Tact

Certain people lack tact. And quite frankly, it bothers me that this had to be an issue. So let's discuss the Do's and Do Not's of asking a cat lover if they've thought about euthanasia for their dying cat.

Do NOT ask, "Have you thought about ending his suffering?"

 For so, SO many reasons:

1. You don't know if the cat is suffering. Unless the owner has specifically told you that the cat is in pain or some other thing that would be considered suffering, do NOT just assume.
2. The question is basically asking, "Have you thought about killing you child/friend/other family member?" It's a very blunt and rude way of asking that question.
3. What do you think the answer is going to be? It's NOT going to be like this:

"Have you thought about it?"

"Oh no, I hadn't thought about it, but that's a great idea! I'll definitely do that"

Seriously. Any cat lover or really any other animal lover who is going through the pain of losing their pet has thought about whether or not they should be and if they decide they should, what the timing should be. Which brings me to the point of timing. Your animal dying doesn't mean that you should get it over as quickly as possible like ripping off a Band-Aid. No. Just no. A lot of animals are fighters and will stay as long as they can. The animal usually knows when the right time is and when they're ready. As an outsider, you don't get to make that call for the family. Not cool.

So here's what you should do:

Nothing. Avoid the question, because quite frankly, it's none of your beeswax. If someone is opening up about the fact that they are going through something like this, your advice about putting the animal down is completely unwarranted, unless asked specifically, "What do you think" by the owner themselves. You give them sympathy and support until they ask for something specific. This is especially true if you yourself have never in your life had to deal with the loss of a pet or the decision to put the animal down. If you don't have experience with that kind of loss, what new perspective do you really think you have? None. The answer is none. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and you need to stop. Now.

*screams in frustration*

Rant over. Sorry about that, readers. Someone just asked me that question and in case you couldn't tell, it really ticked me off. Anyways, I hope you had a good week last week. And hopefully, none of you will make the mistake of asking someone this question while they're in the middle of dealing with taking care of their beloved animal.

With love,
PolarBearMoose <3