Just to be clear, JWB, what I was saying (which you seem to have missed or ignored) is that the fact that you put money --- and let's be honest, we're not talking thousands here. I know you say cash is tight but seventy dollars? Anyway it's not the amount that's important --- before the possibility of easing the pet's life or maybe extending it is what makes you seem heartless to me. I do not equate heartlessness with strength; in fact, it can take a lot more courage and fortitude to be weak. Em, that makes no sense but I think you know what I'm trying to say? Kind of takes more of a man to walk away from a fight than get involved in one? Sort of thing.

When we were getting the renovations for my sister's extension done, we had to put the cats into the cattery for five months. Cost us just over 4000 Euro (yeah I said thousands!). If that had been you, you would have had the choice of paying to board them or have them put down, would you have chosen the latter? Given that we hadn't got four grand, we are paying it off at 100 a month, so it's not impossible.

On the flipside, when Spook was near her time our vet told us she could go on a ventilator that might extend her life a bit, but she was too sick to survive. It would be 200 a week. At that stage, we decided not to pay for that, not because of the money only, but because there was no guarantee. You can bet if he had said this will cure her 100 percent I would have found the money.

Like I say, you either love pets or you don't and to clarify, PET OWNERS/LOVERS can't and don't put a price on a pet's love. That you could reduce your situation to a thing like "man I wasted seventy bucks" is what boils my blood and makes me think you're a heartless person. And I'm sorry to say, the more I hear from you the less I think of you.

It boils my blood that people think they are such good care takers that animals are better off with them. :O Let's face it we dominated multiple species for our pleasure, they aren't symbiotic relationships.

The dog descended from friendlier wolves who used a relationship with humans as a survival tactic. Not so much dominated in that case. As for cats, I think they're the ones who domesticated us.

The human descended from friendlier primates who used a relationship with cats as a survival tactic. Cats were used to keep rodents from eating and polluting surplus grain kept in storage. The cats had the humans harvest the grain and store it to help facilitate hunting down mice. http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticon...cat-smiley.gif

No, humans would all be dead and eaten if they could do that. Cats would cut out the middlemen.

i mean it is obvious to me that i wasted 70 bucks. i'm not going to dwell on it though.

a humane euthanization (given it was necessary) is hardly a "waste".

a "waste" is allowing an animal to suffer until its body can no longer go on.

Ironically, you are agreeing with JWB. The point is that animals should die when the time is right for them to die. People who are sad when animals die naturally, and want to prolong their lives, have some weird hangups. It's selfish to want a loved animal to live beyond its natural life. I think you agree?

You have it backwards.

How am I agreeing with him? He feels the procedure was a waste, which is really quite disgusting because without it, that poor thing would have suffered a lot more than necessary.

Of course I agree that any living creature should be compassionately laid to rest when the odds aren't in their favor (e.g.; terminal illness) because prolonged suffering of a living being for the sake of its loved ones is selfish. It's selfish to keep them alive if their quality of life has been so greatly diminished that they can't enjoy it anymore.

I hope JWB's mother doesn't get snubbed if she chooses voluntary euthanization, should she become ill with something that will ultimately destroy her in an aggressive, excruciating manner.

The point is, it doesn't matter the species; suffering is suffering. Love and compassion are necessary in the care of every living thing. (And before anyone starts rattling on about my hatred for the human race, I have to mention that 99.9% of all these fuckers aren't my responsibility, so I don't give a damn - I've always liked animals a lot more, though.) JWB, being the stoic he is, doesn't understand this.