My cat died this morning. She was 18-years old and the past couple of weeks she got very thin and started eating less and less. First I switched her normal kitten chow (she liked that better than cat chow. When she refused canned cat food I resorted to bribe food (is. offering an animal human food just to get it to eat before switching back to regular cat food.
That worked for a short while and then she stopped eating even her bribe food. So last week I started giving her human baby food and special milk for cats. She ate that for a short time and then went days without eating. All I could give her was water at this point which she loved.
Damn if I would deny her that!
All weekend I kept her on the sofa with a fleece blanket under her and on top of her. I continued giving her water. Last night she refused even that and was sleeping most of the time. She was old and not in much pain that I could tell, some moaning the last day. I knew her time was coming.
My best friend tried to pressure me into having her put to sleep.
This seemed cruel since the cat hated to leave the apartment and would howl and claw at me in terror. How could I let her life end in terror with a needle through the arm? I began reading about in home euthanasia but it was still euthanasia. That seemed wrong but if worst came to worst what choice would I have?
I also read about animal hospice which seemed right for both of us.
Several sites suggested telling the animal that it was okay to go. I told my cat this and that all she had to do was close her eyes and fall to sleep. Finally last night when she refused her water I decided that the easiest way would be to let her die naturally, at home. I put her on my bed (where she has slept all her life) covered her paws (they were cold). My thought was to let her die in her sleep by letting her fall asleep as she did for 18 years.
I woke up this morning and her little paws were cold. When I went to lift her she was stiff and heavier than usual. She died in her sleep with me next to her. Nothing unsettling at all. From everything I've read this how most people want their animals to go, naturally in their sleep. My cat did not, as most sites suggested, search for a quiet place alone to die. Odd but this was a quirky little animal.
But here's the cold part.
My friend telling me to just shove the cat in a carrier (good luck with that) and bring her to the vet. I asked a coworker--whose girlfriend deals with rescue animals if he would ask her if she knew any vets who would do in-home euthanasia. I was against it but people were trying to pressure me into it. So my coworker says, "Yeah, but a bag over her head or hit her with a baseball bat."
How cold!
Late this afternoon I buried the cat. Peaceful, natural death and a burial, rather than a mass cremation if I brought her to the vet to dispose of the body. I honeatly don't see why I was pressured into doing something that wasn't good for the cat and certainly not good to me.
Tonight I looked online for the halacha on animal euthanasia. One person simply wrote "Kill the cat" if it was suffering. Another said Jewish law required that animals shouldn't be treated in a cruel matter, but not allowed to suffer. Required to relieve suffering.
Taking my cat out of the apartment to the and subjecting to a needle at the hands of a vet would cause her more pain.
I also read that expending technology and money towards a dying animal was " Goysihe kopf."
I know what means.
Anyway, I think I did the right thing even though virtually everyone it seems take their pets and euthanize them when they're old and/or dying. Sigh.
I believe I did the right thing. Where is all of this re halacha? Kill the cat/permit suffering/or relieving suffering by...ethanasia. What about my decision? Hospice care at home and letting her die in her sleep rather than "putting her to sleep"
I suppose I shouldn't be thinking of halacha at a time like this.
RIP my kitty
August 1994-July 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A Sad Day
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4 Comments:
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on 7/10/12, 7:48 PM,
Daniel Greenfield
said: -
on 7/10/12, 11:07 PM,
Chana @ Lemon Lime Moon
said: -
on 7/12/12, 1:26 AM,
Keliata
said: -
on 7/12/12, 1:28 AM,
Keliata
said:
"I think you did the right thing. Your cat died with you naturally in the home that she was used to.
Halacha deals with not inflicting pain or cruelty toward an animal. It doesn't prescribe euthanasia, as far as I know."