.38 special only costs a few cents. Plus I'd rather my pet's death be a personal matter between me and them, not some foreign and sterile operating room.

I had something similar happen in 2014..

RIP Jesse...

I wouldn't spend $5,000 on my cat.

Quote from: eggsalad on October 11, 2015, 02:26:21 PM

.38 special only costs a few cents. Plus I'd rather my pet's death be a personal matter between me and them, not some foreign and sterile operating room.

So, the pet has a chance to live. And you have the 5000 to make it happen. But you don't pick it. Why not?

Because the road to recovery won't be enjoyable for them, will have marginal benefits, and won't be enjoyable for me either.

My mother spent $500 in an ER visit for her dog after he got hit by a truck. She ended up spending more afterwards in follow-ups. He was never the same afterwards; if he didn't see you walk up to him or heard loud noises, he would bite you. He would randomly walk up to people and growl at them.

If it was my choice, he would have been put down after he got hit. Animals are never the same after those experiences; they just suffer the rest of their life and you end up thousands of dollars poorer for it.

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 02:42:28 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on October 11, 2015, 02:41:24 PM

I wouldn't spend $5,000 on my cat.

Why not exactly? Can you give me some specifics?

$5000 is more than my current emergency fund. I know in the hypothetical scenario I have the money, but unless it's a situation where someone just handed me $5k I still have to approach it from the perspective of my financial situation. If the medical procedures were covered by my pet insurance, I'd probably do it, but if it's an old cat that's in a lot of pain, I think the best option is to just put him down.

I changed it up a bit. The medical route has no pain because the pet is medicated. Do you change your stance?

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on October 11, 2015, 02:45:57 PM

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 02:42:28 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on October 11, 2015, 02:41:24 PM

I wouldn't spend $5,000 on my cat.

Why not exactly? Can you give me some specifics?

$5000 is more than my current emergency fund. I know in the hypothetical scenario I have the money, but unless it's a situation where someone just handed me $5k I still have to approach it from the perspective of my financial situation. If the medical procedures were covered by my pet insurance, I'd probably do it, but if it's an old cat that's in a lot of pain, I think the best option is to just put him down.

I changed it up a bit. The medical route has no pain because the pet is medicated. Do you change your stance?

No, it's not an issue of their pain, it's an issue of me not ever wanting to spend $5,000 on an elderly pet.

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 02:55:10 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on October 11, 2015, 02:45:57 PM

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 02:42:28 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on October 11, 2015, 02:41:24 PM

I wouldn't spend $5,000 on my cat.

Why not exactly? Can you give me some specifics?

$5000 is more than my current emergency fund. I know in the hypothetical scenario I have the money, but unless it's a situation where someone just handed me $5k I still have to approach it from the perspective of my financial situation. If the medical procedures were covered by my pet insurance, I'd probably do it, but if it's an old cat that's in a lot of pain, I think the best option is to just put him down.

I changed it up a bit. The medical route has no pain because the pet is medicated. Do you change your stance?

No, it's not an issue of their pain, it's an issue of me not ever wanting to spend $5,000 on an elderly pet.

Okay. That's fair. What if we changed the scenario?

You, personally, are now in a serious medical condition. You're going to die if you don't recieve medical treatment. Your significant other will have to pay a large fee for the medical aid involved. And the condition you have will come back in give or take, a decade or two. And you're late middle aged.

What would you personally choose happen to you?

And what would you prefer that your significant other do?

Interesting. I admit I wasn't expecting that one from you.

So you're saying that you personally would take that 5000 you had, and spread it around to other people? Random strangers? Or just one person? Or would you just keep it in your bank? Keep in mind, the potential for several years of life is up on the table.

I don't think the potential is good enough. If I could guarantee that cat a life of immortal sublimity, then it would be an easy choice to make, but as it stands, cats don't really live out very fulfilling lives as it is, to be... completely honest.

As for what I'd do with the money, I'd save it. I certainly wouldn't just hand it out to random people. I don't trust people enough to be overly charitable. I'm very frugal as it is, almost to a fault, but in that sense, I like to think that I'm pretty smart when it comes to spending money. I'd make sure I wouldn't spend it on anything too extravagant or frivolous, out of respect for my cat's memory.

Kinda like I already do--I'm always spending money only on shit that's gonna help me in the long run, either practically, or emotionally, or whatever. Bare necessities. If someone I trust needs money, I'll be able to provide for them.

Allowing the cat to continue living would introduce a large opportunity cost that I'm not sure would be very intelligent, considering that the cat has already lived a great deal of time anyway.

It wouldn't be happy choice either way.

