Was my cat in pain as he meowed several times whilst being put to sleep?

Question

I recently took my poor ginger tom to the vet to be put to sleep. He was 18 and i had only had him 4 years (he was a homeless/stray).

He had several problems and illnesses and was constantly on a special diet or medication. I hoped he wasnt feeling any pain yet he stopped eating (perhaps due to the heat) and therfore wasnt eating his pain killers anymore with breakfast. I made the decision to put him to sleep based on poor quality of life due to severe arthritus in all 4 legs and he wasnt very mobile. I understood it to be painless, yet whilst holding him during this procedure he cried out several times before he slumpt down and emptied his bowels on me, I am very upset and disturbed about him having had possible felt pain. Other people have mentioned a 1st sedation injection, the vet didnt do this?! But my cat was quite calm. I feel awful.

Answer 1

It may have been the shot itself, or the arthritis.  It was a brave thing you did putting him out of his pain.  My prayers are with you.

Answer 2

I am sorry about your loss, there are no words that will make you feel okay about this.

He wouldn't have been in any pain but he wll have known it was time to say goodbye and he would have sensed your pain. I believe he would have been talking to you.I have watched several animals cats, dogs even rats be put to sleep this way and I can promise you they don't feel pain, they simply stop breathing as the drugs stop the heart beating. I believe they know and that they would thank you for stopping the pain if only they could. I once had a cat and she was the best cat ever, really special to me and after a car hit her I rushed her to the vet and she had surgery but after 3 days it was obvious she was not going to recover. The vet called me and I was adiment that I was going to do anything I could to keep the cat alive so that she would have a chance. When I got there the vet said nothing to me he simply brought the cat to me and as she lay there on the table with metal sticking out of her she looked at me and lit out a little weak meow whilst looking me right in the eye. I then knew instantly what she wanted and I signed the disclaimer and held her as she went to sleep.

You did the most selfless thing for your cat and he will have known that.

Answer 3

Your cat was in pain.

You did the right thing.

I know how you feel.

I love my cat to bits.

I file her nails and everything.

I hope your okay

Answer 4

Was painless for him, he knew it wasn't for you.  Tom cats are especially responsive to their partners' projected feelings.  The mercy shot is injected directly into the vein, is the quickest cleanest method we have and no pre-shot or local is necessary; those are usually administered for entirely different procedures.  He was with the Cat Goddess before his bowels evacuated as well as it's an instantaneous bodily reaction accompanying death.

Answer 5

Animals sense our discomfort and that's more then likely what he was responding to. You did the right thing.

Answer 6

Oh Boff I don't know but my old moggie had to be put to sleep this time last year very upsetting. He took a stroke after having an operation to remove a cyst from his right kidney so he was very lethargic anyway when he was given his injection.

Try not to dwell on it but look at it like this he probably knew his time was up and he was thanking you for taking him in and giving him a loving. Cats do that you know my cat knew his time had come when I took him to vets.

Sorry I cannot say more...upsets me to think about my dear old Sam.

Answer 7

He may of been in pain from his problems but not from the procedure, he will of emptied his bowels as his muscles relaxed. Don't feel guilty you did the right thing as he has a poor quality of life and it is best that he is no longer in pain.

Answer 8

Im sorry for your loss...hope this helps....he is in heaven now...

http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rai...

Answer 9

first of all dont feel awful, you did the right thing! you made his life better by taking him in while he was a stray and did the best you could for him he is no longer in pain just move on thinking i have done the right thing i have stopped his pain hes not suffering anymore.  he emptied his bowels on you because his muscles became relaxed so dont worry about that. when you say he cried out this is not because of pain, cats are so different to us or most other animals, most animals are in herds or a pack like dogs so dogs show emotions such as pain so they can get comfort or support off the other members of the pack.  cats however live alone and really grow up as if they were out on their own in the wild so this means they hunt their own food and they are in danger of animals that hunt them so therefore when they feel pain they do not show the emotion in anyway, if they did the other animals wil see this and make it a good opertunity to go in and kill the cat as it will be weak from the pain. your cat should of not felt any pain during this and if he did he wouldnt of showed it, i dont know why he cried out but it defo wasnt because of pain!  im sorry for your loss but you did your best hes in no pain anymore.  

Answer 10

don't feel upset you done the right thing i doubt it was the injection that made him cry out i know how hard it is to put down a animal that you have had for such a time he would have been in total pain if you dident do it  

Answer 11

Oh I'm so sorry you had to go through this!  It hurts so much to lose a loved pet, and to think that he might have been in pain makes it that much worse, doesn't it?  But trust me -- he wasn't feeling pain.  Those injections are very humane and painless.  He may have been meowing because he sensed what was happening.  Animals actually sometimes sense that they're about to die -- that's why sometimes they'll go off to a secluded place just before they die.  Based on what you've said, I think you made the right decision in having him euthanized.  Try to think of it this way -- maybe he was talking to you to thank you for taking away the suffering.  Now he's in kitty heaven (yes, I actually believe that ALL living creatures go to heaven when they die) and he has no more pain.  What you did was a gesture of love and I'm sure he's grateful to you for that.

Answer 12

He was probably saying thank you to you for taking the brave decision to put him out of his pain, and of course saying goodbye.

Any pain will have just been a pin prick pain from the needle and it would have happened if you had to sedate him anyway, as that would've needed another injection.

The fact that he did not need sedating means that the poor fellow probably knew it was for the best.

Please don't feel bad - you did absolutely the best thing you could by him and I'm sure your cat was in tune with that.

Answer 13

My precious boy talks to me a lot, and I suspect that yours was saying goodbye. Yes, cats will talk in pain, but mine talks when he is happy. I swear, really, he does. He starts talking and then purring and then really starts talking and purring. Its just part of who he is. I really doubt that he was in pain from the injection, more likely pissed that he got stuck with a needle. You should hear my boy scream, not in pain, anger. Trust me, I know my cat, and that is PISSED.

Just remember that you were there for him when he needed you most and you cared enough to hold him in your arms, so he KNEW he wasn't alone. Nope, definitely your baby was saying goodbye, and angry that he was leaving his friend behind.

I do understand that kind of decision, we had to take my Grandfather off of life support for quality of life issues. He might have suffered (I mean that, you weren't there) for another 2-3 weeks on extreme life support, but with kidney failure full blown and the numerous heart attacks there was simply no choice. Its really sad that you had to put your cat down, but at least you understood that he wasn't going to thank you for keeping him alive.

Fortunately my kitty is still going strong at 17, despite a spinal injury at 8 and a colon reduction at 16, so I still don't have to make that choice. I hope I never do....

Answer 14

Honey, cats don't vocalise pain the way humans do so the chances were he wasn't actually in pain. You made a tough decision in the best interest of your cat and I admire your courage. I have held a beloved dog and a cat whilst they were (seperately obviously!) euthanased and it's a very very hard thing to have to do. It's very sad but I hope you will appreciate in time you did the best possible thing for him.