to put my healthy cat down

[chocolaterabbit]

I have a cat who is now about 17 years old but still in good health - glossy coat, all teeth etc.

DH's cat died recently of natural causes and the two animals had been living together for 12 years. Since DH's cat died, my cat has started crapping all over the house, particularly in hard to reach areas like under the kitchen units/ behind the sofa.

I've shut all the doors etc but the cat flap leads directly into the kitchen and her food is there so can't shut her out. Came down this morning to find a sloppy poo under the kitchen table and against the legs of DD's highchair. It is absolutely revolting and horrible to have to clean up, also not exactly healthy for the DCs.

So. Would I be unreasonable to ask the vet to put my cat down because of this?

Perhaps you could get her checked over by the vet to see if there's anything wrong with her first!

well... personally I would do the same thing, for the health of the whole family. She sounds like she is going old and mad... but I don't know what others will say.

And have you tried encouraging her to use a litter tray? She may be getting too frail to go outside.

You could try putting a litter tray near the cat flap, but on the inside of the house? Maybe she is getting too old and lazy to go out?

If the cat is otherwise in good health then I dont think you can justify having it put down. Try taking it to the vets to find out if its sick first before sentencing the poor thing to death.

The cat is probably depressed, it misses its companion! I dont think you can kill a cat for that reason. Why not get a kitten for company? Or rehome a cat? (but take her to the vet first to check everything is ok with her otherwise)

I couldn't do it. Its reasons like this that put me off keeping animals, I wouldn't want to cope with the mess, but you have that pet so surely its your responsibility to look after it.

Why do people do this? I know someone whose cat was doing this and he took it out to a remote place and dumped it .

And my Aunt was allergic to the cat she had for years and couldn't find a home so she was going to have it put down.

YABU.

I'm quite upset by this

the cat is NOT healthy or it wouldn't be doing this. Have you not been to the vet yet?

She does have a litter tray but has never really used it - both cats always went outside. Not sure she knows what it is now.

FWIW, I absolutely sympathise with your problem. We are having terrible cat issues at the moment. Our two lovely old cats are being terrorised by an evil tom cat, and I'm having to deal with tom cat spray all over our kitchen, and have had to clear up numerous poos and wees from our cats who are too scared to venture into the garden. We've managed to get them used to the litter tray (it was a slog!!) but tbh I think they're going to have to be rehomed to my Auntie as they are looking permanently haunted and twitchy, and the sodding tom cat still keeps coming in.

Spawn: I noticed in the vets the other day that you can buy a cat-flap that only opens for your cat's microchip! Might be worth considering?

Sounds a bit drastic. Like others have said, I think a trip to vet and perhaps introducing a litter tray first would be more humane.

I can understand how pissed off you are about it. When we moved in here a year ago the cat was very frightened of going outside and wouldn't use the cat flap so ended up peeing and pooing a few times. It was horrible. We got her a litter tray and problem solved.

IN the meantime, feed the cat outside the back door and maybe put a carrying box, or small kennel type arrangement there for it to sleep in - or a flap in your shed door with cushion inside, etc

This can be a sign of serious illness in a cat especially a 17yo one

I am hesitant to post a big but honestly did this not occur to you???

why no change the litter tray with fresh litter and roll one of the turds in it so she gets the idea?!

It is better to have an animal put down in many cases than passing it on to a 'good' home (or dumping them ). It is called taking responsibility for your animals.

If your cat is old, depressed and perhaps going senile, or having problems with its bowels it may be best to have it put down, for everyones sake.

Still not an easy decision though.

Try litter tray inside until the weather warms up again?

Spawn - if you can't change the tom cat terrorisation then moving them to a less stressful place is probably what you'll have to do!

Chocolaterabbit - i think you should try and tackle the problem first like putting the litter tray (with a fine, sand like litter, no polythene liner) in an accessible, private place, getting her checked out by the vets, read a cat behaviour book (Vicky Halls - Cat confidential is very good) or browse the internet. If all else fails, how about rehoming her? No need to kill a healthy animal.

YABVU.

The cat is grieving for the loss of his mate and pooing everywhere is his way of saying he is unhappy.

Can you SERIOUSLY re-home a 17 year old incontinent cat?

Oh dear where is Bella when we need her?

No, MP you can't.

It sounds as though she may be suffering from advanced kidney failure or any number of other horrible conditions.

Please see the vet as soon s possible...then you can make a judgment based on their assessment of her.

Assuming this is purely psychological problem is very naive and unfair.

The illness didn't particularly occur to me because it started immediately after DH's cat died so it seemed behavioural. Also when I have taken her to the vet he has seemed surprised that I want her to be made better, not put down even though she is very elderly so haven't taken her to the vet yet this time.

I'll call the vet and try to make an appt for when DH is in later today.

Of course YABU. She's your cat and when you get an animal it's a commitment for their life and you need to deal with what comes with that.

She needs to go to the vet first to rule out any medical reason for this behaviour, and if not, you need to find some ways of dealing with it.

You really can't put an otherwise healthy animal down just because you find it revolting having to clean up poo.

Fair enough and I understand why you thought that...however if the vet says she is poorly and in pain or incurable etc you will then feel justified in letting him do it...I think that's important.

Fwiw I understand the mess angle, it's horrible to deal with.

cool

Sounds like a plan

Then maybe try the litter-tray ideas...