LogFAQs > #960070838

Yeah, I brought my cat Louis to the vet for the last time. He was 15 at the time, and had been sick for a while: he struggled to keep food down and was rapidly deteriorating. My sister came to help me. I remember just before we left, he was walking around and soundly stopped, crouched down, and cried out, like he was in pain. I just pet him and told him it would be ok. Me and my sister didn't even have to try and collect him: he went right over to her when she came in, and we slipped him into the carrier without incident. I drove him.
The vet was concerned, examined him, and took him for a x-ray. They found a bunch of fluid in his chest, tapped that, gave him oxygen, and found a mass in his abdomen. She stopped, and then very quietly broached putting him to sleep, since he was already so ill he wouldn't make it. I knew that was coming, but it still hurt.
They had a side-room for it. We got to visit with him a for a bit before. He was feeling good from getting the fluid drained and get some oxygen. He was very curious and happy to see us. When it was time, the vet and a tech came in. Louis didn't struggle. We pet him and told him we loved him the entire time. He left peacefully. We were allowed to stay as long as we needed to collect ourselves, but the drive home was rough, not going to lie.
But it's our duty to our pets to care for them, and when we can't do that, when we can no longer take away their suffering and their quality of life is poor, we owe it to them give them a swift, painless end to it. I would do it again if I had to.

A bit off-topic, but typing that last part made me cry. Messy cry! I didn't cry at the time: my tears now are a blessing of my transition.

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I'm Queen of Tomorrow baby!
She/her