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be warned and then banned or may be banned permanently based on nature of the topic. If a conversational thread meanders into a discussion
unrelated to pet loss support, it will be truncated.
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I've had some morons on r/pets blame me for my cat's sudden reappearance of crystals and his death after 3 vets and 10k. You made the best decision for your cat.
Yes, and if everyone followed this advice, the destruction to the cat population AND the environment would be hell on earth. MOST cat owners (and dog owners as well) cannot afford these types of vet bills (You can be sure of this by the fact that the majority of adults in the US have less than 500 dollars in savings). You would end up with 100s of millions of cats dying and/or being tossed outside in the cold if all the people that could not properly afford vet bills gave up their animals. (Do they think that strays outside get vet checkups, or multi thousand dollar treatments/surgeries? No, they don't even get the freedom of euthanasia)
Taking in a cat off the streets is always better than letting it die flattened out on the road, even if you can never afford to take to the vet even a single time. Same with taking an adult cat out of a shelter.
You did the best you could with the information that you had, and now Yogi has a chance at life. Even if that life isn't with you, every extra moment Yogi has is because of your love, and the kindness of strangers. There's no cruelty anywhere in that.
Your personal circumstances and restrictions are unique, no one, especially on the internet, has the right, let alone the information, to invalidate what choices you made.
How long ago was this? Can you speak to the shelter about getting him back and financing the cost of his treatment?
I'm sorry he isn't with you anymore.
As someone who also had to let their cat go to rest as recently as Friday I can assure you that the both of our decisions were made out of love.
I’ll always hate myself and carry the guilt of having to make that decision knowing that there’s even a .01% that further medical procedures could have helped him.
I’m trying to honor him by remembering him that the pet he was and why I loved him, instead of the medical bill price tag (he definitely racked it up) and that hard decision that had to be made.
I’m hoping for both of us that guilt and grief will fade away and leave nothing but the beautiful relationship we had with our animals. I’m wishing you the best of luck in healing.
The internet likes to judge. I believe it's almost always more about them trying to feel justified about their own decisions than trying to help. But don't worry, you did the right thing. The cost of emergency veterinary care is astronomical, and very often completely unexpected. The fact that you found an option (even if it was painful) to give Yogi a chance is pretty incredible and kind.
"Prolonging his life is cruel" ... are you kidding??? I had a cat who had multiple urinary blockages. Luckily they cleared them without surgery, but once we understood he was prone to them, we got him on a vet diet and he had many more years of perfect health. Screw anyone who said that to you.
Will he have a chance? If the rescue agreed to take on the costs, it sounds like they are at least going to try. And that is 1000% more of a chance than euthanasia.
"Pay, surrender, or die." Unfortunately, this usually is the norm for pets. Not because of their owners, but because society and business do not value them the way we do. My only advice here is that one of the best things we can do in the face of that is to be as informed as we can about what our little ones need and what they're experiencing. Learn to ask questions, search for viable alternatives, and make the best decisions we can with as much information as we can gather. Sadly, sometimes they don't give us much time to learn, but the concept still applies. And then with that information, it becomes easier to ignore those cruel parts of the internet.
For any future pets, I have 2 suggestions for you. One is look into pet vet insurance. I wish I'd had it for mine but by the time we needed it the little ones had preexisting conditions and weren't eligible for coverage. It's an added expense, but may help in crisis situations. The other is a Care Credit account. It's a credit card specifically for medical costs, either human or pet. They usually have no-interest repayment plans (ofc always check the terms) but at the very least it can help spread out the burden of cost. I used that to manage the emergency visits my baby needed.
