Euthenasia Dilema and my visit to Al-Rai Vet Hospital

I finally had the stray cat outside my house with the mangled leg put down.   She seemed to be okay for a long time, but recently I noticed that she seemed to be in a lot of pain and had been hanging around my door and windows a lot; not just in a manner that would appear to be a plea for food, but more of for help.  Someone stopped by about a week ago - a friend of a friend - who said he would pick her up and take her to "get fixed", but then never showed up.  That made me wonder what the quality of her life would be post-op. She was pretty messed up and I didn't know the guy well enough to believe that he would nurse her back to health.  As it was, he wasn't reliable to even call me back, so  I decided that having her euthanized would be the only alternative, but it wasn't an easy decision or one that I took lightly.

I got her into a pet carrier via chicken thrown into the back.  It wasn't too difficult, but she was fighting it once she was caught.  When she finally calmed down, she made constant noises that sounded like, "Noooooo..."  It really tore at me. 

I called my mom for reassurance and to make sure that I was doing the right thing.  My mom grew up on a cattle farm with something like 30 barn cats.  We are both really allergic now.  She told me that I really didn't have a choice if it was suffering.

The Romanian goes with me to help me with animal issues because she is a good soul and knows how traumatic it is for me, but it has a big affect on her. When we found the field of dead horses outside of Ahmadi Race Track years ago (2007), her blood pressure soared and she was in bed for a few days.  She's a good friend.

I took her to Al-Dolhama vets next to the Friday market, but  they were closed (around 7pm), so we went around the corner to Al-Rai vet hospital.  I could hear dogs barking at the Friday Market - I wish they would close that place.  I had never been to Al-Rai before, but I was impressed by the environment.  When you walk in, the kennels are to the left (which didn't actually impress me because the dogs seemed to be stressed by people walking by) and groomers are directly in front.  The seating area is really big (large enough to walk a few horses into if they had do) with chairs all the way around the room and an area with plants and televisions in the middle in an air conditioned atrium. It looks more like a cafe than a lobby of a veterinary hospital. They have a refrigerator where they sell cold drinks and snacks for people waiting beside large area with pet products and food.

There weren't many people there.  A few dogs with their owners.  There was a young Kuwaiti girl holding back an enormous Rottweiller and we smiled at each other knowingly whenever the dog scared the bejezus out of whatever large, tough-looking Kuwaiti man who jumped to avoid it. Tee hee.  You go, girlfriend!

The vet rooms are slightly cleaner than Al-Dolhama's.  One interesting item was the observation camera in the corner in the ceiling.  (I always love it when employers feel the need to spy on their employees.  Great motivational factor.)

The doctor's bedside manner left something to be desired (that is usually a management issue:  a happy employee is a productive/friendly employee).  Not real friendly, but informative.  He asked me a few questions about the cat, "Is it still eating?  Can it walk?"  I said yes to both and then he told me that he couldn't euthanize it.  What?  (This was before he opened the cage to look at the cat.)  While he was opening the cage he said, "... unless it has been in an accident..." (and then...) ooooooh...."  I think that's when the smell hit him and he caught a look at her leg.  Bad, bad, bad.   He decided to put her down.

I found out later from my Source-of-All-Things-Animal-Related-in-Kuwait that the owner of the hospital mandates their policy on euthenasia:  if it can walk and eat, they normally won't put it down.  As everyone knows, however, eating is a survival instinct of any animal, so if it can eat, it will - even if it doesn't stay down.  Sometimes putting an animal to sleep to end its suffering should be the vet's call - not an administrators.  However, everyone has their own perspective I suppose.

Anyways, I felt better that the cat is no longer in pain - especially in the sweltering heat and dust.  Poor little thing.

She is the third cat in Kuwait I have had to put down.  The other 2 were also found strays in distress.  I would rather take them to be put to sleep than allow them to suffer unnecessarily.  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.