it pass on in its own way, the way cats have for millions of years.

I have euthanized a cat at home before. It was not pretty. It is a mess, you feel like a betrayer, and your last memories of your animal are of you killing it. You will probably never recover from it. It is hard enough taking them to a vet.

So my advice to you, OP, is to either find the $100 from friends, family, or wherever you can, or to let the cat pass on naturally at home.

And your "pet" roamed the neighborhood and became everyone elses problem. Shame on you

QUESTION:

I have a cat (age 11) and dog (age 8) and love them both. If they are in pain and "terminal", I would definitely have them euthanized at the vet's as humanely as possible.

Now, that being said, can anyone tell me, from the OP's point of view, what would be wrong with putting (disguising) a sleeping pill or two in the food, IF the cat can eat anything at all?

My point is that people overdose on sleeping pills, and as far as I know, that is a painless way to go, isn't it?

I am honestly not trolling, just asking.



And P.S. to OP -- I am really sorry for what you are going through. You truly do have my sympathy.

Aren't you leaving out the part where they administer large doses of pain killers???
Then at the end they put the morphine patch on that puts them into a coma so they don't have to suffer.
I know for a fact because i just went thru this.

Someone dredged up a thread from 4½ years ago (and then had the brass to indict one of the thread's original contributors for having allowed a very senior, incontinent, and likely barely ambulatory kitty to "terrorize" the neighborhood). But I feel this is a worthy topic for discussion (not really the happiest topic, but worthy), so I'll continue the dredging operation.

A problem that I have with our mortal lives is that we, as humans, are allocated three score and ten, give or take. Dogs and cats don't fare so well. They're given full lives (barring something happening to truncate the actuarial estimate of years they'll have), at least from their perspective,s but dammit, I'd like to have a dog who'd be able to spend three score and ten by my side. I don't think such a dog can be found. A big dog may not see 10 years, while some of the tinier critters are practically guaranteed (unless there's an accident or an adolescent stroke or something) 20 years.

I don't especially like to look at it this way, but I'm currently sufficiently mature that a long-lived dog breed might outlive me. Or maybe not, since we never know whether we've got five hours or five decades remaining. After I pass the Rainbow Bridge, I'm going to (politely) ask someone to clarify this for me. I think I already know the answer, but I feel strongly about what I said about having a lifelong dog partner.

My main reason, however for choosing to continue the dredging of this thread is simply to chime in with my 2¢. OP's dilemma is likely to confront any pet owner, although OP's budgetary pickle added some additional bad to the mix. I had a sort of similar problem this past winter.

Dusty wasn't getting any younger, and hadn't been getting any younger for some time. In the past couple of years, I'd seen signs that he was slowing down, and the pace of his slowing seemed to accelerate in the past year. But he still liked me a lot, and I was somewhat fond of him, as well. So in January, I let him out the back door one evening, and he collapsed on the threshold. I wasn't sure the jig wasn't up right then and there. But I helped him up, and he seemed to regain his composure, and he even went out and strolled around for a few minutes.

But then he wasn't able to make it up onto the porch by himself. So I lugged him inside and parked him on the bed and wondered if the jig had been delayed by about five minutes. He was conscious, but that's about it.

But he sort of came around. At some point, I offered him some water, and he drank it, and the following morning he was willing to find his own water (and some food, even). Things seemed to be better, but at the same time, I was aware that he still wasn't getting any younger. Tick, tock, tick, tock . . .

So about a month later, he was outside, and he didn't come and announce his desire to come back inside as soon as I'd have expected, so I went out and located him. He was flopped out in the snow. It didn't really look to me like he'd flopped of his own choosing. So I lugged him inside again.

In retrospect, I wondered if leaving him out there for awhile wouldn't have been the best plan. But even if it were the best plan, it wouldn't have been a doable plan. I brought him in and hoped he'd rest and perk back up. Not this time. I don't think he really even tried to get up after that. Don't know what (if anything) it was, and it doesn't really matter.