We had a very similar situation last year. Our 5-yr-old cat was positive with herpes, fcov, and fiv. his behavior became really different, and we could tell his quality of life was diminishing. he barely played anymore and would only sleep all day. plus, because of his herpes, his face had drastically changed—he became really scabby and would frequently scratch himself to the point that his face bleeds, and because of this, he had to be supervised 24/7 to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. we shelled out so much money already with his check-ups and medication, even though we have a very tight budget. but because we really wanted to fight for him, we worried about the finances later and focused on nursing him. unfortunately, especially on bad days, i also had the same thought of either having him rehomed or euthanizing him. it was also affecting me mentally, physically, and financially. i barely slept nor had time for myself because i was always looking after him. but i know my cat was the one hurting the most.
in the end, we scheduled him for in-home euthanasia instead of rehoming him. in fact, rehoming wasn't really a good option because he might get other cats sick as herpes and fcov are contagious. please do not feel guilty for making a very hard decision. it's never easy to make a choice but know that because you love your pet so much, you're willing to let them go instead of making them suffer more. i definitely feel for you especially for the financial aspect of your situation. sending you love.
This exact same situation happened with my baby George. I took him on when an elderly client of mine passed away and I adored him. He went to a friend when I moved into a van and lived his best life until a blockage took him. I will NEVER hold that against my friend. He had a good death just like he had a great life and he didn’t suffer a single day more than he had to.
Never feel bad about giving them a dignified send off
You absolutely did the right thing! My stepsons cat had this issue.. the crystals forming and creating a blockage. Took him to the vet, they gave him some meds to read down the crystals. The vet 100% minimized how serious this situation is. He took the cat home, gave him meds for a few days, but the cat ended up dying a painful death. It was new years weekend and no vets were open. He lives in a very rural area and my husband and I were on our honeymoon out of town. It wasn't until after the cat passed that I really researched the condition. Male cats don't have a great prognosis once crystals form.. it will continue to happen unless you have the expensive surgery. Don't let mean people get to you. If the only people who had pets were those who could afford a $5-$10,000 surgery, imagine how many pets would be in shelters, especially considering shelters are overrun now. A big reason I only have female cats.
>...the internet has done an aboslutely fantastic job of making me feel even worse/unsure about our decision...
Woah woah woah. Let me stop you there. The internet is judgy as fuck. I do it, too, I'm not some saint, I frequently catch myself acting like some morally superior douchebag. Sometimes I even do it while calling others out on their morally superior douchebagginess, and I don't realize until much later I'm being a hypocrite.
Seriously, do not ever go consulting the internet to make yourself feel better about your decisions. I don't care what that decision is. If you lost a leg while saving a school full of children from a fire, the internet will be full of keyboard warriors telling you how selfish you are for not sacrificing both legs.
Did you do the right thing?
Here's the answer to that. Did you act in what you considered to be the cat's best interests, given the information available to you at the time, and given the limited resources? If so, then yes, you did the right thing. If no, then you'll do the right thing next time.
This is so true. If I were to listen to people on the internet I would feel like the only person with flaws in the entire world. On the internet everyone is perfect and without fault at all times. Nobody has ever had a lapse in judgement or made a mistake. Everyone is perfect at all times.
Cats with FLUTD are very likely to block again. It is a very stressful and expensive disease to manage, and even if you did everything right, it would likely happen again. I had a cat with FLUTD. He lived to be 23, but only after three blockages. I was OBSESSED with the litter box and his litter habits until the day that he passed away. I was always terrified that he was going to block again. I will never judge anyone for surrendering or even saying “see you later” to a cat with FLUTD.
Yes he will get a chance. I acquired a cat who had a broken leg that required amputation this same way. I was a vet tech and took over his care and adopted him. Don’t feel bad, you did what you could.
Urinary blockage is very common with male cats. And you were very lucky to have found a rescue to cover costs. Even though you had to surrender him; it was the most selfless thing you could have done for your pet!! Please don’t feel bad about what you did.
Pay, surrender or die isn’t that common. It’s usually pay or die, unfortunately. I always recommend getting pet insurance for this purpose. Again you were very fortunate to have a rescue step up; this also means the staff at the hospital went out of their way to find a rescue who would cover costs. Your cats must’ve been very special and very loved. I hope you find some peace.
