{"id":34156,"date":"2026-05-12T00:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T00:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/34156\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T00:47:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T00:47:31","slug":"east-malling-familys-cat-put-down-by-meopham-veterinary-hospital-after-being-found-in-what-vets-described-as-a-distressed-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/34156\/","title":{"rendered":"East Malling family’s cat put down by Meopham Veterinary Hospital after being found in what vets described as a distressed condition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A family have been left devastated after their elderly cat was put to sleep just hours after she went missing.<\/p>\n

Nineteen-year-old Gizzy had been with Gareth Knowler and his family in East Malling since she was a kitten.<\/p>\n

\"The\"TheThe family with Gizzy\u2019s ashes after the 19-year-old cat was cremated<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old said the tortoiseshell moggie had disappeared from the garden at about 1.30pm and was taken to the RSPCA centre in Leybourne by a neighbour.<\/p>\n

The woman, who asked not to be named, was told Gizzy would be held for seven days while attempts were made to contact the owner.<\/p>\n

Wanting to make sure this would definitely happen, she checked again later and was given the same assurance.<\/p>\n

Gizzy was transferred to Meopham Veterinary Hospital, where notes recorded she was emaciated, open-mouth breathing and had likely been a stray for some time.<\/p>\n

\"Gizzy,\"Gizzy,Gizzy, was 19 years old. West Malling family’s cat put down by Meopham Veterinary Hospital after being found in what vets described as a distressed condition. Gareth Knowles says RSCPA killed his cat Gizzy<\/p>\n

The RSPCA said attempts were made to contact the registered owners before Gizzy was euthanised, but the family were unable to respond in time.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cThis is a very sad case and we really feel for Gizzy\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, at nearly 19 years old and clearly in pain and discomfort, the decision to euthanise Gizzy on welfare grounds was made by an independent vet who decided this was the kindest thing to do to prevent any further suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gareth\u2019s wife Lucy was only able to call the vet shortly after 5pm to arrange collection and was stunned to learn Gizzy had been put down.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cShe was on the phone hoping to say, ‘can we come and get her’. And then they turn around and say they killed her, put her down on welfare grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was just here. I’d just seen her. My cat was home at lunchtime. By teatime she was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family dispute the veterinary assessment and say Gizzy\u2019s frail condition was due to old age and recent illness.<\/p>\n

Gareth added: \u201cMy cat was definitely beautiful. Definitely well looked after.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gizzy\"GizzyGizzy day before she disappeared. West Malling family’s cat put down by Meopham Veterinary Hospital after being found in what vets described as a distressed condition. Gareth Knowles says RSCPA killed his cat Gizzy<\/p>\n

The couple believe stress during transport, first to the RSPCA and later to Meopham may have affected Gizzy\u2019s breathing.<\/p>\n

They say photographs taken the day before show the cat comfortable at home.<\/p>\n

Gizzy had lived with the family since she was a kitten and was born on Gareth and Lucy\u2019s son’s second birthday.<\/p>\n

Her death has deeply affected the household, including the couple\u2019s two adult children, Joycie, 25, and Daniel, 21.<\/p>\n

Gareth said Joycie had to see a doctor the day after Gizzy died because of the upset.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cMy cat was microchipped. I thought the microchip was there to save cats from being put down.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople out there need to know that microchips don’t mean anything. They didn’t even ask about a medical history or anything like that. Nothing was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gizzy\"GizzyGizzy had lived with the family all her life and was born on Daniel\u2019s second birthdayWest Malling family’s cat put down by Meopham Veterinary Hospital after being found in what vets described as a distressed condition. Gareth Knowles says RSCPA killed his cat Gizzy<\/p>\n

When Gareth later called Meopham Veterinary Hospital, he said he shouted at staff in pain and shock after learning Gizzy had been put down.<\/p>\n

He admitted he should not have reacted that way and said he later contacted the practice again to apologise.<\/p>\n

Gizzy has since been cremated and her ashes returned to the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family have been left devastated after their elderly cat was put to sleep just hours after she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3434,2298,529,307,1118,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-34156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-charity","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-malling","12":"tag-syndicate","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116558852471750002","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}