What happens with the body if put down at home?

[BrainInAJar]

Hello

I'm hopefully not yet there but when the time comes, I ideally want my cat to be PTS at home.

It might be the local vet or one of those dedicated home visit vets, depending on who has availability.

Do they take the body away? Straightaway? I'm not sure yet but I wonder if I will want to "keep" her for a short time, maybe to help me come to terms with it. Has anyone done this and did you find it helpful?

Would I then drop her off at a pet crem say the following day?

I want to try and think about my decisions in advance so I'm not overwhelmed when the time comes.

Thanks

Not weird at all, @Potentialmadcatlady . I hadn't thought of it in those terms but you're right. For me it's that I don't want to leave them behind - my last-but-one house's back yard was cemetery to many cats by the time I left. Since getting the later generations cremated, they come with me in decorative urns or boxes.

I also pre-book at a lovely pet crematorium. It gives me some time to cuddle and be with them afterwards before taking them to the crematorium later the same day. When there, if you want to, they place your pet in a basket with a blanket so you can say a final goodbye. After I leave they do paw prints with ink on paper and I think you can choose a paw print pressed into clay too. I have found it very helpful.

My much, much beloved cat was PTS last year.

I felt that as soon as she was dead, you could see the change in her eyes. She wasn’t there any more. We held her as she went, and said goodbye before and during her being PTS. The vets were so thoughtful, they didn’t rush us at all. But once she was gone, she didn’t even look like our pet any more, if you see what I mean.

I haven’t had a pet PTS for years but I think it was the same with my childhood dog.

So I think it’s ok to decide on the day, but I wouldn’t want to have kept what was clearly just the body, with the personality / spirit / whatever gone.

We asked the vet to take her away and either cremate and dispose of the ashes, or donate her remains to veterinary science.

All the very very best to you and your lovely pet.

@AngryBirdsNoMore that's exactly what it was like when my Freya was pts about eight years ago. One moment she was there, next she was gone, just her body left behind. Her eyes were empty. It wasn't expression, or her no longer looking at us (she was blind) - she'd left.

My cat died suddenly at home. We actually took her to the vet so they could confirm she was gone because it was an instant fall over and gone situation 😳 we left her there to be cremated. The ashes come back in a lovely tasteful cardboard tube from our vets - although the cat was buried fairly quickly the dog hung around under the sink for years until we decided where to bury her. What I'm trying to say is the container she will come back in will be fine to keep her in :)

@Grimchmas yes, Freya came back from the vet in a nice little tin, the sort of square tin with rounded corners one sees in gift shops. It's printed with paw prints and has her name on it.

Our boy was put to sleep at the vets and we took him home briefly but then on to the pet crematorium ourselves. They were so lovely and had a basket for him to be "laid out." We chose a container for his ashes and we picked him up the next day. He's on our hearth in a beautiful wooden box.
We assumed we'd bury him in the garden but when the time came to think about letting him go, it didn't feel right for us. We'll do the same when the time comes for our 18 year old.

So sorry you're going through this, but you're right to think it through in advance.

Thanks again everyone. That's interesting that I could donate her body to vet science. I wouldn't rule that out. I'm definitely a firm believer that once the "soul" has gone, it's just a body. Not that I would treat a body disrespectfully, whether animal or human, but I I try to be pragmatic about the thing. It might be comforting to know she helped other cats in her death.

What is your ultimate plan, those of you who have kept ashes at home? Have them scattered with your own ashes one day?!

My cat was put to sleep in his favorite sunny spot in the garden. I opted for the vet taking him and for me to pick his ashes up after he'd been individually cremated.
The vet nurse carried him to the van gently in his arms. No bag. Just carrying him like a baby.

Slightly different scenario but our cat died at home whilst we were on holiday and our cat sitter took her to our vets who kept her until we returned. We had her cremated and then we buried the box at home.

Whether we lose a pet at home or at the vets, we keep them with us until the next day and then take them to the crematorium personally. I disagree with a PP about the changes after they die, within 24 hours there isn’t much change at all and for us, it helps to come to terms with losing them. There’s nothing to fear, it’s just the shell of your furry friend.