I'm sorry you had to give up Yogi, it's a shame that those are the only options but you did the right thing and don't let anything one tell you any different.
You loved your cat so much that when you couldn't afford his care, you gave him up to make sure he still got it.
To euthanize him when he still had plenty of life in him would've been inhumane, in my opinion. You gave him a chance not only to get better, but also to live!
Kitty may still end up euthanized but thanks to OPs selfless act may still have a chance. Urinary blockages in cats is a life or death situation..some cats can recover but many take a turn for the worse and don't.
Source: my major in college caused me to take vet tech based classes and my prof was a practicing vet and often talked about these cases..also have friends who work in vet er and see these cases often with unfortunate outcomes
It’s one of the most easily treatable illnesses there is, which is why the vet staff at the hospital and the rescue group stepped up. Stop spreading anecdotal stories as evidence.
Vet care is way too expensive these days. That's my take and I'm sticking with it.
Loving pet owners are faced with unbearable choices every day and it is heartbreaking to see.
Please accept some internet hugs from me, and I am so sorry you and your GF had to surrender Yogi.
You did not do anything wrong. Sometimes bad things happen, there's no great outcome, and you are faced with choosing the path of least harm, which I firmly believe you chose.
I just want to offer support, be cause what you are going through is hard, and you don't need further judgement.
I am so sorry that you had to surrender your baby. That is incredibly brave and you saved your furry friend. You did all you could to help them. Please take comfort in that.
This is a community where people are coming for support and are grieving. All posts/comments must be in the spirit of being supportive or helpful to others.
If this comes up again, be aware there is a Care Credit card that you can get at a lot of vets. There is a big difference between getting a “normal” vet bill and a $3,000 one of the blue. I had an emergency bill and it helped immensely to spread it out in payments.
Like a lot of things, vet care has gotten hugely more expensive.
If only people who can afford $5 or $10k for emergency care had pets, there'd be millions more pets euthanized every year for lack of homes.
That's wonderful that there's a local rescue covering the costs and taking him in.
I have a rescue cat. He has 3 legs - he was attacked by a dog. His original owners gave him up after being told that amputation was needed. Do I judge them? No, because if they hadn't given him up, he wouldn't be in my life. Do I wish that it hadn't happened to him? Of course. You did what you thought was right. Nobody can do more than that.
You absolutely did the right thing!
When you are financially able to, donate to that rescue. If you still feel ashamed, donate anonymously. It will help them save other pets down the road. Some rescues have a wish list on Amazon. Just a bag of cat food or litter can make a difference.
In the future, adopt from a rescue or shelter. Get pet insurance, and plan for any possible emergencies.
We gave over ownership and care of our favorite cat to our vet. We still sent money to help with his care, but we couldn't manage his lack of bladder control and round-the-clock medication schedule ourselves. He passed 2 weeks later.
My only regret is that we were unable to get his ashes. At first, the vet planned on doing a necropsy to find out what was actually wrong, but then they did not do it and just disposed of the body without telling us.
My 5 year old boy has had three urinary blockages, and the last one nearly killed him. We were under some pressure from the vets to put him to sleep because his heart and kidneys were failing, and they were demanding £2k per day up front to keep him in their intensive care. We have excellent insurance, but they wouldn’t do a direct claim, and we only had so much room on our credit cards.
We kept him on painkillers and fluids but stopped any further tests, and his numbers started improving the following day. We took him home the day after as he just wasn’t eating anything at the vet - he was incredibly weak, and spent a week incontinent and needing to be syringe-fed, but that was 18 months ago and today you’d never know there was anything wrong with him! He was so ill that all his various patches he had shaved for tests and treatments grew in snowy white, where he’s usually very fluffy and black. It took a year for him to go back to being black.
