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

[BournemouthBaubleBabe]

[Copied from Other Subjects, didn't see this topic before]

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.

Don't tell him she was put to sleep. Say she died naturally which is more or less what she did anyway. Believe me, it will hurt your son more to think someone was responsible for the death of the cat than it would to think deathn occurred naturally.

So sorry for your loss. What a dreadful time for it to happen.

I agree - also don't use euphemisms like "sleep" - will totally confuse a 5 year old for whom sleep is something you do every night and wake up from. We've had 2 cats put down in the last year and we've just said, they were very ill, they had to go to the vets, and they died. We've had no real upset (dds are 5 and 3) - 3 year old a bit confused - took a while for it to sink in, (can I feed the cat mummy?) 5 year old took it on board fine.

Many thanks to both of you.

I forgot to say sorry. we are a catless house at the moment and it's not quite right. I'm not, in theory, a cat lover, but you can't help your self can you? I hope you are feeling ok. From what you say it doesn't sound like she suffered, which helps to know.