My beautiful cat died shockingly and unexpectedly last week. I needed those few hours with him before sending him away to be cremated.

Taking them directly to the crematorium is also cheaper and means they are returned to you much more quickly. My darling boy was cremated and ready to be collected again in 1.5 hours. It will take a few days if they go via your vet practice, and without wanting to be too detailed, they aren’t always handled delicately during transportation en masse.

Sorry, no time to read the full thread but I’ve read your OP, really sorry you’re having to consider that.

We had our cat PTS last year. I also did lots of work experience at a vet’s so I know that if you don’t express an alternative preference they are normally put in a big freezer and then sent to the cat crematorium. In ours’ case we were given a towel to wrap the body in, I held him in my arms on the drive home and then stayed with him for a few hours. I believe this is because my mother opened for this choice. He was buried 24 hours later wrapped in a scarf of mine.

I haven’t ever been privy to an animal being PTS before and that gave me closure. I have seen (really sorry) cold and stiffened up bodies of family cats that were found dead, which were so much like a stuffed or taxidermist version of themselves it wasn’t too upsetting. Both have given me closure, but I did go through a bit of distress sitting with the one whose body I was in charge of while he still could just have been sleeping. I even, to my embarrassment, kept trying to wake him up.

If you can’t bury them pretty quickly, there are also some fairly unpleasant physical issues to deal with, as I said ours was wrapped in a scarf and before that a towel but when we transferred him to a box there had been some seepage.

I’d go with when it happens, know what you’re going to do with the body in advance and maybe sit vigil for a few hours and then put them to rest. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to cuddle the body of what had been my furry friend until fifteen minutes before all the way home, but I was glad I’d been there to and after the end, and even though I still occasionally look out of the window to see him doing his well-worn patrol it really did help with closure.

I don’t know much about children’s psychology either and my phone has a weird glitch which keeps erasing the text if I scroll up so I can’t check the OP, but it might even help them to be there to say goodbye and see the cat go to sleep. I disapprove of euphemisms like “pass away” for humans but being PTS really is very quick and painless.

Just please don’t keep any part of them. I came across the tail of one of my childhood ponies, who was shot without my knowledge or being able to say goodbye, in a drawer. Not fun.

We had all 3 of our past kitties PTS at home. They were on my lap and were given sedation which works almost instantly, and then the lethal injection. When they had passed we had a few minutes with them, then the vet wrapped them in one of our T-shirts and gently carried them away, we had already agreed individual cremation.

@BrainInAJar I hadn't thought about it, but having them scattered with mine is a great idea - should update my will to reflect that.

So sorry to hear that @GodspeedJune. I really do believe it means something to have their human with them before death and to the human to be able to be with them after, and it was probably easier on him that it was sudden than a long and slow decline. I’m really sorry you had to lose your boy - I’m already dreading when our girl has to go and she’s one or two years old and mostly healthy. But the culmination of his life was with you, who he loved. Don’t be afraid to feel grief, it’s natural.

I buried my 18 year old dcat in his favourite spot under a bush in one of my borders. You have to dig down very deep and I put him in a cardboard box. Then when filled in I put a big paving slab over the top to protect against my dogs and possibly foxes. After 6 months I removed the paving slab and sprinkled forget me not seeds on his grave. It gives me comfort to know he's in his favourite place.

Thank you everyone! Some days I think she's ok and some days (like today) she doesn't seem too good.

Spoke to the vet today and going to up her medication and take bloods again in another 2 weeks. If we get the thyroid under control and kidney problems don't take over, she might even have another year or two.

But I won't be putting her through a lot more vet treatment and I will be watching closely for when she is not enjoying life anymore.

It's not time yet so just focussing on giving her loads of love and taking lots of photos and videos.

But I realise she could go downhill fast at her age so I have been researching the vets who come to the house. So I am prepared and not flapping around if we have a crisis and I need to make quick decisions.

I have had a right tear in my eye reading about all your lovely babies! How lucky they all were to have such love!

I'm already thinking about whether I will want to take on another cat. I always said I wouldn't, purely on the basis of being woken in the night driving me mad! but I reckon I might want to put my experience to use and help another rescue cat.

Thanks again everyone.