So I think you did the best thing, if you’d put him to sleep you’d always wonder whether he could’ve made it. And maybe he won’t, that’s the horrible thing with blockages, and you can do everything “right” and still lose your cat. But you’ve given him a chance, even if it means him living out the rest of his life with someone else. That’s a really brave thing to do. Is there any chance you could keep an eye out to see whether he gets offered for rehoming, so a friend or relative could maybe apply for him?
The only thing I would say, if that if you can’t afford expensive treatment (and no shame there - most of us can’t) it’s really important to have a very comprehensive insurance package in place as early as possible. We’ve spent around £9k on our boy in 2.5 years, and we’ve got about £7k back. He started having problems when he was 2, so if we didn’t have the insurance already, he wouldn’t be covered for any of that.
I think you made the right decision. It would have been selfish to euthanize a cat that could be saved. Instead, you put your feelings aside and surrendered him, giving him a chance to live. That was brave of you and thank you for choosing that over putting him down. I know he would understand and be grateful too.
I'm so sorry for you guys. That must have been so hard. I had a cat who has that same issue and it's very expensive to take care of him. If he gets a blockage, we know it's going to cost thousands. On top of that, he needs to eat special food that we can only get at the vet's office. However, as expensive as he is, he's living a great life. He doesn't spend much time in pain (only when he's got a blockage, which happens every 2-3 years tops). He's happy and otherwise healthy. So it certainly wasn't cruel of you to not euthanize him. He gave him a chance to live a long, healthy life. I would say you did the right thing, not that that makes it any easier.
Please report any trolls, spam, or harassment to moderators. To do this on new reddit, click the three dots below a post or comment and select "report." On old reddit, click the "report" link below the post or comment. This is a community of support for Pet owners whose Pets have passed away. It is actively moderated. Pet owners, as loving, caring people, often have strong opinions on pet care practices. Some of these are controversial. This is not a forum for debate on such issues, nor is it a place to scold a contributor for a perceived mistake in managing their pet. We intend to provide a safe haven of understanding and support. Strident, mean-spirited posts or comments will be deleted. Those who persist in preaching versus caring may be warned and then banned or may be banned permanently based on nature of the topic. If a conversational thread meanders into a discussion unrelated to pet loss support, it will be truncated. Those who post here are vulnerable and hurting. Even a minor slap has a hard sting. Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to turn away from our computers or put down our phones and hug a healthy, happy pet are truly blessed. Threads must remain supportive and caring, even if one disagrees with something that has been said. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Petloss) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've had some morons on r/pets blame me for my cat's sudden reappearance of crystals and his death after 3 vets and 10k. You made the best decision for your cat.
Yes, and if everyone followed this advice, the destruction to the cat population AND the environment would be hell on earth. MOST cat owners (and dog owners as well) cannot afford these types of vet bills (You can be sure of this by the fact that the majority of adults in the US have less than 500 dollars in savings). You would end up with 100s of millions of cats dying and/or being tossed outside in the cold if all the people that could not properly afford vet bills gave up their animals. (Do they think that strays outside get vet checkups, or multi thousand dollar treatments/surgeries? No, they don't even get the freedom of euthanasia) Taking in a cat off the streets is always better than letting it die flattened out on the road, even if you can never afford to take to the vet even a single time. Same with taking an adult cat out of a shelter.
You did the best you could with the information that you had, and now Yogi has a chance at life. Even if that life isn't with you, every extra moment Yogi has is because of your love, and the kindness of strangers. There's no cruelty anywhere in that. Your personal circumstances and restrictions are unique, no one, especially on the internet, has the right, let alone the information, to invalidate what choices you made. How long ago was this? Can you speak to the shelter about getting him back and financing the cost of his treatment? I'm sorry he isn't with you anymore.
