# Slate article- "Why I Killed My (healthy) Cat" -Do you agree with author's reasoning? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593 "2005-09-20T20:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/41 "2005-09-22T02:10:42Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > They’re just animals. :rolleyes: So that makes them disposable, then? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/42 "2005-09-22T02:39:04Z")
> [@Jeep's Phoenix](#): > > :rolleyes: So that makes them disposable, then? “Working” cats like farm cats kept as pest predators are often seen (and treated as) as a disposable commodity that is easily replaced. Cats as companion pets is a human defined relationship with a long history, but it’s not the only history. While worshipped in some contexts as sacred animals in ancient Egypt, for most of western history cats have largely been seen and treated as disposable pest control tools, even if they were regarded with affection in some cases. Cats as strictly indoor companion animals is a fairly recent phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/43 "2005-09-22T03:08:21Z")
> [@xbuckeye](#): > > I almost sat in a big pile of what I am told was raccoon shit last weekend. I you can’t be bothered to look where you sit, don’t blame the animals. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/44 "2005-09-22T04:03:39Z")
I agree, I don’t believe she tried everything, either. And, quite frankly, it wasn’t so much the fact that she had the cat put to sleep, or even that she felt she made the right decision. There was just something about the tone of the article that put me off. I remember the woman we got four of our cats from (one of them, sadly, became very ill as a kitten and had to be put to sleep, some of you may remember) had someone return a cat who had a tiny spot of ringworm on her. When she told us that, we laughed, because two of OUR kittens also had ringworm-all over. But we got them through it. I was brought up that if you take a cat in, it’s a responsibility, and you should be prepared to deal with even the unpleasant stuff. When our old cat, Meow, started pissing on the furniture, we found out it was because she had cancer. So my parents just started putting plastic over the sofas, until the time came that she had to be taken and put to sleep. (She died on the way to the vet). You cope. **xbuckeye** , for HAIRBALLS? Jesus, that’s pathetic. You brush the cat, and if she coughs up a wad every now and then, you grab a tissue and pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/45 "2005-09-22T04:29:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > When our old cat, Meow, started pissing on the furniture… I know this is OT, by I must ask… how do you people put up with animals pissing and shitting in your house?! The homes of many of our family members and friends _ **stink** _ to royal high heaven because they have pets in their house. I can smell it the _second_ I walk in the door. Yuck. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/46 "2005-09-22T04:44:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I guess I’ve never understood why people love cats so much. Have you ever owned a cat? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/47 "2005-09-22T04:44:46Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I know this is OT, by I must ask… how do you people put up with animals pissing and shitting in your house?! In our case? When you have a dog for 11 or 12 years and love her, you don’t find it hard to be understanding if, on occasion during her last years, she doesn’t make it to the outdoors. Nobody _likes_ it, but it’s a fact of pet ownership a lot of the time, so you understand that it’s something you need to deal with at times. I recall hearing somewhere that a dog has roughly the intelligence of a two-year-old child. I know babies wear diapers and all, but I don’t think the principle is much different. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/48 "2005-09-22T04:47:16Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I know this is OT, by I must ask… how do you people put up with animals pissing and shitting in your house?! > > The homes of many of our family members and friends _ **stink** _ to royal high heaven because they have pets in their house. I can smell it the _second_ I walk in the door. Yuck. :eek: Because when a cat starts pissing on the furniture out of the blue, it usually means there’s something WRONG. And in this case, there was. Cats are picky. My Gypsy will shit beside the box if it’s really dirty. So we keep it scooped. Other than that, we don’t have a problem. My house doesn’t smell, because we keep the litterboxes back in the laundry room, and we keep them clean. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/49 "2005-09-22T05:11:16Z")
I empathize with the author. My cat is elderly (around 17 we think, adopted from a shelter as an adult). She has some litter box issues. Mostly with pee in certain places. There’s a lot of room deodorizer. She’s had this problem off an on. It’s on a lot now. But she also has cancer now, so I’m not getting too angry at her. She’s only got a few months left. I think the author gave it her best shot with the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/50 "2005-09-22T11:11:18Z")
