Letters to the Editor
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mrao!
1) don't be so cheap ... $300 is less than a buck a day!
2) at $1,300 you are getting ripped off for urinary tract treatment.
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"When we take a pet into our lives, we must take care of him. "
And why is that? Is it the expectation of the pet? They think of it as a social contract? Or is it the solipsism and sad self-orbitalism of the spoiled elites of a militarist hegemon who accept the cost in human lives of their privilege but fret about their personal toys, both biological and technological? Put down the cat or dog and make a contribution to a facility that provides medical assistance to our uninsured. Yes, you love your pets. But the self indulgence of spending huge amounts on forcefully anthropomorphisizing them is sick. Same goes for our infatuation with selfoplasty in search of our real selves. It isn't enough that we spend more on soda and alcohol in a year than we spend sharing our bounty; let's piss our money into a pet cemetery while wearing clothing sewn by slave labor and burning fuel stolen from the peoples of the Middle East by the leaching classes that rule them.
Why anonymous? It feels safe(r) in an era in which our fundamental right to hold opinions and express them is under threat at every turn. I will never trust our government again.
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Car? Couch?
I love my cats, the one that is still alive and the one that isn't. When my beloved Marquis got sick and was diagnosed with a tumor, I walked him into the vet, who promptly told me that it would cost about $2000 to deal with. Marquis had been with me for 10 years, and truly was my best friend. And, because he was my best friend, I knew that he cared for me like I cared for him... $2000 would have crippled me. Got the abscess drained, some pain killers for him, and kept him comfortable for another 8 months. And then laid him gently into the sweet night. $400 total. Yes, it's crude to list dollar figures, that difference of $1600, but it's not only money... it's my future, and the future of my family. And he was a member of my family who I know, absolutely know, understood.
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"And he was a member of my family who I know, absolutely know, understood."
Right, ScottnTennessee. I'm sure it understood perfectly. It probably felt sorry for you, too, having to make such a decision. It would have comforted you, ruminated on the ethical and philosophical dilemmas raised by the situation, if only it had a voice as well as a complex intellectual life. Sheet.
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nothing is too much if it is easily curable
If when you adopt an animal you aren't willing to take on all the responsibilities that go with it (ie spending money when the pet gets sick), you should think twice about adopting. I worry about when Ferdinand gets sick again (and he will - that's a natural fact). Maybe you should just leave him with the vet next time and let him be adopted by someone else. A thousand bucks isn't a drop in the bucket but it's not something that will make you bankrupt, although ten thousand bucks might make even me think twice. Then again, I probably had the world's most expensive gerbil. She cost me in the end over $500 but her sicknesses were curable, which was the main thing for me. If they had been terminal or would involve prolonged suffering, maybe I would've put her down. But how could I not try to heal something that could be healed just because of money? As it turned out, she ended up living very happily right up to the end and ended up dying of old age beyond the normal life span of a gerbil. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
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thousand bucks negligent
"A thousand bucks isn't a drop in the bucket but it's not something that will make you bankrupt, although ten thousand bucks might make even me think twice."
Half of world humans live under one dollar each day. Most people never seeing one thousand dollar pile all at once in entire life. Believe me, brother, is true. But maybe only rich like you are reading here you think? Laa laa laa. You must rethinking again.
I like one who say sitting in garden and listening birds. Free and God's blessing. Not like buffalo in paddy field, but my neophew like batheing him with mud. Old one die and we cook for meals and give to neighbours as was said by God.
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What I Would Want
Is the treatment worse than the cure? For me, that's the question. I have two adopted cats. The old guy needed blood work. He's fine. But it took repeated tries for the vet to draw enough blood. It was a horrible thing to behold. The young one was a stray. She's sweet, but she don't put up with no b.s. Going to the vet for her is traumatic. She howls and screeches. It takes assistants with gloves on to take blood or her temperature. I can sympathize. When I'm at the doctor, I feel exactly the same. I want my cats to have the best quality of life they can get. Quantity is not the issue. They are not human, but they have the same emotions and suffer exactly the same way. We are in the same boat. I have an incurable disease that won't kill me soon but that makes my future look bleak and filled with nasty medical procedures. I don't want that. I want to be useful and happy as long as I can, but when it comes to the point that I will need all the invasive procedures so many of the pets in these stories have had to endure, I want to find myself a good 'ol farm vet who knows how to do the right thing.
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responsibility
Once you get a kitten or pup you take on a lifetime responsibility. Your word to care for them.
there is now insurance for pets.
But the bottom line is you wouldn't keep your kids from getting health care and these animals had no choice to become your pet.
Don't like the price ? Don't get a pet.
Worse yet , are the people who don't get them fixed , or shots then dump them to make tons of new critters.
Most vets are willing to work out a plan if you speak to them. I did when my cat needed bladder surgery. She's 8 now and healthy . An important part of our family and deserving respect.