Answer: Where it is known that a cat will have to endure continual or recurrent suffering, with little or no prospect of remission, then almost certainly the most human course of action is to have it painlessly put to sleep. By suffering is meant not only acute or severe pain, but also the consequences of congenital malformation and serious injures and those slowly progressive illness which inevitably can only terminate in death, such as paralysis, cancer and uncontrollable wasting diseases; in fact any disease where severe irreversible damage has been caused.
When an animal is clearly not able to enjoy life any longer, it is unlikely that many owners would wish to prolong its suffering and would rather let it die with dignity. Although many owners suspect that their cat knows when it is going to be put to sleep, this of course, really isn’t possibly. But certainly a cat can detect when its owner is distressed, and many alter its behavior accordingly.
In law, the cat is the property of the owner and therefore at the end of the day the responsibility fro the decision to have the cat humanely destroyed must be the owner’s. This is why a veterinary surgeon will often ask the owner to sign a formal request for euthanasia to be carried out. But naturally enough, faced with such a different decision, many owners will rely heavily on the advice and judgment of their veterinarian. Sometimes there is legal requirement for a coat to be put to sleep because it represents a danger to the health of the general public and other animals, as with those suffering from rabies.
Vets themselves can face very difficult decision regarding euthanasia for instance, where owners are unwilling or physically unable, to give essential treatment, or perhaps cannot afford it, or won’t, look after it. In many cases, although the veterinary surgeon feel the task distasteful, euthanasia is usually preferably to a lingering death from illness or to the owner devising his own method of destruction, or simply abandoning the cat.