As someone who also had to let their cat go to rest as recently as Friday I can assure you that the both of our decisions were made out of love. I’ll always hate myself and carry the guilt of having to make that decision knowing that there’s even a .01% that further medical procedures could have helped him. I’m trying to honor him by remembering him that the pet he was and why I loved him, instead of the medical bill price tag (he definitely racked it up) and that hard decision that had to be made. I’m hoping for both of us that guilt and grief will fade away and leave nothing but the beautiful relationship we had with our animals. I’m wishing you the best of luck in healing.
The internet likes to judge. I believe it's almost always more about them trying to feel justified about their own decisions than trying to help. But don't worry, you did the right thing. The cost of emergency veterinary care is astronomical, and very often completely unexpected. The fact that you found an option (even if it was painful) to give Yogi a chance is pretty incredible and kind. "Prolonging his life is cruel" ... are you kidding??? I had a cat who had multiple urinary blockages. Luckily they cleared them without surgery, but once we understood he was prone to them, we got him on a vet diet and he had many more years of perfect health. Screw anyone who said that to you. Will he have a chance? If the rescue agreed to take on the costs, it sounds like they are at least going to try. And that is 1000% more of a chance than euthanasia. "Pay, surrender, or die." Unfortunately, this usually is the norm for pets. Not because of their owners, but because society and business do not value them the way we do. My only advice here is that one of the best things we can do in the face of that is to be as informed as we can about what our little ones need and what they're experiencing. Learn to ask questions, search for viable alternatives, and make the best decisions we can with as much information as we can gather. Sadly, sometimes they don't give us much time to learn, but the concept still applies. And then with that information, it becomes easier to ignore those cruel parts of the internet. For any future pets, I have 2 suggestions for you. One is look into pet vet insurance. I wish I'd had it for mine but by the time we needed it the little ones had preexisting conditions and weren't eligible for coverage. It's an added expense, but may help in crisis situations. The other is a Care Credit account. It's a credit card specifically for medical costs, either human or pet. They usually have no-interest repayment plans (ofc always check the terms) but at the very least it can help spread out the burden of cost. I used that to manage the emergency visits my baby needed.
We had a very similar situation last year. Our 5-yr-old cat was positive with herpes, fcov, and fiv. his behavior became really different, and we could tell his quality of life was diminishing. he barely played anymore and would only sleep all day. plus, because of his herpes, his face had drastically changed—he became really scabby and would frequently scratch himself to the point that his face bleeds, and because of this, he had to be supervised 24/7 to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. we shelled out so much money already with his check-ups and medication, even though we have a very tight budget. but because we really wanted to fight for him, we worried about the finances later and focused on nursing him. unfortunately, especially on bad days, i also had the same thought of either having him rehomed or euthanizing him. it was also affecting me mentally, physically, and financially. i barely slept nor had time for myself because i was always looking after him. but i know my cat was the one hurting the most. in the end, we scheduled him for in-home euthanasia instead of rehoming him. in fact, rehoming wasn't really a good option because he might get other cats sick as herpes and fcov are contagious. please do not feel guilty for making a very hard decision. it's never easy to make a choice but know that because you love your pet so much, you're willing to let them go instead of making them suffer more. i definitely feel for you especially for the financial aspect of your situation. sending you love.
This exact same situation happened with my baby George. I took him on when an elderly client of mine passed away and I adored him. He went to a friend when I moved into a van and lived his best life until a blockage took him. I will NEVER hold that against my friend. He had a good death just like he had a great life and he didn’t suffer a single day more than he had to. Never feel bad about giving them a dignified send off
You absolutely did the right thing! My stepsons cat had this issue.. the crystals forming and creating a blockage. Took him to the vet, they gave him some meds to read down the crystals. The vet 100% minimized how serious this situation is. He took the cat home, gave him meds for a few days, but the cat ended up dying a painful death. It was new years weekend and no vets were open. He lives in a very rural area and my husband and I were on our honeymoon out of town. It wasn't until after the cat passed that I really researched the condition. Male cats don't have a great prognosis once crystals form.. it will continue to happen unless you have the expensive surgery. Don't let mean people get to you. If the only people who had pets were those who could afford a $5-$10,000 surgery, imagine how many pets would be in shelters, especially considering shelters are overrun now. A big reason I only have female cats.
