Can't get over cat passing

[Yhffuj]

Rescue cat of 1 year unexpectedly had to be PTS on Saturday evening. She was knocked over and paralyzed. We could have brought her home to see if there is any improvement in 3 weeks but vet said chances are extremely low. She would have to be crated and would not be able to wee by herself as tail and both legs were completely limp and were not reacting to anything - no pain. He said the kindest thing to do would be to PTS and that's what we did. But I can't get the image of finding her paralyzed out of my head. She was fine in herself but couldn't move apart from dragging her body.
I can't process how she was fine and with me one hour and then an hour later paralyzed :( she was happy that day, I just don't feel it was her time to go and I feel bad for putting her to sleep and not trying to see if there would be improvement

💐. I am so sorry.

The decision to PTS is such a hard one to take, even though you know it's the right thing. We had a cat who lived to about 18 and had been declining slowly for a couple of years with kidney failure. It was a hard decision, but one we were prepared for - and a situation that was only going one way.

Your cat was a young soul, with it's life to live and it was a big shock to find her hurt and paralyzed. And you didn't know what would have happened had you not PTS. Would she have suffered more? Would she have recovered? No-one knows, but the vet has experience and you were guided by the vet.

Don't beat yourself up, you took the decision that needed to be taken.

But it's hard and it's shit.

💐

I’m so sorry. It’s just devastating. It doesn’t matter how they die, or how long you’ve had them, guilt is just a pretty inevitable part of grief. Logically you probably know you made the only decision you could to end the suffering of your beloved little cat, but you now have to wait for the rest of your brain to catch up😢.
There’s no way to rush this time. You will never, ever forget her, or stop loving her. Right now, you are in the most raw of raw times. I can’t remember much of the month after one of my dogs died last year, but I can (almost!) look at videos of her now without crying. And you will too.

"I can't process how she was fine and with me one hour and then an hour later paralyzed."

It's very soon and this was a very sudden, unexpected thing. It's perfectly normal that you just can't wrap your head around it right now. Give yourself time. And allow yourself to be sad.

Bless you OP, I’ve had to make the painful decision to have my cats pts. It’s always hard, and such a shock. I lost two unexpectedly within a week, I still miss them terribly. It’s okay to be sad, you loved your puss, you cry if you need to. You did the kindest thing for them, try and take some comfort from that.

You did the kind thing Op, you put your cats well being over how much you wanted to keep them. Like any bereavement it's hard now but I think you'll be grateful you made the right decision later.🌹

It's the worst part of having pets. You have to make a very difficult decision in order to relieve their suffering. Its not an easy position to be in. I always tell myself that at least we can do this for them, even though it's devastating.

You will come to terms with it, but don't rush to it. Let yourself grieve. Slowly, the pain will ease.

So sorry for the loss of your little friend

I'm so sorry and sending you love and hugs. Our young 3 year old cat died in a freak accident (ran into a jutting rock beside our neighbour's wall at full speed; don't know if she was running away from something or chasing something, my neighbour found her). Died instantly but I still to this day can't get the image of her looking perfect, lying beside the rock, with a tiny bit of blood coming out her nose. Otherwise she just looked asleep. I was pregnant at the time too and I was just so so upset. I have another little cat now, a beautiful, sweet little thing but I still think about my lovely cat. She was so mischievous and cheeky it was such a shock. Try and remember all the good times, hard as that is. And yes, it's normal to feel guilt about the decision. I feel guilt about letting her out that night. It was raining and getting dark and I usually kept her in if that was the case but I didn't that night then she died. So I felt v guilty for ages. 💐

I lost my horse in a freak accident 18 months ago. I’ve worked front line emergency services, I’ve lost a parent, I’ve had my fair share of rough times. That event was the most traumatic of my life so far. The combination of losing my best friend so suddenly, in a horrible way with horrible injuries before her time haunts me still. I still haven’t forgiven myself for the choices I made that day which led to her death and I don’t think I ever will.

Grief for pets is very real. I still struggle to talk about her and still find seeing photos and videos upsetting rather than fond memories.

Thank you for the replies, they made me really tearful 😿 little things just trigger the tears - her not meeting me on the drive when I finish work, the radiators coming on and she'd be sat in her Mickey mouse bed (now that bed is empty), feeding just one cat in the morning rather than 2 (my other cat seems a bit lost and wondering where she is), whenever id put a blanket over me, she'd come and knead me every single evening :(

I am so sorry for you loss. I have also been reliving the moment and working out what I could've done differently to stop it happening e.g. stroking her a bit longer when she was in the house with me and hour before;
It's torturous :(

Aww bless her :( it sounds a similar story apart from a different form of argument. Our cat also looked "perfect" when lying on our drive - the only thing different was that she couldn't move her legs or tail. That's what has made it harder. Our cat was also 3 years old, just so young :(

I’m so sorry 💐 sending you all my sympathy. It’s so unfair, isn’t it 💐

You asked the vet for advice, and I’m sure if there was a smidgeon of hope for her recovery, your vet would have tried it.

its really upsetting losing a mate, especially when there was so much love given and reciprocated, and of course it’s understandable that you are questioning everything, unfortunately you are grieving - your little mate is not part of your life anymore and it feels gutting xxxx

Whilst utterly distressing for you, the kindest thing was to have her put to sleep.

It would have been inevitable that she would have had to have been put to sleep later on if you had waited days or weeks and those times would have been awful for her as she wouldn't have understood why she was unable to move around properly.

You have suffered a terrible shock and you must try and focus on the happy memories before the accident. She was loved and cared for.

Don't let anyone trivialise your grief, our furry loved ones are family.

Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

Oh, how awful
When we have a pet PTS unexpectedly, there is often a lot of guilt and 'what ifs'.
Animals live in the moment. When they feel poorly/in pain, they don't think they will feel better soon and push through it. We take on that feeling ourselves, and for them. All they know is the now. So we have to make that hard decision. Sometimes it is nursing them through a difficult time, and sometimes it is knowing when to let them go.
You did the right thing. There is a saying - better a week too soon than a day too late.