I'm on a few Facebook cat rescue groups, and one thing I've noticed that troubles me somewhat is that there sometimes seems to be a kind of competition going on regarding saving cats that have really horrific injuries that require thousands of dollars to treat. Sometimes the cats don't even survive the treatment.
For me, I try to think of what kind of quality of life the cat is going to have after treatment. Will it have ongoing pain? And how traumatic will the treatment be, keeping in mind that the cats often don't understand why medical procedures are being done to them? It's also a question of use of resources, which does have an ethical dimension. I don't have unlimited funds, and if I spend everything I have on one severe case, then what happens when a minor, treatable issue pops up the next week? Or could I use those resources to TNR forty healthy cats and reduce the problems caused by overpopulation.
I saw one case recently where someone spent over $6,000 to try to save one rescue kitten that the doctors didn't think would survive. The kitten died after almost two weeks of invasive treatment. I wouldn't have wanted to be that kitten myself.
One of my TNR colony cats was shot in the leg, and I did raise the money to pay for an amputation because she was adoptable. She did get adopted. I paid to have a lipoma removed from another cat. But these were both cases where a good outcome was reasonably certain without ongoing suffering.
I've also witnessed a lot of shaming of people who decided to euthanize in a tough situation. If I had to do that, I would never post publicly about it.
I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, but I don't entirely understand the mindset of those who believe that extreme measures must be taken to save every cat regardless of the cat's ultimate quality of life afterwards.
For me, I try to think of what kind of quality of life the cat is going to have after treatment. Will it have ongoing pain? And how traumatic will the treatment be, keeping in mind that the cats often don't understand why medical procedures are being done to them? It's also a question of use of resources, which does have an ethical dimension. I don't have unlimited funds, and if I spend everything I have on one severe case, then what happens when a minor, treatable issue pops up the next week? Or could I use those resources to TNR forty healthy cats and reduce the problems caused by overpopulation.
I saw one case recently where someone spent over $6,000 to try to save one rescue kitten that the doctors didn't think would survive. The kitten died after almost two weeks of invasive treatment. I wouldn't have wanted to be that kitten myself.
One of my TNR colony cats was shot in the leg, and I did raise the money to pay for an amputation because she was adoptable. She did get adopted. I paid to have a lipoma removed from another cat. But these were both cases where a good outcome was reasonably certain without ongoing suffering.
I've also witnessed a lot of shaming of people who decided to euthanize in a tough situation. If I had to do that, I would never post publicly about it.
I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, but I don't entirely understand the mindset of those who believe that extreme measures must be taken to save every cat regardless of the cat's ultimate quality of life afterwards.