humane cat solution

Less then 25 cents the cost of a shell and to dig a hole to put it in. Thats my way. Later Matt

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Spelling and Gramer subject to screw ups I'm not perfect. Later MAtt

I euthanize sick and stray cats with engine starter fluid and an old ice chest. It is very efficient. Engine starter fluid only costs $1.97 a can. I line the ice chest with newspaper or an old towel, place the cat in, shut the lid and spray the fluid in the drain hole then cap it. Sometimes they go quietly, others thump around for a few seconds. I would recomend a downer of some sort before putting her in the ice chest. A benedryl, muscle relaxer or sleeping pill.

The disadvantage of this method is trying to pass it off as a natural death. There is hair slippage indicating some stress to the animal and they reek of ether. A friend uses this method, instead using co2, and has successfully convinced his children it was a natural death, it is however, more expensive.

I do know how hard it is to make this decision regarding a family pet. Our sweet old cat is 14 and has had her ups and downs. Right now, she is healthy and going through her second kittenhood. We've discussed as a family which point in her life she will need to be put down. When she is in obvious pain that degrades her quality of life or when she is too senile to use the litterbox, it will be time. We are undecided on home euthanasia or paying the vet.

....can of ether...bought at Wally World or NAPA....puts the animal to sleep. Put kitty in an enclosed pet carrier with the air holes taped up, or even a garbage bag and spray ether in with kitty. She goes to sleep peacefully and never wakes up.

I've always heard that two aspirin will kill a cat, but never thought it would be painless.

FOR THE RECORD: I've never used this with cats, but it works a treat on Starlings caught in my Purple Martin gourds.

I had a neighbor get put to sleep with ether--he was a truck driver. The hooker's would spray ether inside the cracked window of the truck and then proceed to rob the sleeping driver. Sounded like a tall tale to me, but it might be true..

You can also use a plastic trash can with a like grill rack in it and put a small dish with dry ice in it and set in bottom and put cat on rack and close the lid and it's done . As the dry ice takes all the O2 out of the can . I've heard of fokes doing this with chickens so they don't get dirty and stuff. It was on a web site somewhere Might have been a fly tying one. I'll see if I can find it if you want. But a bullet to thehead is quick and cheap. Matt

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Spelling and Gramer subject to screw ups I'm not perfect. Later MAtt

no i wasnt confusing co with co2... do a search on co2 euthinasia.

you cant buy CO easily, and its deadly to the user, CO2 is safe (if your careful)

starter fluid in a spray can has very irritating pertolium additives that burn their eyes and lungs.

it isnt a matter of being cheap, its a matter of being broke....

and a 22, if done right is still messy and the kat will twist and squirm for a few sec, ir even a minute as its nervous system goes into seizures. its dead, but it isnt pretty.
Ive done it so much, I was more concerned the other day with ending my old toms suffering than my own sensibilites.... and its bothered me a lot since. I must be getting old and soft..... I really loved that old battle axe.

like ALL things in life, the posted info assumes your to stupid to do it right if you havent been proferssionally trained... yet they manufacture and sell CO2 kill boxes for stock even up to pig size.

try to find info on how to, and you get stonewalled.
do some searches, and read up. as i said, if you nit pick thru the info enough you find the basic dos and donts;
a long, slow buildup of gas is preferable to tossing them into a co2 filled box, as they will choke. slow gassing first acts as an pain killer, then it causes them to pass out, then they suffocate via oxygen deprivation, which isnt choking to death its the body "mistaking" CO2 for oxygen... CO does the same thing, but is highly toxic.
another point is to do it till its dead, and make sure breathing and heart has stopped, as sometimes once exposed to fresh air, they revive and are brain dammaged.
I nit picked this all from 100 sites i was reserching the other night... why they dont just put it all in one place i duno.
probably afraid some old person will discover death is as easy as sealing the room, clicking on the TV and cracking open a 10lb tank of CO2 and dozing off.
god forbid we give anyone to much info...

I had (and lost) a page that described, in detail the biological effect of CO2 exposure from 0% concentration to 100% and how the body reacts to it over increasing %..... I'm convinced its about as easy and clean as one can get.
personally I dont like needles and I doubt kitty will ike being jabbed with one before they die.

anyone who has some links to techincal and medical references to co2 use and poisioning post em...

BTW I think the poster said he was trying to keep a clean body for the kids sake....

Ive used medical ether before, its pretty slick but I was wholly unaware how dangerous old ether can be once it sits around and degrades.... it becomes a shock-sensitive explosive.

Just pay the bucks. Nice for cat, nice for you, nice for kids.

We paid the bucks (about 200 of them) for our old dog a couple of years ago, and it was anything but nice. He was screaming on the way out. The vet had a lot of trouble finding a vein, and the dog was scared. I tell you, the CO2 thing is sounding more and more attractive for our next euthanasia.

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Have u called a different Vet? My father in law took their older dog to Humane Society...I think they charged him $15. Then he brought dog home to bury him. If it were me...even if all the Vets charge the same I would let a Vet do it...one time thing ya know and the humane way to go.

