There are still a few stragglers in the colony to be fixed, so I went out trapping yesterday in the cold drizzle. Within ten to fifteen minutes I had caught one of the ones I wanted, an orange and white cat we call Benji. Benji is a newcomer and shows up occasionally. In the trap Benji looked small and not in the best shape.
As I was finishing my dinner, I got a call from the THS clinic. Turns out Benji was female, with missing and infected teeth, and most importantly riddled with mammary tumours. With a heavy heart, I agreed to the vet's recommendation to euthanize Benji so that she didn't get released just to die a horrible death during the winter. That's the fourth one we've lost in 2011, the seventh since last fall. It doesn't get any easier. Worst of all, I know I have to go through it twenty-one more times. Poor little Benji, at least she's not suffering anymore.
Thank You Robin, thank you for caring for these cats; I know it can be a thankless task at the best of times, and harder knowing how humans treat them. The hardest AND most loving thing which we can do for these precious creatures is to give them the best life possible, and when that cannot be done; the best and gentlest death possible.I have had two of my cats euthanised in their youth due to cancers; the worst form of cancer and untreatable and undetectable until the end stage.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any other pictures of Benji, I hope that you could post them.
Poor Benji was a newcomer and on the fringes so that is the only picture I have of her. I'm glad her hard life didn't get worse.
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