- Joined
- Apr 16, 2018
- Messages
- 13
- Purraise
- 23
Hi.
This is not easy to share...please know that I have thought about it over and over... I feel sad, but am now convinced that the most humane thing for me to do is to have a vet put down a cat I have...
Here is her story:
"Chloe"' was brought in through a cat door by my male cat about 8 years ago now. It happened when I was away. I arrived home and was told by my landlord at the time that my boy kitty brought her in.
Because she would not eat normal cat food then, I hustled and bought kitten formula, but she began to fake nurse off of Beau...I literally had to move her from nipple to nipple as she was very hungry.
I did not know that I should have made her attach to me, though, and she only attached to him, in time. The 3 of us played together, but she was never affectionate during the play times...I just figured she would eventually trust me, but she actually got worse when I met my now husband...as if just adding another set of human feet into her environment set off a pure survival mode in her... I have kept her all these years, even though she spends ever single day behind our bed, and only comes out to use the litter box or eat, or to go onto the back screened lanai.
All of this would be fine and good IF we were planning to stay in our home...but, we will be moving across an ocean...and to a home with no screened lanai...and to an area where she cannot become an outdoor kitty even. Also, I am convinced it would be unethical to try to ship here in a plane, as just getting her into a carrier to go to an occasional vet appt has been hellish for her.
She is getting worse as she ages... sometimes I wonder if she had some brain damage before my cat saved her...she has always seemed 'off'...last time I tried to pick her up, she hissed so wildly and tried to scratch me, and pooped... I read that ferals tend to get worse as they age, so perhaps it is just that, but the reality is that she is at a point in which I cannot keep her because of our move. It is truly impossible.
I know my male cat will miss her...we plan to rescue a small dog after a while in the new home.
THE ONLY option I think she might have to not be put down is if a place called "Rainbow Friends" will accept her with a large donation from us, but I do not know if they will take a cat that cannot ever be adopted out... I called a few weeks back, but the person in charge was not in...they took my info, but I never heard back... kinda makes me think they don't need a cat like her I am not even sure if it is humane to remove her from the only reality she has known... being fed by a human, but being emotionally attached to only another cat... Beau is her mommy in her brain, and I simply provide the food... just 'dumping her' at the pet sanctuary, with ~ 80 cats and also dogs could be traumatic for her, too
Basically, I am very sad about it... and am probably just looking for support about it...
I found this site by googling 'putting a feral cat down'...
I am afraid that others here might think I am unkind... I am not...I have saved many cats, and dogs, along my way... I just didn't know that a kitten could remain feral and attach to another cat... ugh...
Anyone else 'out there' ever have to put down a cat that never could become 'functional'...for its own good?
This is not easy to share...please know that I have thought about it over and over... I feel sad, but am now convinced that the most humane thing for me to do is to have a vet put down a cat I have...
Here is her story:
"Chloe"' was brought in through a cat door by my male cat about 8 years ago now. It happened when I was away. I arrived home and was told by my landlord at the time that my boy kitty brought her in.
Because she would not eat normal cat food then, I hustled and bought kitten formula, but she began to fake nurse off of Beau...I literally had to move her from nipple to nipple as she was very hungry.
I did not know that I should have made her attach to me, though, and she only attached to him, in time. The 3 of us played together, but she was never affectionate during the play times...I just figured she would eventually trust me, but she actually got worse when I met my now husband...as if just adding another set of human feet into her environment set off a pure survival mode in her... I have kept her all these years, even though she spends ever single day behind our bed, and only comes out to use the litter box or eat, or to go onto the back screened lanai.
All of this would be fine and good IF we were planning to stay in our home...but, we will be moving across an ocean...and to a home with no screened lanai...and to an area where she cannot become an outdoor kitty even. Also, I am convinced it would be unethical to try to ship here in a plane, as just getting her into a carrier to go to an occasional vet appt has been hellish for her.
She is getting worse as she ages... sometimes I wonder if she had some brain damage before my cat saved her...she has always seemed 'off'...last time I tried to pick her up, she hissed so wildly and tried to scratch me, and pooped... I read that ferals tend to get worse as they age, so perhaps it is just that, but the reality is that she is at a point in which I cannot keep her because of our move. It is truly impossible.
I know my male cat will miss her...we plan to rescue a small dog after a while in the new home.
THE ONLY option I think she might have to not be put down is if a place called "Rainbow Friends" will accept her with a large donation from us, but I do not know if they will take a cat that cannot ever be adopted out... I called a few weeks back, but the person in charge was not in...they took my info, but I never heard back... kinda makes me think they don't need a cat like her I am not even sure if it is humane to remove her from the only reality she has known... being fed by a human, but being emotionally attached to only another cat... Beau is her mommy in her brain, and I simply provide the food... just 'dumping her' at the pet sanctuary, with ~ 80 cats and also dogs could be traumatic for her, too
Basically, I am very sad about it... and am probably just looking for support about it...
I found this site by googling 'putting a feral cat down'...
I am afraid that others here might think I am unkind... I am not...I have saved many cats, and dogs, along my way... I just didn't know that a kitten could remain feral and attach to another cat... ugh...
Anyone else 'out there' ever have to put down a cat that never could become 'functional'...for its own good?