Dr. Fox: The challenging responsibility of euthanasia – Winston-Salem Journal

Dear Dr. Fox: I believe that most neutered cats belong in pairs. I have had nine Siamese cats, mostly in pairs. The surviving member of my penultimate pair grieved deeply and hid from me for about five months. When she came out, she was a changed kitty. When she passed, I acquired a pair of littermates who never spent a night apart and were my best friends for 20 years. I did not want the surviving partner to go through what the last one had and spent many hours thinking about their eventual demise.

At 19 years, I knew statistically it would be soon. One evening we returned home from dinner to find our beloved male, Oedipus, could not move his back legs. He had jumped from a chair excited to eat three hours prior. I knew time was short, so I made an appointment for euthanasia the next day. I took both cats to the vet.

In the vets office, I placed Oedipus on the table and let his sister, Phaedra, out of the cage to join him. She jumped up with him and inspected him thoroughly. When she lost interest, I placed her back in her cage.

After the vet euthanized Oedipus and we were sure he was gone, I let Phaedra out of the cage to be with him again. She checked him out thoroughly and eventually lost interest again; I put her back in her cage, and we departed.

Her grieving process was very short. She looked everywhere in the house, then adopted his position as primary lap cat. The difference in the grieving process with Phaedra seeing that Oedipus was gone was remarkable. I know in my heart that her being able to know he was dead and not suddenly just gone helped her.

I recommend allowing surviving pets to see the deceased, acknowledge the change in being and grieve gently, instead of fretting about the disappearance and fearing the same unknown will happen to them.

I hope this information helps some people with the future loss of their pets. A.A.R., Naples, Florida

Dear A.A.R.: Your observations and suggestions are important for all cat owners to consider, beginning with adding another cat to the home if you have only one! The essential steps to take to introduce a new cat are posted on my website, DrFoxVet.net.

I have also posted a long review on how animals grieve the loss of a loved one, human or non-human. As you note, some show little grief but may well benefit from having the opportunity to examine the deceased. Some cats will yowl loudly day and night after experiencing such loss, but others, like many people, seem to take it in stride. In my experience, cats will search the house more frequently when the companion animal is missing (for instance, at the vets office or escaped outdoors for a while)than after they have been able to see the body of the deceased before removal from the home.

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Dr. Fox: The challenging responsibility of euthanasia - Winston-Salem Journal