TOTALLY GEEKED!

ed11563 · Guru

Q. Do I Put the Family Pet to Sleep So I Can Get Some Sleep?:

ed11563 · Guru

My thoughts immediately went to two things.

First, Jackson Galaxy's cat-guardian training, that cats do three things, in order:

Hunt, Eat, Sleep.

He routinely has people using a "bird" (bunch of feathers) on a line on something like a small fishing pole,

so the cat will chase this toy until the cat is panting, which means the cat is exhausted.

Then the person lets the cat catch the "bird", and immediately feeds the exhausted cat.

Then the cat will SLEEP.

My second thought came from raising kids:

They will cry and whine and tantrum and push and push and push ...

until they find it doesn't work. Ever.

So this human has trained the cat that meowling all night gets it fed and played with.

That the cat can decide who has to be there at the cat's command, when the person wants to sleep.

The solution, as with a demanding 2 or 3 or 4 years old, is ...

stop playing this game, take back control, let the cat / kid / monster cry all it wants. Close the door and do NOT respond until there is silence.

If the cat won't eat without the human? The cat will eat when it's hungry enough. Cats eat when they're hungry. Dogs eat whenever there's food.

Babies will not starve themselves to death.

Vette · Owl drink to that!

Good points ed

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

My thought is to simply stop buying her expensive meds and food and nature will take its course. They are keeping her alive.

ed11563 · Guru

More from the column:

Q. Re: Put the Family Pet to Sleep?: My great-grandmother is 105 years old. She’s deaf in one ear, blind in both eyes, and won’t do anything unless I’m nearby. In the middle of the night, she howls for somebody to make breakfast for her. Even when I stuff pillows in my ears, I can still hear her. My great-grandmother is very loving, but this is taking a toll on our family. I tried getting some professional help, buy my great-grandmother and her medical conditions are so demanding it costs $100 to $200 a day to ask a professional to look after her. I’m at my wit’s end! Would it be wrong if I took my great-grandmother to a hospice and asked them to ... ahem ... help her along?

A: I want to know who changes great-grandma’s litter box. In Oregon, as has been in the news, a suffering human with no chance of improvement can make a considered decision to end her life. But otherwise, we just don’t “put down” humans who are old and sick. So is your point that veterinarians are monsters for ever putting down an animal? Because as pet owners we get to make decisions about humanely euthanizing pets. If you were actually describing your current living conditions with great-grandma, I would say they were intolerable and that you would immediately need to get her in a nursing home so that you could have a life. And with her being 105, it would only make sense to talk about hospice care for her.

Q. Re: Put the Cat Down!: I am a Catholic. My church teaches respect for life, but it also teaches that the life of a terminally ill human being does not have to be prolonged by artificial means if the expense is ruinous to the patient’s family. No doubt after 18 years the cat is like family, but it’s not human and should not be holding the LW’s entire family hostage.

A: Thanks—although not all commenters agree that there is a distinction between pets and people.

huskerbb · Guru

The comparison with a person is just stupid.

PETS ARE NOT PEOPLE.

ed11563 · Guru

huskerbb wrote:
The comparison with a person is just stupid.

PETS ARE NOT PEOPLE.

Dogs think that people are dogs, that the ones they live with are their pack.

Cats think that people are servants. People seem to encourage this belief.

Pets may not be people, but people may behave like pets.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.

NAOW · Vette's SS

ed11563 wrote:
huskerbb wrote:
The comparison with a person is just stupid.

PETS ARE NOT PEOPLE.
Dogs think that people are dogs, that the ones they live with are their pack.
Cats think that people are servants. People seem to encourage this belief.
Pets may not be people, but people may behave like pets.

My grandma serves her cat food in bed. In her (grandmas) bed.

ed11563 · Guru

lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.

The cat can be exercised and trained properly.

It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.

I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.

huskerbb · Guru

ed11563 wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.
The cat can be exercised and trained properly.
It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.
I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.

