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Value of life....dead cat.
I have this old cat...
she is sick with god knows what, anyway
took her to the vet and they gave an estimate cost of treatment and diagnosis like 1000$,
we can't afford this, well we could but it would hurt realllllly bad..
this cat is like 15+ or something
so what's the right thing to do, put down the cat?, pay the moneys; for something that might only prolong her life like 1-2 years?..
she shits and pees everywhere...you know... so ...will I put her down then?
she might not even be suffering soo bad that we have to put her down..but she shits and pees and barfs everywhere, on our clothes, beds, furniture..etc.. 3-4 times a day....
so do I abandon this cat, to death?
it's sad because we got this cat (fat cat) when she was already 10 or something, she was kind of unfriendly the whole time I never really got close to her...but for like 6 years i've had this cat and now it's close to dying...
resistance to impermanence is futile..i guess,:sadc:
she is sick with god knows what, anyway
took her to the vet and they gave an estimate cost of treatment and diagnosis like 1000$,
we can't afford this, well we could but it would hurt realllllly bad..
this cat is like 15+ or something
so what's the right thing to do, put down the cat?, pay the moneys; for something that might only prolong her life like 1-2 years?..
she shits and pees everywhere...you know... so ...will I put her down then?
she might not even be suffering soo bad that we have to put her down..but she shits and pees and barfs everywhere, on our clothes, beds, furniture..etc.. 3-4 times a day....
so do I abandon this cat, to death?
it's sad because we got this cat (fat cat) when she was already 10 or something, she was kind of unfriendly the whole time I never really got close to her...but for like 6 years i've had this cat and now it's close to dying...
resistance to impermanence is futile..i guess,:sadc:
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Comments
If I were in your position, I might try and scrounge up those $1000 somehow. It's not a completely impossible amount of money. (Like healthcare costs for a human -- I once received a bill for $40,000 for a three-day hospital procedure. Yikes!) You could try selling some things on Amazon/eBay (it's a good way to get rid of clutter), run some errands in the community, perhaps hold a fundraiser of some sort. I'm sure there will be people who are sympathetic.
The thing is, I have kids. If this happens again, do I continue to take $800 out of the family funds to save the pet, when I'm supposed to be saving for their college, and taking care of their needs? Not an easy thing to ponder; I love the little critter.
(obviously, we do everything we can to keep plastic away from her...)
You cat however could live for maybe even more than 2 year, and don't forget it was probably always very loyal (in a cat way) to you and in the end money is just money. Maybe another vet can do it for less? Maybe your family could pitch in a little & Glow has a point maybe you could do some clutter-selling, I am sure your cat-friend will approve
Wish you both the best!
I respect your sentiment...but would be lying to say that I agree in an absolute sense. If my kid and my cat are in the road, and a drunk driver is bearing down on them, and I'm forced to choose one...there's no decision to make. I wuv my cat but it goes splat.
(simply making a point through an extreme example..sometimes difficult choices have to be made.
Are you concerned about the money or the cats suffering?
We spend close to $9000 to save one of our dogs lives because we believed that she could continue to have a normal life after treatment. We did not have the money, and are still severely in debt close to a year later.
We chose to go with the treatment because we were told that she would not be in pain after a short recovery time. If I felt at any time that treatment would only prolong or increase her suffering, then I would have considered euthanizing her.
When a person decides to adopt or purchase an animal, that animal becomes the responsibility of that person. Having very close ties with our local shelter, I'm aware of how easy it is for people to just "give away" or put down their animals because they no longer care for them.
I'm also quite aware that people's financial circumstances change and they may no longer be in the position to support the care of the animal.
I believe we have three options:
1) Sacrifice your own wants or needs in order to support the financial requirements of the pet. This means that if you have to cancel your cable, eat less expensive food or forgo entertainment expenses, then so be it.
2) Give up the animal or put it down. If there is a chance the animal can be treated and you decide to put it down, will you be able to sleep at night? If there is no chance to safe your pet, will you be able to offer him/her comfort during their last moments? (This is extremely important).
3) Find other options, such as another person who can help with the expenses and care of the animal. This is very difficult, but with effort it can be done. I've seen sick animals who need medical care their entire lives be adopted to good homes.