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 03:12:06 PM

Interesting. I admit I wasn't expecting that one from you.

So you're saying that you personally would take that 5000 you had, and spread it around to other people? Random strangers? Or just one person? Or would you just keep it in your bank? Keep in mind, the potential for several years of life is up on the table.

I don't think the potential is good enough. If I could guarantee that cat a life of immortal sublimity, then it would be an easy choice to make, but as it stands, cats don't really live out very fulfilling lives as it is, to be... completely honest.

As for what I'd do with the money, I'd save it. I certainly wouldn't just hand it out to random people. I don't trust people enough to be overly charitable. I'm very frugal as it is, almost to a fault, but in that sense, I like to think that I'm pretty smart when it comes to spending money. I'd make sure I wouldn't spend it on anything too extravagant or frivolous, out of respect for my cat's memory.

It wouldn't be happy choice either way.

Interesting. And what exactly drives you to think that cats don't live out very fullfilling lives by their standards?

Factoring into things, that you, as a cartaker, have all the options to make a cat live in pretty much the best of conditions?

Keep in mind here too, that spending 5000 isn't the only option. It's just the best option availible. Would you compromise and spend some of it to try and help the pet? Or is this a complete black and white deal, on or off kind of deal?

Interesting. And what exactly drives you to think that cats don't live out very fullfilling lives by their standards?

Factoring into things, that you, as a cartaker, have all the options to make a cat live in pretty much the best of conditions?

I think living for the sake of living is pointless. If you're not accomplishing anything, you're just another mouth to feed. Pets are loving companions--they keep us company, they make us laugh, they keep us warm. And we do the same for them. But this cat has basically lived out his whole life. What great purpose would there be in extending his life further, especially when I have a greater potential of helping a great deal of others with that money?

Keep in mind here too, that spending 5000 isn't the only option. It's just the best option availible. Would you compromise and spend some of it to try and help the pet? Or is this a complete black and white deal, on or off kind of deal?

I mean, it's black and white for me, I guess. Maybe other people might think different, but personally, I think it would be a lost cause if I spent any less.

Someone else may have different thoughts than mine, and that's all right--that's just my take. I don't think I could justify it.

Quote from: eggsalad on October 11, 2015, 02:44:44 PM

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 02:40:37 PM

Quote from: eggsalad on October 11, 2015, 02:26:21 PM

.38 special only costs a few cents. Plus I'd rather my pet's death be a personal matter between me and them, not some foreign and sterile operating room.

So, the pet has a chance to live. And you have the 5000 to make it happen. But you don't pick it. Why not?

Because the road to recovery won't be enjoyable for them, will have marginal benefits, and won't be enjoyable for me either.

Remember. The animal is in no pain on the medical route. They're medicated. It's just a matter of time for them to recover. Do you change your stance on the matter?

Not really. Death isn't bad.

Quote from: Deadtrap on October 11, 2015, 03:25:02 PM

Interesting. And what exactly drives you to think that cats don't live out very fullfilling lives by their standards?

Factoring into things, that you, as a cartaker, have all the options to make a cat live in pretty much the best of conditions?

I think living for the sake of living is pointless. If you're not accomplishing anything, you're just another mouth to feed. Pets are loving companions--they keep us company, they make us laugh, they keep us warm. And we do the same for them. But this cat has basically lived out his whole life. What great purpose would there be in extending his life further, especially when I have a greater potential of helping a great deal of others with that money?

Quote

Keep in mind here too, that spending 5000 isn't the only option. It's just the best option availible. Would you compromise and spend some of it to try and help the pet? Or is this a complete black and white deal, on or off kind of deal?

I mean, it's black and white for me, I guess. Maybe other people might think different, but personally, I think it would be a lost cause if I spent any less.

Someone else may have different thoughts than mine, and that's all right--that's just my take. I don't think I could justify it.

Different viewpoints then. The way I look at it, no matter what you do, what you choose, in the grand scheme of things, you amount to nothing. Truly, we do, if we're talking about the relative size of our universe and its lifetime. And of course, assuming that we only ever get one shot at life, then it makes our time here, and what we choose to do with it, valuable.

If that cat was going to live a few more years in happiness and then pass away, I'd be all for it. Because, I think, living for the sake of living is all we do anyway. We do everything in our lives because of what it means for us. Extending that for just a bit more time to spend in enjoyment before you're gone forever doesn't seem too bad to me.

And, naturally, to me, money is money. It means nothing. It can be earned, and spent. But its sole purpose is to be spent at one time or another. Whether it's spent now, or later, doesn't matter.