How does one actually know what the cat is feeling?

You dont?

 

I just responded to your post in the other thread but it's a neat question.
My answer - we don't. We can only offer a best guess, which is probably right but there's no real way to know for sure.

 

You don't.
Empathy lets you somewhat experience other living being's feelings but only through the filter of your own reaction grid.
What you feel is basically how you'd feel in the same situation.
It is particularly true for cats, animals that naturally hide their emotions.

 

Hire a cat psychologist.

http://jacksongalaxy.com/

 

It is possible to witness and even measure pain by scientific means. I remember reading an article about researcher doing mri's while heating people's arm. Between that, heart rate, skin conductance and EEG one can most likely tell if there's pain.

 

Mammals with complex nervous systems very similar to humans... Feelings...emotions...anthropomorphism

Could be a great Lobby thread

 

I would say unless the cat would know it's going to die it wouldn't much different than a human going under for surgery.

I Think the cat would be nervous though.

I've had a handful of surgeries and I get nervous and don't like going under . If they killed me I doubt I would even know ....until I was on the other side.

 

Well, cat euthanization can be done with less pain and be less inexpensive with decapitation. It sounds inhumane, but if you think about it, death is instant wheras an injected drug takes longer.

 

I'd a cat that was sick and in pain...when it was time I got to hold him. It took but a short while, but in the time that 'it' started flowing in his veins and the time that it took over, he was definitely happier as he became more relaxed - and in less pain, no doubt. He purred, stretched and attempted to nuzzle as he had done when he was healthier.

Do I know what he felt? No. But I knew the behavior of that 16 year old cat well enough to recognize relief when it came for him.

 

Well, the reality is that no one can ever really know how anyone other than themselves feels. Two people who have nearly identical experiences will always feel slightly differently and having someone explain in words how they feel isn't the same as having the experience.

So an attempt to discern how a cat feels about a circumstance or experience is simply a greater extrapolation than an attempt to discern how another human being feels.

 

No, it's actually not, as morbid as it sounds. Death is quick - but I believe that it can take up to a minute to actually die.

"Instant" would be vaporization or being blown to tiny bits.

 

Well, I mentioned this before....., then promptly deleted it because it felt weird posting but what the hell I'll do it again:

From a human being perspective, I was kind of "euthanized" before and it wasn't bad at all.
Seriously - It sounds corny but I had heart surgery a few years back. I was scared as hell knowing what was coming until they sedated me, then I felt absolutely great - relaxed, even got a few laughs in. I remember them telling me next that they're going to put me under for the surgery, so they injected something into the line and *poof* I was out cold.
At that point I might as well have been dead, (they did actually stop my heart to work on it) I wouldn't have known a thing no matter what they did to me.

So anyway, having gone through that..? Nah, I don't believe that a euthanized animal suffers at all. I'm thinking it's probably quite similar to what happened to me. In which case, all things considered if you have to die, that ain't a bad way to go.

 

When I was trapping animals on my airfield @ Andersen AFB, Guam, I dropped quite a few cats off at the shelter. Unfortunately, all of the cats were put down on the spot (too wild/feral for taming). I got to hold the little net/stick while they injected the blue Kool-Aid (as I called it) into their body. The cat just slowed down and eventually just died without any struggles or meowing.

 

I have no idea how my cat felt as they injected the poison into her IV while I held her. I know that at 21 years old she was already in terrible pain from kidney and general system failure, that's why we elected to put her down in the first place.

Was she scared? Probably, animals have the fight or flight reflex the same as humans do. Ever spooked a cat and seen it jump four feet straight up or climb most of the way up a vertical wall?

Do I know how she felt? No. Do I have a pretty good idea? Yeah, I think I do. I'm just glad I got to hold her as she went. I was the one constant during her entire life and she wasn't alone at the end.

 

I've never experienced an animal being euthanized before.

how do you know the animal, in this case cat, is scared? Wouldn't it be like any other visit to the Vet?

 

I think in the general sense, a lot of animals get scared with every visit to the vet.
I know that my cats freaked out whenever they were taken.
Its usually pretty easy to tell when a cat is scared.
Body language. After getting familiar with them you can ascertain what mood their in by reading their tails.

http://www.petplace.com/cats/what-is-your-cat-saying-reading-your-cat-s-body-language/page1.aspx

 

Putting my childhood dog down was and still is one of the saddest yet most memorable moments of my life. She was in pain, and we knew the end was near. Ebony, my black lab, showed no fear whatsoever. I cried tears onto her face and sobbed uncontrollably as I hugged her and let it all out, in our last moments on the vet table together. She licked my face. Makes me so sad, even 16 years later.

I am sure I was in more pain than my dog was at what was about to happen that day, and looking back, I'm really proud that I allowed myself to grieve in such a raw manner.