Whatever you decide, please make the decision out of love and not money, convenience or self-interest.
Good luck. I hope things work out.
Well... yes, in that case the decision it's reasonable. But what I intended is to say is that we create a bond with these animals and we treat them as one of the family because of the love we have for them.
I know $1000 seems like a lot, and it is, in a relative sense. But it's nothing when compared to the life of a fellow being, right? I know you know what I mean.
Can your family work out a monthly payment plan with the vet, say....$100 a month? Our vet allows us to do that and it makes all the difference in the world for us and the fur babies.
Use some old towels for the places she sits and so forth, ones that you can wash but that aren't important. I have a lot of experience with sneezing, peeing, puking, and pooing, cats (isn't it incredible how much fluid a tiny little body like theirs can hold?) and I buy those super cheap fleece blankets (you can find them on special at a buck each in a lot of places) and put them around the place and on the floor and so on. My cats got the message quickly and started using them when things went wrong internally (although I still can't get Pinky to sneeze in one....lol!!) and it's helped a lot over the years.
We had a cat called Malcolm, my father's cat, who developed a terrible tumor inside his mouth under his tongue and he was drooling all sorts of nasty stuff, poor wee guy, so we used the fleece blankets to keep him warm and comfy and changed them up twice a day so he always had a semi-clean place to lie. They wash and dry like magic, those things. Made of old plastic pop bottles (like the PJs I'm wearing at the moment...). We eventually had Malcolm put to sleep because there was no way to keep him comfortable and the pain he was in was really brutal. I wasn't practicing Buddhism back then but I still don't know what I would do if I was faced with the same situation again.
I feel really good about being able to let our cat Samantha have a natural death but it was only an 8 hour process from when I found her in the kitchen stumbling around unable to walk at around midnight until her final death rattle (there really IS one!) at around 8:00am the next morning. It wasn't a long drawn out process. She was fortunate that way, as were we.
I really, really want the cats to be able to die naturally. Palzang brought it up a while ago. What he said and the way he said it really made me think about it deeply. So I intend to do everything I possibly can to make sure they can live out their lives fully but it's going to have to be on a case by case basis. I'll apply some pretty high standards to each case and examine as honestly as I can if whatever decision I'm contemplating has to do with me or them. I SO don't want to put a cat down because I can't stand the suffering I'm going through watching the cat die, you know? To me that would be tragic.
Anyway, you're a smart, clever sort of guy. I'm sure you can come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to manage the circumstances to the benefit of all involved. Let us know how you get on, eh?
With that said, I'm the breadwinner for a family of four, and would be severely conflicted before plunging my family into serious debt (which translates into financial hardship) by spending many thousands on our beloved, aging feline.
You good folks have given me food for thought...I shall respectfully reciprocate:
Yes, we become responsible for the critter's life. But that responsibility will surely have a limit, even for many of us that understand the Bodhisattva ideal, yes? At an extreme, if your cat was diagnosed with a rare ailment that could be cured for $200,000, would you sell your house, cash in your investments, sell all of your possessions, etc, to finance his recovery?
We all draw the line in a different place, based on our ideals and our other responsibilities in life. Whether someone else is worthy of pet ownership strikes me as being a judgment...I'm really trying to move away from those, these days.
Brigid, I am very sorry for the loss of your cat, btw.
I was really okay with their deaths. We've lost 4 in all over the years but it wasn't until the scare we had with little Pinky that I realized I was over attached to him in particular. It was a good kick in the pants because I'd been silently congratulating myself for being able to deal with death well. Now I know more than ever that it all depends on the circumstance. It's all case by case and there just aren't any easy, black or white, answers.
If, hypothetically speaking, you were faced with a diagnosis and treatment that would cost that much, I would suggest taking your pet to a University that trains vets. They would treat your pet (usually at ZERO CHARGE) in order to gain experience and to learn. These are options that are also open to humans who can't afford dental or health care - their local college/university will more than happy to help you.
There are always options. If you put in no effort to help your pet, then no matter what happens, the consequences of your actions will always linger in your mind. It's not enough to simply say that "I have other responsibilities". These are living, feeling beings that you have decided to care for - options always exist for those who care to look for them.
Cheers!