Cat passed away in TNR

[Azarang]

Hello, I am a TNR activist and yesterday we trapped four feral cats and took them to vet for neutering. We left the cat at vet around 4:00 pm and at 8:00 I got a call that one the cats is dead and when I asked for explanation the doctor said the cat had threw up because of anaesthesia and it suffocated himI’m going crazy and I can’t think of myself anything but a murderer. I’m going crazy and don’t know how to forgive myself. I feel like I shouldn’t be allowed to live as I killed a cathas anyone experienced the same thing? I’m having such a hard time

 

[BellaGooch]

I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. None of this was your fault. You clearly care deeply for cats, and it is not your fault that this happened.You are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[movinintime]

Oh so hard to hear and take

Life is soo hard for ferals to begin, let alone this. I pray that God had a plan for that baby and NOW that plan HAS come true. It is a guaranteed FAR better than ANY plan we have or had. DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP as YOU DID THE RIGHT THING! God CLEARLY took over to allow HIS PLAN and WILL to be done. That baby is now in Heaven with God awaiting yours and ALL of our afterlives, so you WILL see him again at Rainbow Bridge.

He may well be FAR better off now believe it or not - than the 3 left behind and certainly far better than those of us left caring for cats. He is in Heaven we are in Hell -- til God takes us to Heaven with HIM and ALL of our animals too. I know it sounds nuts but it IS THE ONLY way I deal with the pain of loss and reality.

 

[Tagrendy]

Sorry to hear, I know most people on this site will have a different point of view, and maybe they're right, but I personally don't feel good about neutering stray animals. I think all animals die gruesome way - out of hunger, infection, being eaten. Cats or dogs are not exception to that and just because we love them and don't want to see them suffer, we take away their biological purpose to continue procreating and evolving / adapting to their environment. I'm ok though with neutering indoor cats since they will only get stressed out not being able to mate.

That said, I don't think you should feel guilty at all, you didn't know it would happen, you wanted to help, and we can only do best with what we know in the moment. I've heard some cats do have deadly reaction to anaesthesia and it could happen to any cat. I've castrated my own cat few days ago and it could've happened to him, that in no way means I would have murdered him.

 

[Azarang]

I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. None of this was your fault. You clearly care deeply for cats, and it is not your fault that this happened.You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you so much

 

[Babypaws]

Oh so hard to hear and take

Life is soo hard for ferals to begin, let alone this. I pray that God had a plan for that baby and NOW that plan HAS come true. It is a guaranteed FAR better than ANY plan we have or had. DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP as YOU DID THE RIGHT THING! God CLEARLY took over to allow HIS PLAN and WILL to be done. That baby is now in Heaven with God awaiting yours and ALL of our afterlives, so you WILL see him again at Rainbow Bridge.

He may well be FAR better off now believe it or not - than the 3 left behind and certainly far better than those of us left caring for cats. He is in Heaven we are in Hell -- til God takes us to Heaven with HIM and ALL of our animals too. I know it sounds nuts but it IS THE ONLY way I deal with the pain of loss and reality.

I fully agree with everything you said. Life is bitter sweet. I pray that all our pets/animals and loved ones are in a better place now...it’s very hard to deal with for those left behind but we have to believe they are at peace now.
Azarang, I can imagine how bad you feel but it’s not your fault, you were doing what was best. I think God has a plan mapped out.

 

[di and bob]