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Do you have other cats around? The symptoms you describe sound like it could be Feline Leukemia. We had to have one of our cats put to sleep because of this. It can be very contagious to your other cats if they haven't been immunized. Nothing can be done for them once they have contracted it. Has this cat been drinking a lot of water? If so, it could also be diabetes which is very common in cats. Treatable but expensive. I hope you can find a humane solution for this kitty!

I had my German Shepherd of 13 years put to sleep this past weekend. It cost $180.

$50 for putting her to sleep and $130 for cremation.

I know when my guinea pig was sick the vet wanted $35 to put her to sleep so I put her in a box with a cloth covered in starter fluid and she died within a couple of minutes.

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Changing lives one micro loan at a time.

This thread hits right at home, as I have two elderly (or getting there) cats, one of whom I'm thinking of having put down. She's 13, drinks all the time, is getting bigger around the belly, and neglecting to groom the way she used to. This was the cat who constantly groomed, kept everything clean, and is now getting mats on her back.

Anyway.

My brother and I had to shoot a family cat to put it down, back in the early 90s when neither of us had any money. Even though it was a .38 caliber round, placed to the base of the skull, the cat still did two or three complete revolutions. This might not be the easy way to go.

I'm sure there are Canadian equivalents to PAWS or the ASPCA or Humane Society. Keep making those phone calls.

I used to live in California and even THERE, $122 to put an animal down (with or w/o disposal fees) is highway ROBBERY.

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Here is all you really need to know

http://www.uiowa.edu/~ancare/EUTH0001.HTM

KC~

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KC

VERY interesting site! Thanks for posting it.

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Sarah,

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Welcome

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At about age 13, our little barn cat showed all the symptoms you described. She weighed 3 lbs when we brought her in to be humanely put down at our vets. They talked us into checking her thyroid and it was low. We put her on pills (snuck them in her food) and she lived to be 22 years old. The pills cost about $30/ year but we started getting generic cheapies meant for people which worked just as well. Just something to think about.

Its $50.00 here in MI!!! I don't like the sound of the freezer method!!! I'd call alot of vets in your area for the cheapest. We will shoot barn cats, but for a beloved pet that children love thats a whole different ball game there!!

no cindy they all have got it, but so far, 2 have recovered and are fine, one has it really bad, and 2 are still kinda ill but eating better and look like they are clearing up.
the mother cat had the whatever for 2 days, very light and recovered 100%, another took about 4 days. 2 are still sick after a week and the big tomcat has it, and the sniffles, but he is eating again.

I can tell you that whatever it is, it isnt fatal to a good heathy adult cat. the ones hit hardest are the 2 runts who were never really "big strong" to begin with... but healthy.
the 2 siamese had it the shortest time, which I found really odd.
the old tom was fighting off a few infected bites (not major) so he slid downhill pretty fast.... but i wonder now if I had let him alone if he woulda pulled thru. he looked the worst of all, and for the longest so i am thinking the minor infection he had was going systemic with the whatever it is attacking him at the same time.
he was getting an injection of 4CC of pennicillin every other day and it wasnt helping. her usually heals up fast from bites....and he has had 100s of em.
oh well, I made a bad call maybe.... I do that sometimes.

I know now, whatever it is, it isnt fatal all things being equal.

I will use the CO2 method... Thanks for your input folks.

I have no problem with the .22, and that was my plan, but my wife felt (and I agreed) that it would be easier on the kids if we can pass it off as a natural death. They know the cat is sick, and will problably die soon.

We brought the cat in for Rabies shots three years ago. At that point she still went outside regularly, and we don't take chances with that. At that time the vet told us she had a tooth problem, and that if left unchecked it would probably eventually cause kidney failure and death. Sounds like old age to me. The cost to prevent our cat from passing on due to her teeth??? $650 bucks.

I passed. Spending $650 bucks on a cat is irresponable. If you really want to save a life with your money, try donating to some charity in Africa. For $650 bucks they can save a whole classroom full of children.

I just happen to have a half empty tank of CO2 sitting in my garage. Never even occured to me to use it to help along my cat. Thanks for your help.

Pete

Pete, you are probably right. Spending $650 for a older cat is crazy, but I have to agree with others, find a cheaper vet, even if it mean driving 20 miles, and have it put to sleep. You made the decision to have the cat as your pet, you need to take the responsibilty for its care, and that means to the very end. I could never "kill" my own cat. Maybe I go about things differently, but my pets are like my children and I dont skimp on their care. I too, got my cat for free, but that doesnt mean that he should be cared for any different than one I spend $200 for. Sorry, but this got me a bit heated.

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Call me heartless... but....

If this animal was not a pet I would permanently dislocate it's neck with a large crescent wrench.

Because it is my children's pet, I would like to give them a body to bury, and because this cat has spent many hours sleeping on my lap, I would like to let it pass on with more dignity then that.

Who "assists" the cat is immaterial.

Pete