Crafter\_Man, we are all aware that you hate cats. I don’t think the author did anything outrageously wrong. We have a significant excess supply of adoptable cats in this country. Perfectly healthy, wonderful, adoptable cats get euthanized every single day because there isn’t enough shelter space to house them all. This cat would be an unsuitable companion animal for 99% of the cat owning population. I do not particularly want shelter space to be taken up by this un-adoptable cat, when there are other, adoptable, cats out there being euthanized. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/51 "2005-09-22T11:19:01Z")
> [@lavenderlemon](#): > > Have you ever owned a cat? Yes. We have two. Why? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/52 "2005-09-22T12:29:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > In our case? When you have a dog for 11 or 12 years and love her, you don’t find it hard to be understanding if, on occasion during her last years, she doesn’t make it to the outdoors. Nobody _likes_ it, but it’s a fact of pet ownership a lot of the time, so you understand that it’s something you need to deal with at times. I recall hearing somewhere that a dog has roughly the intelligence of a two-year-old child. I know babies wear diapers and all, but I don’t think the principle is much different. My dear old Gordon Setter boy Corey (1989 - 2003 ☹ RIP ) was the easiest dog I have ever housetrained . He was totally horsebroken by 10 weeks of age. But the last 2 years of his life he was incontinant. It was a constant drip of pee , but other than this , he was healthy. So I bought disposable diapers, cut down a pair of suspenders to go over his back to hook to the diaper under his belly , and ta da ! He did not mind wearing it , automatically stopped on the rug by the back door to have it put on , and we no longer had the peeing problem. With this said, I know that isn’t a viable option for a cat. Many years ago , I had a Siamese that began urinating on my pillow if she got annoyed with me. I tried and tried to break her of this and could not do it. I found a cat rescue that took her willingly. I would not have had her put to sleep for it tho. I would have found another soloution somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/53 "2005-09-22T12:43:09Z")
Is there a “who cares, it’s only a cat” option? 'Cause I pick that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/54 "2005-09-22T13:14:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Is there a “who cares, it’s only a cat” option? 'Cause I pick that. > > Regards, > Shodan Most definitely. When one of our cats gets eaten by a coyote, no tears are shed. It just means it’s time to get another one. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/55 "2005-09-22T14:11:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Most definitely. > > When one of our cats gets eaten by a coyote, no tears are shed. It just means it’s time to get another one. Well, that’s a little different from what I meant. I would care about the cat in general, enough to be sorry if a coyote ate it or a car ran over it or it died of feline leukemia or something. But that is because the cat died while the benefits of having it around outweigh the drawbacks. If the cat pees on the pillows and yowls and makes itself obnoxious, then get rid of it. If someone else wants to adopt such a cat, fine, otherwise have it destroyed, humanely. But I wouldn’t fret about either choice, and I wouldn’t go to a lot of trouble to find a nice home for Mr. Piddlepaws either. I think **Captain Amazing** said it was a companion animal. A companion who pees in your bed is not a good companion. So bye-bye to the kitty, one way or other. Obligatory Monty Python quote: > [@](#): > > I spent three hours this morning burying the cat. > > What, three hours to bury one cat? > > Yes, it wouldn’t keep still. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/56 "2005-09-22T22:10:39Z")
> [@lavenderlemon](#): > > Have you ever owned a cat? I hope **Crafter\_Man** hasn’t owned a cat, it wouldn’t be right. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/57 "2005-09-22T22:35:26Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I hope **Crafter\_Man** hasn’t owned a cat, it wouldn’t be right. IIRC Crafter\_Man lives in a rural locale, and is pretty much taking an archetypal farmer/rancher view of cats as expendable and easily replaced predator control tools. In those scenarios they provide shelter (barn or shed etc) and possibly some limited food, but (usually) no medical care of any kind. Should they be allowed to own “working” cats if he is not? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/58 "2005-09-23T12:28:32Z")
Another vote for the “it’s only a cat” option. It was put down humanely. If it was a dog, ferret, parakeet, or any other animal with similarly disgusting, unhealthy, and destructive habits, I’d feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/59 "2005-09-23T13:09:17Z")
I do a few euthanasias each day as part of my practice. The ones due to inappropriate elimination behaviour are not as bad as the ones due to “we just got new furniture and the hair shows now”. We spay and neuter the wrong species. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593/60 "2005-09-23T19:12:14Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > I do a few euthanasias each day as part of my practice. The ones due to inappropriate elimination behaviour are not as bad as the ones due to “we just got new furniture and the hair shows now”. We spay and neuter the wrong species. Can’t you refuse to do it and offer to take the animal off of their hands? I think our vet does this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-why-i-killed-my-healthy-cat-do-you-agree-with-authors-reasoning/322593.md?page=4)