EUTHANASIA - GENTLE DEATH, PAINFUL DECISION
Copyright 1993, 2000 Sarah Hartwell

The decision to end a life is hard and can feel like a betrayal of trust. One friend said she felt she had murdered her terminally ill cat. Another, in a similar situation felt guilty at not making the decision sooner. Though I have had years of experience with elderly cats which sometimes required a helping hand at the end, in 1999 I had to follow my own advice for an 11 year old cat who had been with me since the age of 5 months.

There are good reasons and bad reasons for choosing euthanasia. Good reasons put the cat's wellbeing first - wellbeing meaning the cessation of a now painful existence. Bad reasons are those chosen purely for the owner's convenience with no regard for the cat.

• Organ failure; when internal organs fail, toxins build up in the cat's body, killing it slowly.
• The cat has become vicious, dangerous or unmanageable; if it cannot be rehomed there may be no alternative but euthanasia.
• Progressive illness have made it so weak that it cannot reach its litter-box or food bowl.
• Recurrent infection or condition responding less and less to treatment or occurring more and more often.
• Your circumstances have changed so that you can't keep your cat, but feline overpopulation means it stands no chance of finding a new home - it will either be destroyed by a shelter when its time is up or live long-term in a cage.
• You liked your cat when it was young and active, but have become bored of it now it is old.
• You don't wish to spend money on the cat, you say you can't afford it, but you can afford your mobile phone.
• You are moving and can't take the cat, or don't want to take the cat, and don't want the trouble of finding it a new home.
• You make it a condition of your will that your cat be destroyed when you die; even if it is healthy.

Boredom, poorly prioritised economics and convenience are poor reasons excuses. The cat does not deserve this sort of treatment and most vets are reluctant to euthanize an old but healthy cat just for the convenience of the owner. Vets are often given no choice if the owner threatens to abandon the cat, kill it himself (blackmail) or if cat cannot be rehomed due to feline overpopulation or behavioural traits.

An irresponsible owner may abandon their unwanted cat on the street or close to farms, believing it will hunt and scavenge. Discarded cats often starve, die of disease, are killed by traffic or by a larger predator/stray dog. Many become someone else's cat problem. The lucky ones are picked up by animal control - destruction is at least preferable to starvation. Many pet cats cannot fend for themselves as the hunting instinct has been bred out of them. Older cats are not in suitable physical condition to hunt. One of my pets was a cat which had been abandoned at the age of 18 to fend for herself. She had respiratory problems, a heart murmur and a benign mouth tumour. She ended up in the vet starving and dehydrated. In my home, she lived to the age of 21 before her heart failed altogether.

Some people believe that life is sacred and will not take a life even if the animal is in misery for example paralysed from the neck down or a multiple amputee. They judge animal life by human standards and insist on a natural death, however miserable the quality of life. They consider that ending a life for any reason other than to eat, is the right of god alone. Most religions depict a god (or gods) who has trusted humans to take wise decisions. Where euthanasia is concerned, the challenge may be for the owner to be an instrument of their god and choose euthanasia to prevent further suffering. For example in the Judaeo-Christian belief system, God gave man stewardship over the animals - refusal to make a humane decision is a prime example of passing the buck!

At the other extreme are those who place so little value on a non-human life that animals are considered disposable - they may be ill-treated, tortured for sport and destroyed or abandoned the moment they become an inconvenience or surplus to requirements.

A responsible owner has power of life and death over your pets; this power must be used wisely and not abused. The owner can choose between a quick and humane release from a poor-quality existence or a lingering, suffering end. In many countries, humans are not accorded this right to choose their own death and may be condemned to linger in unnecessary pain.

It is easy to become emotionally caught up in keeping a pet alive when common sense tells you there is no hope of it regaining its health. Sometimes it seems that your own life can't go on when you have to make the decision to euthanize a long-term feline companion. It is hard enough to end the life of an old and frail cat; perhaps if you give it another day, or another week, the cat might die naturally in its sleep even if you know that it will linger uncomfortably until it succumbs to dehydration, starvation or to the gradual poisoning of its blood by liver or kidney failure. If the cat appears outwardly healthy, but has an untreatable medical condition, the decision is made yet harder.

A good vet will help you to weigh up the pros and cons of further treatment versus euthanasia, but ultimately it is your decision. It is never easy, but it helps if you are prepared. The following are common guidelines:-

• A cat is in incurable pain which cannot be alleviated by drugs.
• A cat has severe injuries from which it will never recover or which severely compromise its quality of life.
• A kitten is born with serious defects which cannot be surgically corrected and cannot be endured by the cat; it may not survive weaning or it may not reach maturity (e.g. progressively worsening hydrocephalus)
• A cat has unresolvable behaviour problems which mean you cannot keep it and which mean that it is not rehomeable; the problem behaviours have not responded to behaviour modification therapy or to drugs e.g aggression towards humans which result in people being physically injured (Note: some behaviours are due to neurological conditions/brain damage and are incurable), soiling behaviour
• A cat has an age-related condition which cannot be alleviated and which causes misery e.g. advanced senility, incontinence.
• A cat is terminally ill and will deteriorate. Euthanasia may not be an immediate concern, but will be later on. Euthanasia may be chosen immediately to prevent suffering later on.

The first 5 points are fairly clear cut cases for euthanasia - no caring owner lets a pet suffer. The final point causes the most soul-searching and this article addresses some of the problems of deciding when to have a terminally ill cat euthanized and whether treatment to prolong life for a short while will benefit the cat. Sometimes, a terminally ill or injured cat is given life-prolonging treatment because the cannot yet come to terms with its condition. It is hard to come to terms with mortality in general.

Cost of treatment may be the deciding factor at a very early stage. Unless the cat is insured, the owner has savings or unsecured loan facilities or the vet offers a pay-by-instalments plan, any available treatment may simply be too expensive.