Putting on one's own oxygen mask first

September 18, 2024 10:35 PM

A friend in East New York (Brooklyn) needs some affordable options for euthanasia for her late husband's cat. Please help us locate some.

My friend's husband died suddenly about six months ago. Friend had to sell the house and move into a much smaller apartment, with her late husband's cat in tow.

My friend is Black, 65 years old, not in the best of health, and with all this going on she has had to go back to work fulltime too.

The cat is yowling constantly and won't let friend pick him up. Something is very wrong. Part of the problem is the much smaller living space, but it sounds like there are physical health issues afoot too. I don't live anywhere near friend, so I haven't seen the cat.

Friend has looked for no-kill shelter options, but the one she tried was apparently affiliated with a vet clinic that wanted to charge her $2,000 for health measures for the cat. Friend can't afford that. (Up till now she's been ambivalent about letting the cat go, but it did sound like whoever she spoke to at that place didn't give her a truthful picture of what they do.)

She's also been very depressed since her husband died, she's worn out from working fulltime, and she doesn't have a lot of time or energy to go shelter-shopping.

I'm doing a bit of legwork for her to locate AFFORDABLE euthanasia options in East New York or thereabouts. Friend does have a car, so if there's an affordable option elsewhere in Brooklyn or Queens, that might work too.

If you do know of a RELIABLE no-kill shelter in Brooklyn or Queens that would take this cat without charging my friend anything for it, do let me know that as well.

posted by rabia.elizabeth to Pets & Animals (5 answers total)

The existence of no-kill shelters suggests the existence of yes-kill shelters the cat could be surrendered to?
posted by Iteki at 10:46 PM on September 18 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Hi, please answer the question as asked - meaning if you don't have a specific suggestion for a clinic or shelter, it's not helpful. Thanks.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 11:26 PM on September 18

Animal Care Centers of NYC "offers a low-cost humane euthanasia services for clients whose income prevents using a private veterinarian." Locations (incl. Ridgewood, Queens).
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:32 PM on September 18

I appreciate you think you're asking a straightforward question, but it's a bit confusing - at one point you say the ultimate goal is affordable euthanasia, and people are telling you that the most affordable option is a regular kill-shelter (which is correct). No-kill shelters are expensive to maintain - so it's not surprising to me that many would charge fees for admission. A less expensive (but not free) option is to search "affordable vet" and book a euthanasia appointment. I recently had to put down my elder cat, and it cost around $140 - certainly far less than $2000. When I lived in Brooklyn, the discount vet I used was ASPCA Community Veterinary Clinic, 464 New Lots Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11207 - which is pretty close to East New York.

So given these other options, why are you looking for a no-kill shelter? Is it because of your friend's ambivalence of letting the cat go? Does part of her maybe want the option of getting the cat back at some point? Does she have any friends who might be willing to foster the cat for awhile to just give her space to grieve and figure out next steps? How old is the cat? If it's middle age or younger, you might be able to re-home it by researching neighborhood listservs, Facebook groups, etc.
posted by coffeecat at 7:41 AM on September 19 [4 favorites]

I think the idea is that should there exist a free no-kill shelter that would be preferable to what OP sees as the other option, namely euthanasia.

I'd agree with at least trying to find a fostering/adoption situation. Some people might be willing to take the cat to prevent it from being killed.
posted by trig at 1:30 PM on September 19 [3 favorites]