My heart breaks from your pain. I have neutered many ferals over a long time. This is something that can happen if they have food or water in their stomachs and vomit from the anesthesia. It can happen in humans too. With ferals, it is impossible to know if they just ate or not, and we usually trap them with the lure of food anyway. A tiny, small amount is OK.
You are relieving SO much future pain for these little ones by doing what you are doing. Having over 50 years of experience with ferals I have only lost one during surgery and that was because of a reaction to the anesthesia. No matter what is done, any surgery can result in death. Seeing first hand the result of letting them 'procreate' is what drove me to TNR. I've lost so many due to being too young and tiny to birth, horrible mutilations due to catfights, and then infection. The horrible suffering from an abscess, which my Toms got almost constantly. So MANY unwanted cats dumped to starve, and this happened EVERY YEAR! I had one cat give birth to 17 kittens in one year, can you imaging the suffering and lingering death when THOSE little ones starting having kittens and the subsequent starvation because there are just too many? Thousands of cats in a few years, figure it out. so many ran over on our busy road, just because someone didn't want them anymore. I had more little graves than I want to think about.
You are VERY important in saving SO many future cats a lifetime of pain and suffering! DON"T give up. Heartache is part of TNR, unfortunately. But at least they had someone who cared enough about them to try to give them a better life. It is an honor to have someone mourn you after you die, so many cats don't. Of course this hurts, you wouldn't be doing this for cats if you didn't love them. It is horrible, it is tragic and you will remember this for the rest of your life. I know in my very soul you did the right thing, you had absolutely NO way to know this would happen, it was out of your control. I, for one, ask that the Almighty blesses you for your pain and for what you are doing. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers, please know we all understand here......RIP little one, you will always have a secure place in a loving heart......

 

[fionasmom]

I am so sorry for your loss. What you are doing is incredibly valuable work and you do have to look at the big picture. You were able to successfully fixed three cats. Those three cats, unneutered, would have produced a huge number of kittens who would have gone on to hard lives on the street.

I am sure you have seen those stats which show that an unaltered female (who needs the unaltered male to breed) can produce three litters a year with four to six kittens which means that in the lifetime of those generations 400,000 kittens can potentially be born. You need to look at all the cats you are saving and all the potential litters you helped avert humanely.

Surgery and anesthesia carry risks. I lost a pet dog years ago during surgery at a specialty clinic with all the safeguards in place beforehand. You are not the one responsible for the passing of the cat.

The local spay and neuter TNR programs around here usually pick up cats early in the morning from owners who bring them in traps, transport them to a clinic, fix the, return them to the owner at around 6 PM and most are released that night unless the person has a place for them overnight. I don't think that anyone has any control over what they ate or when they ate it.

 

[alphakitty]

Sorry to hear, I know most people on this site will have a different point of view, and maybe they're right, but I personally don't feel good about neutering stray animals. I think all animals die gruesome way - out of hunger, infection, being eaten. Cats or dogs are not exception to that and just because we love them and don't want to see them suffer, we take away their biological purpose to continue procreating and evolving / adapting to their environment. I'm ok though with neutering indoor cats since they will only get stressed out not being able to mate.

That said, I don't think you should feel guilty at all, you didn't know it would happen, you wanted to help, and we can only do best with what we know in the moment. I've heard some cats do have deadly reaction to anaesthesia and it could happen to any cat. I've castrated my own cat few days ago and it could've happened to him, that in no way means I would have murdered him.

Tagrendy,

I am a guy, I have TNR'd something around 200 feral kitties to date, as I loath seeing them so emaciated from hunger. It is simple, I do it because wild kitties in cities do not have enough to eat, and then, here, in this blue state, Los Angeles, California, the city politicians are passing laws to euthenize ALL feral kitties, while mandating that all socialzed kitties must be kept indoors, why? They are eating all the birds. Frankly I feel that we should neutor many of those politicians. That's my opinion.

Alpha Kitty

 

[alphakitty]

Hello, I am a TNR activist and yesterday we trapped four feral cats and took them to vet for neutering. We left the cat at vet around 4:00 pm and at 8:00 I got a call that one the cats is dead and when I asked for explanation the doctor said the cat had threw up because of anaesthesia and it suffocated himI’m going crazy and I can’t think of myself anything but a murderer. I’m going crazy and don’t know how to forgive myself. I feel like I shouldn’t be allowed to live as I killed a cathas anyone experienced the same thing? I’m having such a hard time

Azarang,

Very sad to hear. The little kitty likely consumed some food within the 12 hr fasting period prior to surgery.
Having the kitty nuetored is a very responsible and caring thing to do, in my opinion. However, do not beat yourself up for this sad affair. It was just the little kitty's time to go. He served his purpose, and the ways and purposes of God are not knowable by Humankind, so do not regret your actions for your act of kindness.

Fill that hole in your heart with tears and know that you did a good thing.

God Bless you and your little kitty.

