How do I tell ds that we've had to put the cat to sleep?

[BournemouthBaubleBabe]

I have to be brief, ds is 5, came home from night away on sunday to find cat not moving, but breathing. DH took her to vet this am, she had gone into a diabetic coma, nothing they could do.

Do you have to tell him you put the cat to sleep can you not just say he died? I recently had to do this for our cat but I knew that my children would react very badly to the idea that I had "killed him". Given that you had no choice, I think it might be best for you to just say he didnt recover and has gone to sleep, died or whatever you chose to couch it and take it from there.

Good luck it is a horrible thing to deal with.

I don't know what to tell you, except that I wouldn't use the word "sleep"... I can see nightmare bedtimes on the horizon....

thinking of you

I would say the cat had gone to heaven because it was very very very old and poorly and leave it there allowing your DS to think of any questions he might have. I wouldn't mention sleep or death too much but depends on your child.

When my mum's dog was put down I told mine that and they were quiet alright with that and didn't dwell on it.

"quite" alright even!