"Put to sleep" has more than 1 meaning!

My brother's family has two cats, both of which have very long fur and our outside cats. They live in an area on a hill that has alot of spear grass etc. Both cats are not very dedicated to keeping their fur free of tangles and debris and won't allow anyone to comb them.

Even though it's the wrong time of year to do it, my sister-in-law finally decided to take Cuddles (above) to the groomer and have her shaved, the other cat Sylvester is easier to handle and he was shaved in the summertime.

She was telling me the story of how she took Cuddles to the groomer and the groomer said she wouldn't do it anymore, because Cuddles was getting too old (she's 16) and she was afraid she would knick her. So Sharon said she took her to the vet and they put her to sleep.....blah, blah, blah - after that I sort of stopped listening because I was in shock that they would put Cuddles to sleep just because she had lumps of matted fur (I made a mental note to myself to make sure I kept my hair tangle free, as apparently this family of mine was crazy finicky about neat hair and I might end up being put to sleep). Later in the evening my sister-in-law said she had to get going because she wanted to go see Cuddles. Mmmm, that's weird I thought. So I questioned her - "Are you going to go by the vets and see her?", to which she replied "No, she's at home, but I didn't really get a chance to see her after I brought her home from the vets, I just quickly dropped her off with Terry (my brother) and left." WHAT! "So, they gave her something at the vet and then you took her home?" I enquired. To which my sister-in-law nodded her head. Finally I had to say "Okay, I'm totally confused. The vet gave her something to put her to sleep and then you took her home to die?" My sister-in-law looked shocked. Apparently, she meant put to sleep as in put under anesthetic so that they could shave her! So, that's the story about the sad looking picture of Cuddles above! The vet anethetized her and shaved her, she is still alive and I can now relax - I was beginning to worry about growing old with these relatives of mine, the first sign of any slight problem and they would put me to sleep : )