Sincerely - Alpha Kitty

 

[Tagrendy]

Tagrendy,

I am a guy, I have TNR'd something around 200 feral kitties to date, as I loath seeing them so emaciated from hunger. It is simple, I do it because wild kitties in cities do not have enough to eat, and then, here, in this blue state, Los Angeles, California, the city politicians are passing laws to euthenize ALL feral kitties, while mandating that all socialzed kitties must be kept indoors, why? They are eating all the birds. Frankly I feel that we should neutor many of those politicians. That's my opinion.

Alpha Kitty

I completely understand the pain of seeing a stray cat suffering, but I question whether if we put aside our emotions, it would still be better or worse for the specie in a biological sense to do widespread neutering, let alone euthanasia. I live in a country that does nothing about stray animals, and nothing horrible is happening - there are cats, dogs, and birds, a lot of them. Even if there weren't, who said for the sake of birds cats should be taken out. I think politicians likely just worry about people complaining, cause seeing a dead cat or dog laying in the street is disturbing. Again though, my worry is not about how we feel when we see them in pain, but the specie implications - do we harm them. I also notice that in countries where there is a lot of animal control, animals more often have issues with them. Granted that's just my observation, but having friends in both places who have pets, there is a pattern. Kittens adopted here rarely have major issues, and I wonder if it is because there is more genetic variety still existing, and there is more the process of shedding the weak going on, that results in healthier generation. When we neuter or euthanize, we don't really care if the cat is weak of the herd or the strong.

 

[di and bob]

Cats multiply rapidly and are great survivors. If one cat can have 400,000 kittens in the generations to follow, how can there be enough food available to feed them all? There can't be. And if people think dumping a cat gives them any kind of chance at all, they are completely insane. I was a magnet where I lived for all the dumped cats in my neighborhood, and if one person not for TNR could actually see the misery, the wounds from fighting, the horrible starvation so that every bone sticks out, the ones that lay dead on the road from getting hit, they would be all for TNR. There weren't just a few every once in a while, this was a constant stream. The cats in my neighborhood were so inbred it was ridiculous, fathers mating with daughters, and then their granddaughters, brothers and sisters, all because there were so MANY relatives living together they had no choice! Cats live in a tight clowder. They don't easily let outsiders in, that is why TNR is so successful. Thinking just let nature be nature is a dangerous way to think, wolves taken out, the deer population explodes and they starve. Kill gophers and the black-footed ferret dies out. Don't protect the eagle and DDT makes them extinct. In my way of thinking, cats need to be more limited through TNR and then they will become valued and treasured. Not starved and killed and tortured like they are now.......

 

[m935]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I can imagine how heart breaking it is. My neighbor poisoned 3 of my 5 ferals 2 years ago and I still blame myself even though I know I couldnt prevent it. It is not easy caring so much for animals. It can be emotionally draining and when something unfortunate happens to the innocent cats we care so much for... the pain can be lasting. But dont let that happen to you! The cat was blessed to have you and you did what was best.
For myself, I ended up buying a few cat memorial type gadgets from the animal rescue site - where proceeds feed shelter animals and I have memorials here and there to remember the cats I loved so much. It may not help you right now.. everyone is different. But just a thought.

 

[coffee grinder]

I'm very sorry for your loss. There is always risk with surgery but the risk of continued breeding, fighting, and disease is much greater. You are doing the right thing. If it helps, one of our indoor cats passed away under anesthesia even after we performed all the pre-surgery tests. It can happen. You are doing the best thing for these cats by continuing to TNR.

 

[2 dozen]

Please stop beating yourself up over this. YOU DID NOT KILL THIS CAT. You blame yourself because you did the trapping, but, there could have been some negligence during the procedure. Surgery carries risks, even humans die from complications, but as has been stated you have prevented a harsh life for this cat. Maybe it had a medical condition that was not evidenced to you or the vet staff that made it be in a constant state of discomfort. The cat did not suffer, was still anesthetized when it vomited so knew nothing. We should all be lucky to not suffer before we die. I think every trapper has at least one sad experience performing TNR but obviously the good outweighs any bad. Please, though you did nothing that needs forgiving, forgive yourself!