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Advice - moving with/rehoming/euthanising a disabled cat?

9 replies

SnailsEverywhere · 03/09/2017 04:18

Maybe this is information overload but I wanted to write all the points in detail. We are conflicted and don't know what to do - if you were in this situation what do you think would be for the best?

My partner is planning to move to my country and he has a cat. He was from a shelter and is 9 years old now. He is REALLY disabled, noone is sure what is wrong with him but he can't walk good, he can't run or jump, he can't stand steadily. He doesn't play, he doesn't go outside, he doesn't move much at all, he just lays in his cat bed all day long unless it's dinner time. He has been to the vet loads of times and the vet has done lots of tests on him but isn't sure what is wrong, seems like it is neurological. Cat also has a burst eardrum somehow which he had before we got him from the shelter.

The cat lives with some rabbits too, he is scared of the rabbits and if they come near him he will poo or wee himself on the spot and then just lay in it until it's discovered. He is also scared of the hairdryer/doorbell/loud noises/other cats being too boisterous. The cat has had seizures before (or what we assume were seizures) where he spins around and keeps falling over and is really disoriented. When he stands normally he stands in the plantigrade stance, and on his knuckles rather than on his paws.

Anyway - we are worried about the cat and wonder if my partner should try and bring him to my country to live with us, give him back to a shelter to try and rehome him, or euthanise him.

If we bring him to the country, it is going to be a LOT of stress for the cat when travelling - if its by plane it might affect his ears a lot since he has the ruptured eardrum and he will be terrified of the noise in the plane and pressure changes, if it's by car it would take days and the cat would have to be in a carrier the whole time which he would hate and be freaking out/pooing himself in there. If he got here safely, then he would have to live with my dogs... the cat is scared of rabbits, we assume he is going to be even more scared and stressed around dogs.

Also because the cats medical problems are pre-existing, we can't insure him with pet insurance - meaning if anything goes wrong after the cost of getting him to this country, we can't afford to fix him and he would have to be euthanised anyway.

If we tried to rehome him and gave him to a shelter - who is going to want a cat that is so disabled? I love him but he is basically a glorified statue, he never moves or walks unless it's for food, both because he doesn't want to and because he can't walk steadily. We wouldn't want him stuck in a shelter for years and unable to be rehomed and even more stressed out being in there.

Which is why we thought about euthanising him - we both love him and obviously we don't want to really do this, but the quality of life he has now and would have if he moved (which would be the same but more stress to get there and stress from dogs.) We are not sure which choice is the best for the cat. As far as we know, the cat isn't in pain, but he has so many issues which we can't fix.

Which option do you think is the best for the cat?

OP posts:
coriliavijvaad · 03/09/2017 05:46

I think I would euthenise under these circumstances.

Obviously what is best for the cat would be for your partner to not move at all, and rehome the rabbits. That's clearly not going to happen.

You are right that bringing the cat to a new country to live with a dog would be cruel. Don't do that.

I agree that the chances of rehoming are slim, but it's possible that an elderly person would prefer a sedentary pet to a more boisterous and adventurous younger cat, so you could try to rehome, but without holding too much hope.

SnailsEverywhere · 03/09/2017 05:58

If we could rehome directly into another home we would do that - it's just the middle bit in the shelter that makes us wary as we know the cat would hate that and may end up euthanised anyway if the shelter see how disabled he is. We can try to look for a new home for him directly but I doubt anyone would want him :(

My dogs are well behaved by the way (and used to cats) - the cat is just scared and nervous of everything so if he is scared of rabbits he would be double scared of dogs.

Partner has a few months before moving so he can try to rehome the cat without the need of a shelter before doing anything more drastic. He does need to move though because we want a proper life and family together and need to live together for that to happen! I do feel really bad about the cat though Sad

OP posts:
Piewraith · 03/09/2017 06:24

Sounds like he should be pts whether your partner is moving or not, it doesn't sound like he has much quality of life at all.

SnowiestMountain · 03/09/2017 06:31

Euthanase the poor cat

FannyFifer · 03/09/2017 06:35

Dear me, why on earth have you kept that poor cat alive for so long, he sounds like he has zero quality of life, lying in his own urine & faeces.
Please get him put down, what a miserable existence.

BertrandRussell · 03/09/2017 06:35

Why hasn't this poor creature been PTS ages ago? Angry

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 03/09/2017 07:35

Sorry to be blunt but I really don't understand why you have failed to recognise that this animal has no quality of life at all. Do the right thing and get it PTS.

Toddlerteaplease · 03/09/2017 08:29

I agree with everyone who says PTS. He's got no quality of life at all. For a cat to lie in his own urine and poo is awful for them as they are such clean animals. It should have been done ages ago.

SnailsEverywhere · 03/09/2017 14:40

We'd talked to the vet before about that but since he still enjoys his food and being stroked and is usually alert, it seemed unfair to euthanise. He came from the shelter in this condition and we didn't think they'd have even rehomed him if he was bad enough to PTS Confused

I'm surprised so many people think that but I guess it's understandable from my description of him, he seems 'more' than that when you actually see him though. Have taken into account what you said though

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