Our beloved family cat died today after 13 years of being our devoted companion. We are bereft. I am posting here because DH and I found the euthanasia even more upsetting due to some sort of reaction our cat had to it. I wonder if anyone has heard of this before and if they can explain it to me?
Our cat was on morphine already and so she was very sleepy and tired. However, when we arrived at the vet's she raised her head, gave a little miaow and started purring while we stroked her and spoke to her. The vet said she was going to give her a strong anesthetic first of all and that our cat would fall into a very deep sleep but her eyes would remain open. Then she would administer the second injection which would stop her heart. We wanted to be with our cat for all of this. We were still stroking our cat at this point and she was purring and calm.
When the first injection was administered (via a catheter she already had in place in her leg), however, our cat seemed to become distressed and it was awful. She stretched out her front legs, lifted her head and gave a 'miaow' that sounded distressed. We called the vet over and the vet said it was normal and a muscular reaction to the anesthetic. She then listened for a heart beat and our lovely little cat had already died so the second injection was not needed.
I can't stop thinking about her reaction to the anesthetic and whether she may have been in excruciating pain even for those very few seconds (it was probably 4-5 seconds all in all until she became still again). I have tried to research on google but all I can find is references to muscular reactions like dogs/cats' legs straightening and raising their heads - but not actually making a pained sound like our cat did.
I know there is nothing I can do now and we did our best for her. But along with the grief I have this horrible, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that maybe she suffered in those last few seconds and it makes me feel even more wretched. Thank you if you have read this far.