So he laid around. I gave him food and water, and I sort of tended to some other issues (sort of; I could have done better, but then again, I don't think that'd have made much difference). He could raise his head up, and he worked his legs now and then, but that's about all. He didn't seem to be in any kind of pain, though, and he'd look at me with his "you're my boy, and I sure do like you" look.

But there we were, and it didn't look like he was going to snap back to his previous Senior Dog ways. He wasn't suffering, aside from some frustration, I suppose. Was he getting any good out of this time? Probably not. Was I? Probably not, but he was my pal, dammit.

Is it time for a trip to the vet? He wasn't suffering, and a trip to the vet would have been hard on me. Moreover, I was sharing OP's pocketbook plight (and still am, but things aren't quite as dire now). I'm pretty sure I know what the trip to the vet would have entailed, but I'm not sure how proud the vet would have been of those 10 minutes. I wondered if the vet might possibly have taken the task on on a charity basis. Probably not, and probably about three gallons of gasoline burned in the process, and times were seriously tight.

He wasn't suffering, as I've now said about five times. But what if he decided "I'm not happy at ALL, and I don't like to be a bother, but it really hurts and I can't help myself"? A suffering Dusty would have been unbearable for me.

Firearms were available, but I'm not sure I could have participated. It probably would have depended on how emphatic he was about communicating his distress. Even then, I don't like the idea. Somewhere, a long time ago, I recall seeing a list of the 10 Things That A Man Should Be Able To Do. I can change a flat tire. I can start a campfire. I could start a campfire without matches, if I really had to. I can replace a faucet washer. I can do a number of totally manly things, but I'm not sure shooting my best friend is anywhere on my list.

Nor am I sure whether I could delegate the job, although I could easily recruit a volunteer. "Going to the vet" is plenty hard enough.

But it didn't come to that. Dusty's condition wasn't getting any better, and I wasn't sure, but I thought it might have been deteriorating (slowly). On March 10, he decided it was time. I'm blinking a lot, for some reason, as I type this. March 12 probably would have worked out a little better, because the permafrost was losing its perma on March 10, but a couple more days would have helped. But the boy did the best he possibly could for me.

This blinking is getting ridiculous, I tell you.

So Dusty's camped at the Rainbow Bridge, and someday I'll wrestle with him and several other characters. Someone early on in this thread had said something to the effect of "a DVM should be willing to waive his or her professional fee" in certain cases. If I were a DVM, I'm not sure I could charge a fee for certain of my services. But that's another story, and I really need to take a walk (the way Dusty and I used to do) or something.

I have a cat which I don't know how old she is. When I received her she was a full grown cat. I have had her 12 years minimum. She is still getting around just fine, eating and drinking. She hasn't left the the porch in two weeks tho and she is outside because of the urination she is doing while she just lay's in it. Her time is numbered.

I have contemplated is she should be put down. how it would be done and who should be the one to do it. I have thought about home euthanization, Ruled it out tho, along with vet euthanization. I also ruled it.

What I did decide is, The same thing I would want and how I would like to go myself. If I'm old and wore out, I got there by living a full life. I will decide as well as my body will decide when the time is right. I will most likely (hopefully) be in my safe place and have anyone near me willing to say goodby. I will again hopefully be able to have the ability to reminisce about my suffering, love, faith, happiness, sorrow, family, friends, and enemies. I also would like the ability to blink, squeeze, or say goodby to anyone near.

So! I believe she would want the same thing as me, since she has decided on her own to have spent the last 12 years with me, she must have liked staying around. If she didn't believe in my way's or my behavior she would have left years ago.

She will go on her own terms, and I will have the piece of mind to have let her decide when. She will be ably to say goodby to me in her own way for I will be right next to her to say the same. (as a tear falls).

So! OP what do you want? how do you wish you're last moments could be like?

Last Edited by Sarawoods on 06/28/2014 03:13 AM

Use a gun.

