wildeabandon

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Especially as I half think there's at least a grain of truth in it. I probably could have done more.

Crossposts: http://wildeabandon.livejournal.com/246787.html

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Ouch! Even if the cat could have got better (which is not certain), who but you knows whether you'd have the resources to nurse it? And suggesting it's better to leave it on the streets to be starving and miserable is implying a more clear-cut moral whatsit than I think is appropriate in this situation.
I still think you did the right thing.

Thank you. I do know that I couldn't have taken it in - our landlord doesn't allow pets, and I agree that leaving it would have been cruel.

The thing I think I should possibly have done is try to find a cat's rescue centre who would have been prepared to try and find it a home if I volunteered to pay for its vets bills in the meantime.

No way would a cat's rescue take an animal that a vet would put down.

I agree.

Thank you - this particularly reassures me.

Troll to the max. If there was a possibility for the cat to have lived if it were taken into a nurturing home, the vet would have told you so. If you hadn't taken it to the vet, it would have lived a short time longer still very unwell, and died in pain. Heed not the troll!

Yes. Opinion of vet who did see the cat >> opinion of anonymous person on internet who didn't see the cat. Do not beat yourself up about this!

This.

Exactly!

This. Err, disclaimer: I may be biased as to the wisdom of vets ;-)

Presumably if the poor thing had been at a reasonably recoverable stage of starvation the vet wouldn't have decided euthanasia was the best course of action and would have suggested a rescue centre to take it to.

(That was me, DW logged me out since the last time I logged in this morning for some reason...)

Thank you - and actually, that was useful, as it made me realised I hadn't posted that friends-only as I intended.

I agree with this. The vet was certainly the best person to decide what the options were, and it doesn't seem likely he would have lied and left out any.

Agreed - medical opinion definitely takes precedent here. Try not to let the anonymous bastard get to you.

*massive hugs* Ouch indeed.

Having had to make that decision myself, with much-loved pets, I know how terribly difficult and upsetting it is. Trust the vet, not a troll.

also, of course, nursing sick stray cats to health isn't a very efficient way to buy utility...

> I probably could have done more.

Well, of course. Loads of people/animals we don't help, on a daily basis, because it's too much hassle. I could do loads more, but I don't.

About the post, I dunno.

I'm against legalised euthanasia for humans (bear in mind, I've considered myself one of the people who'd potentially want to access legal euthanasia, so it's not trivial for me to take a position against it - I say this by way of not wanting to invite a debate on the subject) because not everyone can be trusted to fully explore options for palliative care / analysis using the social model before looking at euthanasia.

For example, a friend of mine has significant disabilities. Several times, medical staff have put Do Not Resuscitate orders on the bedside medical papers of this friend before their partner noticed and had them removed. Said friend is still alive and happy after resuscitation (hurrah!) rather than conveniently dead.

So, I don't necessarily trust vets to recommend palliative care over euthanasia either, even when it's an option. Easier to recommend death for an anonymous kitten than for a real live woman in a wheelchair.

Also not that keen on the whole "you did your best so it's all cool" angle either. Possible to do one's best and still fuck up.

So, could you have done more? Yeah, probably. Was it too much hassle? Yeah, probably!

In the scale of things, I don't think it's really a big deal - there are humans suffering much more than the kitten did, either way, and it's more worthwhile in my opinion putting energy towards them.

Sorry, this comment isn't as, "it's ok, everything is lovely" as the others - hopefully you receive it in the spirit it's meant. :)

Vets I know (and I include myself here) hate putting animals to sleep. It sounds very much like the vet here examined the kitten and concluded that the prognosis was exceedingly poor.

I completely agree!

Possible to do one's best and still fuck up.
Yes, but it's also possible to do one's best in a situation and for that situation to still have a bad outcome, because the situation would have had a bad outcome no matter what anyone did. Arguably this is one of those situations.

Sure. Just making the point that "you did your best" does not necessarily imply "it's all ok", and also that I'm not trying to say that

wildeabandon didn't do their best! :)

What a horrible, rude comment, though I'm afraid I agree there's some truth in it.

My experience of vets is that they tend to have a very pragmatic notion of the worth of 'unwanted' animals. This isn't at all daft given that there are too many cats in the world and not enough homes for them, but if the welfare of that particular cat was of concern to you - as I think it was, and would have been to me - then my advice would have been to let it live. I would certainly have considered taking it in.

When I was a child we found a cat who was in a very bad state - broken tail and huge gash on head as well as being very undernourished indeed. She ended up living with us for eighteen years.

On the other hand, I think that "nursing sick stray cats to health isn't a very efficient way to buy utility" is a much better perspective than my more emotional one is, so I can't say I think you did the wrong thing.

Sorry that this comment is untactful. I'm making it because I think that (like me) you prefer people to say stuff like this - sorry if I'm wrong.