Thread: Woman Spends $19,000 on Kidney Transplant For Her Cat After Adopting Donor Cat

Originally Posted by Madeline

Cat Owner Pays $19,000 for Feline Kidney Transplant | PEOPLE.com

This news story does not sit well with me, and yet, I can't articulate one ethical problem significant enough to serve as a basis for interfering in this woman's choices.

Your thoughts?

i cant throw stones..... i went to 24k before i said put him down. Would i do it again.... no.

Originally Posted by THOR

The dog was a higher priority then good relations with other people.

My dog (and cat) are cooler than people.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Two things

1- it's her money

..and

2- a fool and their money are soon parted

I don't think loving a beastie is foolish. I sure love Bella.

Originally Posted by TheWahoo

If it were me, I'd buy the book: 101 uses for a dead cat.

What would Chuck Norris do?

Originally Posted by THOR

I think I would of donated the 19k to ST. Judes or some similar institution. The feel good factor would be real. Families are not charged for the care , little kids get a chance at life.

Americans are so justifiably proud of that hospital.

Originally Posted by THOR

Sometimes I wonder if people's attachment to their pets is a little over the top sometimes. I've seen dog worship that was almost scary. The dog was a higher priority then good relations with other people.

O, yeah. Mentally ill people frequently involve beasties in their dysfunction.

But it might not be the case here.

Originally Posted by Madeline

O, yeah. Mentally ill people frequently involve beasties in their dysfunction.

But it might not be the case here.

People can do as they like with their resources.

Originally Posted by THOR

People can do as they like with their resources.

There's certainly no basis for complaining about this woman's spending habits. She could have burned that $19,000 and it would still have not been any of our business.

We DO have a stake in the property she owns which are living creatures. The cats are likewise her property, but to protect them and ourselves, we have a right and a duty to stop her using them cruelly, even if she is laboring under a mistaken belief that her behavior is kind.

I just don't know if this behavior, described in the Op, is quite that clearly cruel. Surely vets discuss veterinary medical ethics among themselves.

Maybe this one time, we can leave the professionals to sort this out. Arguably, only a vet can make a meaningful judgment about whether this procedure(s) was ethical.

IDK, but it's disquieting.

Originally Posted by Libertine

Too bad cat owners can't donate one of their own kidneys to their cats, or both for that matter.

Human medicine has advanced off the research done by veterinarians. Some vet research is done purely for this reason, which makes some animal rights people extremely angry.

This is not simple, ethically speaking.

Originally Posted by Sassy

Perhaps one could be obtained from a cat who just died, as they do with humans?

Can I infer from this you would object to killing a donor cat in order to save a pet cat?

To the point of passing a law, banning the practice?