Surviving cat

I have to put my 16 yr old Siamese cat Chatter down. Is there anything special I need to do for her 14 year old daughter K.C. to make the change easier? K.C. already seems to know Chatter is sick and has been staying away from her. I had heard it helps to show the surviving cat the body, but don't know if it makes any difference.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your cat. I'm not sure what you can do to help your other cat adjust to her loss but maybe another poster will have a suggestion for you.

 

I wouldn't show her the body...it's hard with Siamese cats cause they get so attached. I would just show the daughter a lot of love and attention for the next few days. Not sure I'd suggest adopting another meezer cause she'll know it's not Mom...just drown her with affection. Hopefully she'll perk up.

 

HI. I'm so sorry about your kitty. When my cat's two sisters passed away when they were just little kittens (long story short they were very, very ill and all the medical attention could not make them well), I did show the lifeless body to my cat and his sick sister and then again to my cat when his second sister passed away. I can't tell you for certain if it helped or not, but in my opinion it did. However, I have very little knowledge of Siamese cats, so perhaps Mary_NH is right. Again I am very sorry.

 

Surving Cat

Thanks to everyone.

I had Chatter put down, wrapped her in a towel and brought her home in a box. K.C. went to the open box, took one sniff and walked away. What's interesting is that K.C. is happier now that her mom is gone. Having a sick cat around seems to have bothered her a great deal. We were so busy taking care of Chatter, we didn't realize that K.C.'s behavior was off until after it was all over.

 

I'm sorry about your loss. Glad to hear that KC is doing better. I wonder if I should've shown Vene's body to her buddies and brother Milo last July after she died getting hit by a car. Monty Boy who is normally an indoor only cat managed to get out looking for her for 3 days. I think he was missing her and tried to track down her last whereabouts. Milo was depressed for several days and Pumpkin couldn't have cared less. Pumpkin just hated Vene from the start and was very happy when she never came home. I wonder if showing them the body would've prevented some trauma. At least they would've sensed her passing. I know cats are known to be very intuitive.

 

Survivning Cat

K.C. didn't see Chatter's body since Chatter was wrapped in a towel. I guess she could tell from the smell that it was a dead Chatter under the towel.

The vet said K.C. would probably just take a sniff and walk away, and that is what happened. It was easier for me not to have to uncover Chatter so I was glad it worked out that way.

Thanks again to eveyone. It was very helpful just to have someone listen.

Good luck to you and love your kitties.