Okay, so one of our kitties is getting old. We have been having issues with her for sometime, but recently it has become bad, she is puking really thick blacky red yuck and has what appears to be long elastic coming from her butt, which makes her drag poop all over. I know, it is totally gross. Last night when DH came to bed, and there was poop all over our chair, the cat, and some clothes, we came to our breaking point. We decided there are 3 choices, do nothing (we are past that), set her free, or put her down. She has always been an inside cat and has no claws, so we can't really turn her loose, especially if she is sick. So, we made the decision to take her to the vet (I am going Friday) and see what they say. We are hoping it is something that maybe they can cure with medication, but we are not too hopeful. She is 11 years old, and has a propensity for eating things she shouldn't, when she was a kitten we had to have surgery on her to remove part of her intestine because she ate a roll of curling ribbon, and it got stuck. We feel like one major cat surgery is all we can do. We just can't afford to do that again, so if it is something major wrong with her, we will have to put her down. I am so torn apart, she was my baby for so long, and we feel really bad, but we just can't let her go on the way she is.
So, my question is, how do we approach this with Seth? He knows that there are cats in the house, but they do not care for him and he doesn't exactly play with them. He will announce when they enter the room, and every now and then he chases them, but he doesn't have a ton of interaction. I'm not sure how to discuss death and the like with a 3 year old and get him to understand but not traumatize him, kwim? I don't want to freak him out, but I just don't know how to address it. I would like to be prepared in case we do have to put her to sleep. I am taking her myself & DH is staying home with Seth, so he will see me leave with her, part of me hopes he won't ask where she is if I don't bring her home, but another part thinks we should explain. Do we wait for him to ask where she is, or be proactive and explain the situation? Any opinions or help would be appreciated, thanks!
So, my question is, how do we approach this with Seth? He knows that there are cats in the house, but they do not care for him and he doesn't exactly play with them. He will announce when they enter the room, and every now and then he chases them, but he doesn't have a ton of interaction. I'm not sure how to discuss death and the like with a 3 year old and get him to understand but not traumatize him, kwim? I don't want to freak him out, but I just don't know how to address it. I would like to be prepared in case we do have to put her to sleep. I am taking her myself & DH is staying home with Seth, so he will see me leave with her, part of me hopes he won't ask where she is if I don't bring her home, but another part thinks we should explain. Do we wait for him to ask where she is, or be proactive and explain the situation? Any opinions or help would be appreciated, thanks!
But it's definitely best to be as truthful as you can while still keeping it simple for him. Just give him the information he asks
for and not much more. If he's still confused, he'll ask for more information.
(A couple days later one of the baby fish died and got eaten and I didn't tell her and she hasn't noticed and when she does I will probably just say
one of the bigger ones must have ate him 
)
Good luck!
