Vet put cat to sleep without permission

lulu1

Maybe this is not the place for this, but did anyone see the story in the paper where a cat was taken to the vet by a neighbour and the cat was put to sleep. I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.

It was heartbreaking to see the owners little girl crying her eyes out.

Stheno

Link?

Kovu

Yeah I seen it, a couple of things didn't add up to me though. First one was that the family are adamant that the neighbours all knew the cat and it was well known in the area. Yet the person who found the cat wasn't able to locate the owner. Surely asking at a couple of doors would have been sufficient to get at least a few clues! Secondly the vet who put it down said it was a young, ill cat. Now I'm fairly sure everyone who knows cats and even some who don't, would know a 15year old cat from a youngster. Link- http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbreaking-picture-girls-tearful-goodbye-5273463

Kevin McCloud

The vet hardly put the cat to sleep for the craic, it must have been in the best interest of the cat.

boomerang

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbreaking-picture-girls-tearful-goodbye-5273463

Where an animal is suffering with no hope of recovery, the vet has the right to euthanise without the owners' consent. The cat was in end-stage renal failure at which point, euthanasia *is* the kindest option.

It doesn't say that it was a neighbour that took the cat to the vet, just that she used to go into neighbours' houses. I would say some good samaritan came across her and was concerned enough to bring her to a vet. Cats with end-stage kidney failure look in terrible condition. It sounds to me like the cat's family didn't appreciate how sick she was.

Stheno

boomerang wrote: »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbreaking-picture-girls-tearful-goodbye-5273463

Where an animal is suffering with no hope of recovery, the vet has the right to euthanise without the owners' consent. The cat was in end-stage renal failure at which point, euthanasia *is* the kindest option.

It doesn't say that it was a neighbour that took the cat to the vet, just that she used to go into neighbours' houses. I would say some good samaritan came across her and was concerned enough to bring her to a vet. Cats with end-stage kidney failure look in terrible condition. It sounds to me like the cat's family didn't appreciate how sick she was.

They can also get very sick very fast I'd a cat who was fine one day and next day extremely ill

the_syco

boomerang wrote: »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbreaking-picture-girls-tearful-goodbye-5273463

Although sad, it sounds like the owner didn't know how much pain the cat was in, so I wonder just how much they loved it?

boomerang wrote: »

It doesn't say that it was a neighbour that took the cat to the vet

It does;

The next day, a new neighbour found Babies

tk123

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who questioned it! At first I saw it and shared it on FB thinking it was terrible but the more I thought about it the more I thought the story didn't add up? If they loved the cat so much why wasn't it chipped?

boomerang

Sorry the syco, I read it too fast. What was critical for me is that the cat was brought to the vet by someone who wasn't familiar with her and could have honestly assumed it was a stray.

sunshine and showers

A vet was presented with a cat who was in the final stages of renal failure and had absolutely no means of identifying the cat's owner (why don't people microchip their pets?:rolleyes:)

The cat was obviously uncomfortable, so the vet did the right thing and put it to sleep.

The vet did nothing wrong here - the owners should have had their cat chipped! The cat may have disappeared from home to go and find somewhere to die. Isn't that what cats do? His family must not have known he was sick.

The only fault I can see on the part of the pet shop was giving them the cat back in a plastic bag. I mean, really? :mad:

lulu1

I think there is something not right with this story. The first time i read it on facebook the owner said that they let the cat out as usual and it didnt come back. It said that a neighbor took the cat in overnight and then took it to the vet at around five o clock the next day. It seems to me as if there is a case of neighbors not getting on in this story. The neighbor probably knew the cat and knew that it was in agony and took it to the vet and said it was a stray.
Another thing that made me question the story was


The owner said when I went to the vet to pick up the cat

How did she know where the cat was??

the_syco

lulu1 wrote: »

The owner said when I went to the vet to pick up the cat

Where did it say that? If you're referring to

“When I got there they handed my cat to me and he was frozen. He had been kept in the freezer over night. He was frozen stiff and waiting to be disposed of. I couldn’t believe it.

It seemed to be next day, probably when they started to ring around the vets and shelters/pounds.

pawrick

If the cat had been chipped this might have been prevented. Before someone rescues a cat they should ensure no one in the area owns it and it should definitely be checked for a chip before putting it to sleep. Sounds like the cat was let roam and had no chip and a neighbour saw it looking ill so brought it to a vet who going on their word took it to be a suffering semi feral or abandoned pet. Sad story and probably some bits missing but a lesson for anyone who does not chip their cat.

lulu1

I know this has nothing to do with the above but a few months ago my friend had her lovely little yorkshire terrier put to sleep and I was so mad.
The story was that the dog belonged to her daughter's friend. The two girls were emigrating to Austrialia and the owner of the dog begged my friend to take the dog.
The woman did not really want the dog but took it anyway
After about 3 years the dog began to take fits and she took it to the vet and to cut a long story short there was nothing major wrong with the dog. Every so often the dog would take a fit and would throw up a mouthful it would lay and sleep for a while and then it would be fine for another couple of months.
I know from my friends chat that she was fed up with it, but I couldnt believe it when she told me that she got the dog put to sleep. I couldnt believe the vet would do it.(she took it to a different vet)who asked very little questions.
I would have taken the beautiful little dog if she had told me she was putting him to sleep.
And the daughters friend who owned the dog before is livid.

the beer revolu

The owners should be pleased.
The cat needed to be euthanized and somebody else did the unpleasant deed and paid for it!

RainyDay

Kovu wrote: »

Secondly the vet who put it down said it was a young, ill cat. Now I'm fairly sure everyone who knows cats and even some who don't, would know a 15year old cat from a youngster.

Just a small point, but one of our vets was quite surprised to hear that our 16 year old cat was 16. She's a small cat, just 3.5 kg, and is fairly sprightly - so she looks to be a much younger cat.