Anything for Kitty: Would You Spend Thousands of Dollars to Keep Your Sick Pet Alive?

Anything for Kitty: Would You Spend Thousands of Dollars to Keep Your Sick Pet Alive?

1. The Situation

   • A vet detected a terminal heart condition in the cat (Kitty).
     • Her owner just to promise that the cat will live until his 30th birthday.
       • The cat only have 2 years half of live
         • The procedure: twice a day pills, the bimonthly visits to the veterinary cardiologist.

2. The Dilemmna

   • Just because we can extend a life, should we?
     • As animals became increasingly viewed as members of the family, the reluctance to euthanize began to enter veterinary medicine.
       • Many owners are willing to spend significantly on veterinary care: In a 2010 survey of more than 1,000 pet owners, 32 percent said they’d be somewhat to very likely to spend $5,000 on a single treatment.

3. The Treatment

   • Initially for Kitty, a chest tap would buy her several months of easier breathing
     • The chest taps increased in frequency—once, Kitty needed three in a month
       • Yet even as the taps went up to every other month
         • The vet said: it was not fair to the animal. The animal doesn’t know anything about the last three months.

4. The Decision

   • The vet said that when the animal gets very sick, particularly with a terminal disease, The owner should consult the list for your own need, are not prolonging the animal's suffering
     • Kitty List: watching the street from the window, jumping on us when we went to bed, to sleep perched on our backs or sides; and wolfing down the food as soon as I dumped it in her bowl
       • In the last week, Kitty collapsed and her owner go to the emergency vet.
         • Her owners decided let her go

5. The Conclusion

   • Before intervening in the life of a living being, we must stop and identify if it will be very painful and will be worth going through all this.