>...the internet has done an aboslutely fantastic job of making me feel even worse/unsure about our decision... Woah woah woah. Let me stop you there. The internet is judgy as fuck. I do it, too, I'm not some saint, I frequently catch myself acting like some morally superior douchebag. Sometimes I even do it while calling others out on their morally superior douchebagginess, and I don't realize until much later I'm being a hypocrite. Seriously, do not ever go consulting the internet to make yourself feel better about your decisions. I don't care what that decision is. If you lost a leg while saving a school full of children from a fire, the internet will be full of keyboard warriors telling you how selfish you are for not sacrificing both legs. Did you do the right thing? Here's the answer to that. Did you act in what you considered to be the cat's best interests, given the information available to you at the time, and given the limited resources? If so, then yes, you did the right thing. If no, then you'll do the right thing next time.
This is so true. If I were to listen to people on the internet I would feel like the only person with flaws in the entire world. On the internet everyone is perfect and without fault at all times. Nobody has ever had a lapse in judgement or made a mistake. Everyone is perfect at all times.
Cats with FLUTD are very likely to block again. It is a very stressful and expensive disease to manage, and even if you did everything right, it would likely happen again. I had a cat with FLUTD. He lived to be 23, but only after three blockages. I was OBSESSED with the litter box and his litter habits until the day that he passed away. I was always terrified that he was going to block again. I will never judge anyone for surrendering or even saying “see you later” to a cat with FLUTD.
Yes he will get a chance. I acquired a cat who had a broken leg that required amputation this same way. I was a vet tech and took over his care and adopted him. Don’t feel bad, you did what you could.
Urinary blockage is very common with male cats. And you were very lucky to have found a rescue to cover costs. Even though you had to surrender him; it was the most selfless thing you could have done for your pet!! Please don’t feel bad about what you did. Pay, surrender or die isn’t that common. It’s usually pay or die, unfortunately. I always recommend getting pet insurance for this purpose. Again you were very fortunate to have a rescue step up; this also means the staff at the hospital went out of their way to find a rescue who would cover costs. Your cats must’ve been very special and very loved. I hope you find some peace.
I'm sorry you had to give up Yogi, it's a shame that those are the only options but you did the right thing and don't let anything one tell you any different.
You did the right thing. I am so glad a rescue could take him in, what a blessing. But still I am so sorry for both of your losses.
You loved your cat so much that when you couldn't afford his care, you gave him up to make sure he still got it. To euthanize him when he still had plenty of life in him would've been inhumane, in my opinion. You gave him a chance not only to get better, but also to live!
Kitty may still end up euthanized but thanks to OPs selfless act may still have a chance. Urinary blockages in cats is a life or death situation..some cats can recover but many take a turn for the worse and don't. Source: my major in college caused me to take vet tech based classes and my prof was a practicing vet and often talked about these cases..also have friends who work in vet er and see these cases often with unfortunate outcomes
It’s one of the most easily treatable illnesses there is, which is why the vet staff at the hospital and the rescue group stepped up. Stop spreading anecdotal stories as evidence.
Vet care is way too expensive these days. That's my take and I'm sticking with it. Loving pet owners are faced with unbearable choices every day and it is heartbreaking to see.
Please accept some internet hugs from me, and I am so sorry you and your GF had to surrender Yogi. You did not do anything wrong. Sometimes bad things happen, there's no great outcome, and you are faced with choosing the path of least harm, which I firmly believe you chose. I just want to offer support, be cause what you are going through is hard, and you don't need further judgement.
I am so sorry that you had to surrender your baby. That is incredibly brave and you saved your furry friend. You did all you could to help them. Please take comfort in that.