Don't care. No effing way would I spend $200 a month on some cat. I wouldn't have done it for even the FIRST month.

ed11563 · Guru

huskerbb wrote:
ed11563 wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.
The cat can be exercised and trained properly.
It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.
I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.
Don't care. No effing way would I spend $200 a month on some cat. I wouldn't have done it for even the FIRST month.

Neither would I. But would you spend that on a sick child? Sure.

I think people who have or grew up with farm animals may not have the same attachment to an "only" family pet that city-dwellers do.

The "cycle of life" is much more of a presence in agriculture. That's one of the reasons I value your presence here.

-- Edited by ed11563 on Monday 10th of November 2014 07:35:28 PM

Mellow Momma · Sniff...sniff, sniff. Yay! A Bum!

Lawyerlady wrote:
My thought is to simply stop buying her expensive meds and food and nature will take its course. They are keeping her alive.

Exactly what I was thinking.

And nd the day I spent that much a month on a cat...please...have my head examined.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

I can't see spending that much on a pet either. That's groceries for a whole month for a lot of families.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

ed11563 wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.
The cat can be exercised and trained properly.
It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.
I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.

You are confusing a cat with a person.

NOT the same.

Look, I don't advocate putting an animal down just because.

But this cat is 18, disabled and costing a lot of money.

It is an animal.

Put it down. Get another.

Take it to pet store and get one just like it.

George Carlin had a great skit about trading up a pet.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

ed11563 wrote:
huskerbb wrote:
ed11563 wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.
The cat can be exercised and trained properly.
It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.
I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.
Don't care. No effing way would I spend $200 a month on some cat. I wouldn't have done it for even the FIRST month.
Neither would I. But would you spend that on a sick child? Sure.
I think people who have or grew up with farm animals may not have the same attachment to an "only" family pet that city-dwellers do.
The "cycle of life" is much more of a presence in agriculture. That's one of the reasons I value your presence here.

-- Edited by ed11563 on Monday 10th of November 2014 07:35:28 PM

It isn't a sick child. It is a cat.

Mellow Momma · Sniff...sniff, sniff. Yay! A Bum!

This poor cat is probably miserable!! We shoot horses, but we spend $200 a month on an elderly disabled cat with dementia ? Oh HELL to the no.

ed11563 · Guru

The idea that the vet is a greedy S.O.B. who is having these people buy him his next boat, is probably

absolutely right.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

No. Pet care costs a ton.

No one is forcing them to pay for it.

they can put the cat down and be done with it.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Deferring vacation for years over a cat? Wow.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I tell people when you get a pet take some short trips when the pet is young and board it. But if she is too cheap to spend $30 a day to board her cat for a vacation then she kind of deserves what she gets. Boarding my dog is part of the Price of my vacation. Geez what a victim.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

huskerbb wrote:
ed11563 wrote:
lilyofcourse wrote:
The cat is 18, deaf and toothless.

Put it down.
The cat can be exercised and trained properly.
It is still furry and soft and warm, and no doubt likes being held and stroked.

My brother (who wrote Dad's will leaving everything to himself) wanted to put a DNR on Dad when Dad went into a hospital with pneumonia, because all Dad ever did was complain.
I reminded him that complaining was what Dad did for pleasure, and that was no reason to kill him.

Dad recovered.
Don't care. No effing way would I spend $200 a month on some cat. I wouldn't have done it for even the FIRST month.

Me neither. A pet is not a human being. I will spend some reasonable amount for basic vet care but no i am not getting all the deluxe treatments.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

I could only see spending that much money on a pet if it was maybe once and he'd be better. I can't imagine spending $200/month on a pet for medical care. Plus, this cat is old. As Abby, or whoever, says we don't prolong the life of the elderly. It's considered cruel. I would not keep my 90 or a 100 year old grand parent alive and suffering. Why do this to a cat?