*SPOILER* - about the cat

Like many, I was deeply upset by the cat torture episode.
Before anyone accuses me of being heartless, getting things out of proportion by saying something like "so it's OK the child dies, but not the cat eh?", that is not what I mean.
Actors, including (especialy?) child actors are not made to suffer. The characters are, and sometimes you have to see it, but all I saw during that section was a cat, (the 'actor' cat) suffering. Human actors have a choice, animals do not.
A review I read said it was faked.. but I just cannot see how. OK, PERHAPS some of the 'cat wrestling' could have been done with a stuffed animal, but in the string bag? Forcing its head into the milk bowl?
Will someone please
a) re-asure me it was fake (and perhaps even how)
b) Why it was necesaary (What that section had to add?)


few visible scars