It is cruel to do the aspirin thing but when you get desperate, sometimes you may have to go that route. I have a female cat came to me starve half to death. I could not just let her starve. So I fed her. 4 years later, she is popping out kittens like there's no tomorrow. Animal control has given up trying to catch her, I've called groups everywhere, read everything, spent hundreds of dollars on cages and I still have not caught her yet. She is also pooping everywhere. Tearing up grass that I pay Trugreen to keep nice, kills any birds, brings dead rats, mice, birds, moles, rabbits and squirrels on the deck. I just lost my mom. I am a disabled veteran and some morning I cannot get up to feed her. I've been a trooper about all of this. Paid for the kittens shots and neutering and spaying just to get them adopted. this last time the ad in the paper and signs around town was not enough. I'm tired so the last 4 went to the shelter at 9 weeks. Yes I cried. Being kind has a price too. I love animals but it can get very expensive. Talked to 4 vets about a sedative to put in her food, none of them will help me. Not sure if the reason is my race or what. I can't figure it out. I need help and no one gives a crap. I'm at the point of offering a reward to catch her unharmed first, then, dead alive. I hate to do it but the oxycodone might be my last resort. I even been so far as to call Health Department, USDA, Law Enforcement, Humane Society. NO ON GIVES A F**K!

Barrow a mean dog for awhile

If you're this irresponsible, don't get any
more pets.

Sorry OP, I'm sure you've got a credit card
you can put it on.

Provided this thread is even real, which
I doubt. I'm sure you're just the average
GLP Troll, looking for someone here, to
tell you to shoot the cat.

Not even sure why I bothered to reply.

Dang it I'm blinking now...

It is really very risky to euthanize and animal at
home--as you are contemplating--especially if you
are going to plaster the intention all over the internet.
(What are you thinking???)

You said:
I've spoken to friends and can get oxycodone,
methadone but no syringe.

So...You've already asked a couple of personal friends
and neighbors how to kill the cat, right?
Well...guess who is on the phone right now calling
your local PETA rep...or the County Animal Control?

If you are arrested for animal abuse/endangerment
by rigging up a CO2 death-nest in the garage
for your cat--AND of course someone would see you!
....You can expect to have legal expenses in the $100
of dollars, lose whatever other animals you have in your household and maybe even your KIDS if they think you are
unstable. The days of getting the old 22 out of
the closet like grandpa used to do is LONG GONE!

Unless this animal is making poo-poo all over
your house or endangering your family's health
because it bites, I would tell you to just let
it die in its own way. If it is as old and sick
as you are claiming, the poor thing won't last
long anyways. You are risking turning one bad
situation into an even bigger mess if you go
through with home euthanization. DON'T DO IT!!


O'sCookie

"...TELL her: Don't do it!!!"
:Babysneerz:

This thread is from Jan 2010
I would guess the cat is long gone by now.

thank you for this information. I am sure it will help someone in need to put their pet down humanely

It may be an old thread but it's a relevant topic: Humane euthanasia for animals (and humans).

The human part has been in the news recently. We should provide this assistance to all living creatures who are suffering and have no hope of improvement.

I've never put down a cat, but I've put down a couple of dogs this way.....it sounds barbaric and harsh, but not compared to some of these bleeding hearts on this thread.....they drag it out....

My dog, called him Tank had become the unwitting poison victim from when I had set out poison for mice.....He was apparently eating the fleeing mice that left the house in search of water (poison causes bleeding and thirst). He was dying and very weak....yes, he was thirsty so I gave him some water....

While he was looking away, I just shot him in the base of his brain....he dropped like a rock....No terror trips to the vet, nothing long and dragged out...just BOOM....and GONE!

I hope my death is that comfy!

I hate those types who are so emotional that they can't think straight about what really is best for an animal they THEY OWN!

Suffering fools is a price I am destined to pay....Is it punishment?

I can sell you a hammer for $40.

I walked out on my last vet because they wanted to shoot my 15 year old cat with toxic vaccines before even looking at her or giving her a checkup. They screamed "it's the law!" like good little lickspittle despots, and I got the cat and left.

Now she is older and her kidneys are starting to go. I am thinking I can go back to this same vet and tell them they can give her their toxic shots now, since the cat is ready to die.

well spotted Detective Columbo. except it was four years ago.