Recently, I was forced to take my beloved senior companion cat to end her life.
I'm a quadriplegic (w/TBI & brain tumor) & a shut-in. We don't have transportation for my 370 lb wheelchair. Instead, I suffered an enormous amount of pain, trying to ambulate a great distance (for me) w/my walker, then perching on a hard wooden bench, feet on a stool to (barely) ease the excruciating pain.
I put myself through it because I love my companion cat & wanted her to have a peaceful, PAINLESS death w/her mama beside her. Since I only go out for medical appts, she spent nearly every day with me, for almost 13 years.
I always joked her highest ambition was to become one of my internal organs.
I brought her to Haven purring, full of love despite the stress of being at the vets, because she was there with me -- her mama since her rescue at 5 wks old -- and I've never allowed anyone or anything to hurt her.
But at Haven, she died in screaming in pain, panting in terror.
Dr. Cross claimed she was "asleep," but I have medical training (as well a mother who was in a coma for months), and that was NOT "sleep." She was paralyzed; not "sleeping," so there's no way to know if she was conscious or not.
I suspect she was fully aware.
Instead of peacefully setting my baby free of pain, they made her death as traumatic as possible, for all of us. My sister, who loved her, too, was also devastated by this experience.
I'll NEVER get over it.
Dr. Cross did NOT make us fully aware of how painful this would be for my cat. If she had, I would've walked straight out that door & found someone who actually cares about the HUMANE treatment of pets & their people!
Haven needs to remove the word "Humane" from their name. It's false advertising; in fact, it's an outright LIE. There was NOTHING 'humane' about what they did to my beloved baby.
I looked up this 2-shot procedure online. It's NOT supposed to be painful, so that indicates Dr. Cross is too poorly trained to be trusted with the euthanasia of pets. Either that, or she deliberately chose drugs that would cause as much pain as possible to the animal.
Only a sadist could do that what she did to someone's pet, directly in front of the owner.
And since she admitted that OTHER pet owners had complained (but made it sound like they were exaggerating), she knew BEFORE she gave the 1st injection that it would hurt my cat horribly.
If nothing else, Haven is guilty of deceiving me, in regard to the amount of pain this would cause my baby. They need OPEN DISCLOSURE of the actual amount of terrible suffering this series of injections causes.
The way they tricked me (and my sister) into allowing this was EXTREMELY deceptive. This procedure should NEVER be used without full disclosure of the actual pain it causes.
Since -- according to Dr. Cross -- I'm NOT the first pet owner to find this procedure upsetting, they already KNOW this is a problem. There's NO EXCUSE for Haven allowing this to continue.
It needs to stop. NOW!
At the very least, Haven needs to review the training of Dr. Cross & ensure she's not allowed to torture dying pets in the future!
I also found the way they handled her to be both disrespectful & distressing. The overly loud, attention-seeking assistant grabbed her by her CHEST FUR & jerked her around on the table, supposedly so I could stroke her head while the 2nd injection was administered. They claimed she wasn't aware, but how can they KNOW when it's a cat who can't speak?
Recent evidence indicates those in comas ARE aware. What did my baby think of her mama, allowing them to treat her so badly? Even if Cross were correct & she didn't know, I DID know. I saw it, and it upset ME.
If they don't care about the pets, they should at least have some compassion for the owners!
Haven needs to teach that man how to behave when people are grieving. His behavior was disgraceful; he behaved like he was at a party! He should -- at least -- figure out how to appear a little less gleeful in the presence of grieving clients.
He needs to learn PROFESSIONAL office behavior, including keeping one's voice at an appropriate volume. Especially around animals already stressed from being at the vets -- & MOST especially when people are waiting with dying pets!
About 2 months ago, my sister took her 18-yr-old cat to Haven for a peaceful death. One shot, and her cat passed on, painlessly & at peace.
So we didn't expect this. I feel deceived, because Cross never made it clear how painful the process really was. I would NEVER have allowed it to happen, had I know, but she spoke about past patients being 'upset' in a dismissive tone that led us to believe those patients had been 'overreacting.'
I don't know why Cross made my cat suffer so horribly, but I can only assume she's a sadist. Nobody with a drop of compassion could possibly torture a dying pet that way, unless they actually enjoy causing pain, bot to pets & their owners.
Don't trust Haven & Dr. Cross if you love your pet! read more