To completely avoid certain questions from my 5 year old?

[PrettyKitty1986]

Ds1 asks questions all day long, about everything. I always answer in an age appropriate way and try to tell him the truth.
Today we were watching an animal rescue documentary. A kitten was rescued from a car engine and taken to the vets...given a clean bill of health except for seeming a bit wild. Then the commentator states 'Unfortunately the kitten was found to be feral and not re-home able so it had to be euthanised'.
Cue ds1 - 'Mam, what's euthanised mean? Why are they doing it to the kitten?'
It's the first time I've fobbed him off and not answered him. I couldn't get away with telling him it had been ill and died as he'd seen that it was healthy.
What would you answer your 5 year old with? I did debate the honest 'yes it's sad but sometimes...' approach, but does a 5 year old really need to know this? Is honesty always the best policy?

I think it depends on the child. In general I answer my children's questions honestly but ds2 (5) gets very upset about issues around death/dying so I wouldn't have told him about a kitten being euthanased. But I would have told ds1 at the same age because although he wouldn't have liked the answer I think he would have been able to process it without too much upset.

My 3yo is just the same. If I can't give him honest answer like in this case I try one of 3 options 1. Say I don't know and will check and get back to him later 2. Tone down answer (eg they gave him something to make him sleep a long time - sort of true) 3. Tell him ill tell him when he's 5
Works most of the time but he is younger.

They killed the kitten
Gosh op I wish you could have protected me from that, it seems so cruel.
My boss had a ferrel kitten once, he turned into a lovely cat.
I realise I'm a bit sheltered but if he was only a kitten why couldn't they rehome him?

Hmm, can understand your reluctance but yes, I would have answered the question truthfully. My DDs ask quite alarming questions about sex. I get biological and they lose interest beyond the basic facts. I think kids handle the truth better than we think.