Family Plans to Euthanize Sick Senior Cat, but She Has Other Ideas

The unfortunate, yet inevitable, part of being a pet owner is the day you have to say your final goodbyes. As a pet ages, admitting that it could be time to put it down gets harder and harder.

A family is mourning the recent passing of their sick senior cat in a manner they wish they could have avoided. Reddit user ericacearborea said in a March 27 post to the subreddit channel r/cats that the cat ran away before they could put her down.

The 17-year-old cat has a nose tumor. She was struggling to breathe and kept having nosebleeds. In the post, the owner said the family was making arrangements with the vet to come to the house to put her down, but the cat had other plans.

Their cat went outside and has yet to return. At the time of the post, she had been gone for two days, and the owner told Newsweek the family has still not found her. Some commenters believe she did this to save the family from heartbreak.

The owner wrote in the post: "We should've done it sooner cause now all I can think about is my sweet girl dying alone, scared and in pain."

The family put her favorite blanket and food bowl outside, hoping the smell would draw her back in, but unfortunately no luck.

"We tried for days, but we couldn't find her at all," the owner told Newsweek. "I live in a small town near the woods, so it's impossible to tell where she could've gone."

The heartbreaking experience resonated with Reddit users. As of Monday, the post had over 16,800 votes and nearly 600 comments.

"Poor baby went to die in peace and save you pain. May she RIP," commented one user.

Another added: "This has happened to me also. They will def leave when it's time to go, it is heartbreaking to think they may be doing it to spare us the pain, but I don't doubt it. I'm so sorry."

A third said "Don't take this as a sign you waited too long - this is a sign you both were in agreement on timing. In a way, she is taking control of her own death experience."

"I let my emotions get in the way of making a decision that was best for her," the owner wrote in the post. "Every time I saw her eating well or jumping around, I thought it was too soon, and that I could spend some more time with her."

The timing is never right for owners, but when a pet knows, it knows.

How to Know When It's Time

Saying goodbye to your pet is one of the hardest and most painful experiences. You would do anything to keep your pet by your side forever, but owners must determine when its quality of life has diminished.

PetMD measures a cat's quality of life by its comfort, health, happiness and ability to participate and enjoy life. Before you decide to say goodbye, speak with your veterinarian. The vet might have medications and treatment options for your pet. Owners might also make some changes at home to increase the pet's quality of life.

But if medical or home interventions are no longer an option, euthanasia might be the best option. The choice is ultimately up to the owner.

A scale to help owners decide that it is time is called HHHHHMM or H5M2. The following categories assess a pet's quality of life on a scale from 0 to 10. An acceptable quality of life score would be a total higher than 25.

• Hurt: Is your cat breathing easily without distress? Is its pain controlled?
• Hunger: Can it safely and comfortably eat nutritious meals to maintain its body condition?
• Hydration: Is your cat drinking enough water on its own to maintain hydration?
• Hygiene: Is your cat keeping clean?
• Happiness: Is your cat engaging with people or toys? Does it seem sad?
• Mobility: Is it able to move around freely? Is it at risk of stumbling while walking?
• More good days than bad: Is your cat having more overall good days than bad ones?

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