Cats and Dogs
People who read the blog know by now that I have a cat. Those who know me also know I hate getting up early in the morning. So how are these two connected? I woke up at 6 AM today, because my cat needed to be taken to a clinic for a dentist appointment. As perverse as the idea of a cat dentist is, it’s pretty real and the poor bastard really needed it, too.
Apart from the really funny part of seeing a cat wake up, still intoxicated, after the operation, you can imagine I was pretty annoyed by the whole thing. What is amazing, though, is that cats and dogs can be treated for pretty much every other illness humans can be. I’ve seen commercials for healthy food, food for cats with allergies, antibiotics for dogs with liver problems and I was informed a friend of ours had his cat through hip surgery, replacement (No, this is not a joke). I don’t have a problem with people paying for it really, it’s their money.
It’s interesting though from a purely ethical perspective. Isn’t euthanasia more justified in cases of incurable illness and pain for animals? I can understand the argument that it is worth to prolong human life, but is our desire to be with the pet a justification to cause it live in continuous pain? I can see why it’s good to take it to a dentist, you help it get better, that’s for sure. But chemotherapy for liver cancer on cats? Give me a break! That’s selfish torture plain and simple!
Apart from the really funny part of seeing a cat wake up, still intoxicated, after the operation, you can imagine I was pretty annoyed by the whole thing. What is amazing, though, is that cats and dogs can be treated for pretty much every other illness humans can be. I’ve seen commercials for healthy food, food for cats with allergies, antibiotics for dogs with liver problems and I was informed a friend of ours had his cat through hip surgery, replacement (No, this is not a joke). I don’t have a problem with people paying for it really, it’s their money.
It’s interesting though from a purely ethical perspective. Isn’t euthanasia more justified in cases of incurable illness and pain for animals? I can understand the argument that it is worth to prolong human life, but is our desire to be with the pet a justification to cause it live in continuous pain? I can see why it’s good to take it to a dentist, you help it get better, that’s for sure. But chemotherapy for liver cancer on cats? Give me a break! That’s selfish torture plain and simple!
posted by Sergej at 2:29 PM
3 Comments:
That’s selfish torture plain and simple!
I definitely agree. I think the problem is that it's painful for people to make the final decision to kill their pets, especially ones that have become the equivalent of family members. I had a cat for around 12 years and when it started becoming clear that it wouldn't live much longer, I was really worried about having to make a decision to put it to sleep. I was worried that it would haunt my conscience. This is also selfish, I know, but I can see why people would elect to go through something crazy like animal chemotherapy.
All I know is that there's nothing I wouldn't do for Tim. Euthanasia is ok if there is nothing left you can do and if the pet is truly suffering, anything short of that it's murder, plain and simple.
My cat broke his tail a few months ago and when the veterinarian told us the options, putting him down was one of the them. When my father asked why he thought we would even consider that, he said: 'It is going to cost you to fix it, some people don't want to pay that much.' The bill came to 54.000 SIT, what kind of a sick person would you have to be to put down a cat for that?
There is nothing wrong in euthonasia for animals as well as for people.
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