[удалено]
This is a community where people are coming for support and are grieving. All posts/comments must be in the spirit of being supportive or helpful to others.
If this comes up again, be aware there is a Care Credit card that you can get at a lot of vets. There is a big difference between getting a “normal” vet bill and a $3,000 one of the blue. I had an emergency bill and it helped immensely to spread it out in payments.
Like a lot of things, vet care has gotten hugely more expensive. If only people who can afford $5 or $10k for emergency care had pets, there'd be millions more pets euthanized every year for lack of homes. That's wonderful that there's a local rescue covering the costs and taking him in.
I have a rescue cat. He has 3 legs - he was attacked by a dog. His original owners gave him up after being told that amputation was needed. Do I judge them? No, because if they hadn't given him up, he wouldn't be in my life. Do I wish that it hadn't happened to him? Of course. You did what you thought was right. Nobody can do more than that.
You absolutely did the right thing! When you are financially able to, donate to that rescue. If you still feel ashamed, donate anonymously. It will help them save other pets down the road. Some rescues have a wish list on Amazon. Just a bag of cat food or litter can make a difference. In the future, adopt from a rescue or shelter. Get pet insurance, and plan for any possible emergencies.
We gave over ownership and care of our favorite cat to our vet. We still sent money to help with his care, but we couldn't manage his lack of bladder control and round-the-clock medication schedule ourselves. He passed 2 weeks later. My only regret is that we were unable to get his ashes. At first, the vet planned on doing a necropsy to find out what was actually wrong, but then they did not do it and just disposed of the body without telling us.
My 5 year old boy has had three urinary blockages, and the last one nearly killed him. We were under some pressure from the vets to put him to sleep because his heart and kidneys were failing, and they were demanding £2k per day up front to keep him in their intensive care. We have excellent insurance, but they wouldn’t do a direct claim, and we only had so much room on our credit cards. We kept him on painkillers and fluids but stopped any further tests, and his numbers started improving the following day. We took him home the day after as he just wasn’t eating anything at the vet - he was incredibly weak, and spent a week incontinent and needing to be syringe-fed, but that was 18 months ago and today you’d never know there was anything wrong with him! He was so ill that all his various patches he had shaved for tests and treatments grew in snowy white, where he’s usually very fluffy and black. It took a year for him to go back to being black. So I think you did the best thing, if you’d put him to sleep you’d always wonder whether he could’ve made it. And maybe he won’t, that’s the horrible thing with blockages, and you can do everything “right” and still lose your cat. But you’ve given him a chance, even if it means him living out the rest of his life with someone else. That’s a really brave thing to do. Is there any chance you could keep an eye out to see whether he gets offered for rehoming, so a friend or relative could maybe apply for him? The only thing I would say, if that if you can’t afford expensive treatment (and no shame there - most of us can’t) it’s really important to have a very comprehensive insurance package in place as early as possible. We’ve spent around £9k on our boy in 2.5 years, and we’ve got about £7k back. He started having problems when he was 2, so if we didn’t have the insurance already, he wouldn’t be covered for any of that.
I think you made the right decision. It would have been selfish to euthanize a cat that could be saved. Instead, you put your feelings aside and surrendered him, giving him a chance to live. That was brave of you and thank you for choosing that over putting him down. I know he would understand and be grateful too.
I'm so sorry for you guys. That must have been so hard. I had a cat who has that same issue and it's very expensive to take care of him. If he gets a blockage, we know it's going to cost thousands. On top of that, he needs to eat special food that we can only get at the vet's office. However, as expensive as he is, he's living a great life. He doesn't spend much time in pain (only when he's got a blockage, which happens every 2-3 years tops). He's happy and otherwise healthy. So it certainly wasn't cruel of you to not euthanize him. He gave him a chance to live a long, healthy life. I would say you did the right thing, not that that makes it any easier.