Where Do You Draw the (Fe) Line?

A friend and colleague of mine explained that she was stressed out because her cat had undergone a $1300 operation to clear mineral deposits in her stomach and intestines, and now the cat was going to need the same surgery again -- and there was no guarantee that the cat wouldn't need it again after this-- and so I made the pragmatic suggestion that it might be time to put the cat in a sack and toss it in the river, as cats seem pretty disposable to me, but I was chastised by the rest of the folks in the English office for "not having human emotions," which led me to tell the story of how I had to euthanize my pet iguana (a story I will tell in another sentence) but this conversation brings up a serious ethical dilemma -- how much money should you spend on your pet to save its life . . . and I am thinking that if this discussion happened in the math or science office, if it would have gone down very differently.
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4 comments:

  1. zmanOctober 28, 2013 at 9:20 AM

    The cat doesn't understand any of this. All he knows is that his stomach hurts and from time to time his owner takes him to the vet where he is forcibly knocked out and wakes up half shaved with a giant painful sewn up cut along his belly. Then he has to wear a lampshade for a few weeks. This happens repeatedly and, in the cat's view, completely randomly, no matter how well he behaves. So from the cat's perspective all this well-intentioned surgery is actually quite horrible. He probably thinks he's being punished.

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  2. Al DePantsdownoOctober 28, 2013 at 10:00 AM

    Although I am in complete agreement, suggesting out loud that the cat and all involved would be better served by tossing it in the Raritan might come across as a bit insensitive. Sirius, (sp?) on the other hand, will hopefully spare you from having to figure out the breakeven point.

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  3. robOctober 28, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    poor radar love lizard

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  4. DaveOctober 28, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    i don't have a good track record with lizards. and i was thinking the same about my beloved dog. i could see spending a grand or two on him, but after that?

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