Discussion Is it cruel to have your pet with you?

[Willowkin]

For the record, I am doing the pill route and that might affect your response to my question.

I have an amazing emotional support cat who doesn't like to be shut out of the room I'm in, even the bathroom XD She has had complete freakouts knowing I'm inside a room without her, even to the point of her trying to bodyslam the door open. But one important part of my plan is to have a sign on the door leading to the room I'll be found in with a big sign saying "I have killed myself, do not enter", a tactic my father used when he killed himself and it was a huge help to keep non-medical professionals from being traumatized by finding a dead body esp if you are one of their loved ones.
Anyhow in my apartment there's only one door that will work and my thought is that my cat would be more traumatized by not letting her and have a secondary affect of also causing me stress and I've been working hard on making the time as peaceful for me as possible. So I figured I could close her in the bedroom with me along with two clean litter boxes, huge amounts of food and water, access to the windows so she could look out if she wanted, and bring all her toys in too. She's asleep on my lap as I type this and think it would be very calming to have her with me since I can't have anyone else with me because of stupid laws.

So my question is, in your opinion, would it be crueler to the cat to shut her out or have her in with me?

Thanks

 

[Bazinga]

Your cat just wants you to be happy. If suicide would make you happy, why hide it?

Make sure to call the cops or send a delayed email or whatever you need though so your cat doesn't have to deal with your decomposing body.

 

[Willowkin]

Your cat just wants you to be happy. If suicide would make you happy, why hide it?

Make sure to call the cops or send a delayed email or whatever you need though so your cat doesn't have to deal with your decomposing body.

Thank you! That is such a great way of viewing it!!!

How do I set up a delayed email though? I used to know years ago but haven't tried it in over a decade

 

[Soul]

I'm very sorry you're contemplating such things. I don't think it's wrong of you to want your cat to be with you, but she will know things aren't right with you, and will worry. My cats come up to my face while I sleep to check whether I'm breathing.

Is there any way you could install a cat flap in the bedroom door before you go, so that she can stay with you or try to find some way to help? Not that she'll intervene, but just so she too has a choice?

Earscritches and hugs to both of you.

PS: I believe there are instructions for delayed emails in the List of Resources near the top of the forum.

 

[Halo13]

It's really thorough and thoughtful of you to have the foresight to leave the sign. I was definitely traumatized seeing my best friend's brains splattered on the wall via gun suicide so I sincerely mean that.

About your cat: I see your point - good plan with the food and such. Is it possible to leave the window open a bit so she can leave if she wanted to? I have a dog I'm very attached to in the same way and asking myself the same questions. I figure if I were to lock him out, he'd bark and scratch like crazy - I imagine your cat would also. I've been debating giving my dog away just before but that idea seems cruel to me so I understand your predicament. I don't think it's cruel to keep her with you because she'll know what happened instead of wondering what did, if that makes sense.

 

[Roger]

My two dogs are critical to my circumstances. If I take them to somebody who I know will care for them then that will give the alert that I am about to kill myself. I don't know how to deal with this. The situation will be a strong factor in the regimen period which is going to be so hard to get through. I'll be putting it off, "just one more day."

 

[Darkhaven]

Well, in my honest opinion, even ctb and leaving your trusted pet with someone else is kinda cruel.
It's actually an abandonment of sorts. We know that pets tend to miss their owners a lot, specially dogs and cats.
Now i have a cat that behaves the same with me and is very obssessed with closed doors and will always scratch the shit out of the doors untill i open them and it sure is a frustration both for me and for him to leave him outside sometimes.
But i'm a big and eternal animal lover. When i say that i really like animals more than humans i really mean it, it's not like those people who like animals in order to post their photos on social media and bragg about it.
So yeah i think it's a cruel decisipn to your cat. Do you have someone trustworthy to take care of her?

 

[Sever]

Pets tend to eat decomposing bodies of the dead owners. Nothing cruel, only nature. Your cat will likely prefer your own face to the food you'd leave to it. Google the deaths of lonely cat ladies news reports - most of them are eaten by own cats/dogs even if pets had an access to the food/water in quantities big enough.

Btw would it be dangerous for pets to eat your flesh if you died from something poisonous as N/SN, wouldn't it?

 

[Halo13]

Pets tend to eat decomposing bodies of the dead owners. Nothing cruel, only nature. Your cat will likely prefer your own face to the food you'd leave to it. Google the deaths of lonely cat ladies news reports - most of them are eaten by own cats/dogs even if pets had an access to the food/water in quantities big enough.

Btw would it be dangerous for pets to eat your flesh if you died from something poisonous as N/SN, wouldn't it?

Thanks for the mental image. I'd wondered about that...

 

[a_strange_day]

have her with you, nothing cruel with it, it's nature. I've had a lot of cats and dogs in my life and I was there when each of them died
just be sure to prepare a delayed email which will be sent a few hours after you die so you cat wont stay with your body for too long

 

[Crystal Labeija]

Why not find a new home for it? Maybe give it to your local cat doctor? I'm not CBT'ing before I find my cat a new home. Surrendering is out of the question.

 

[k75]

Here's the thing: if you love your cat, you need to make sure she's well taken care of before you do it. This probably means finding her a good home first. Maybe that seems mean, but the reality is, you're leaving her either way. At least you will know for a fact that she's safe.

If you just leave her with you, there's a high likelihood she'll just end up in a shelter, and it'll probably be a kill shelter. Even if you've made arrangements for someone in the event of your death, it's not guaranteed that they'll actually follow through.

 

[Codieb1]

I want my cats to be with me in my last moments. Best they know that I've died, rather than disappearing and have them wonder where I went. I don't see how it's any more cruel than ghosting them, because animals hate that just as much as we do