Today’s affirmation card.
I’m writing this late today.
This card today has me thinking about it in a different way. As in, pets.
My thoughts today might offend some, might be the complete opposite of how you feel, but that’s the way the world works. Everyone is raised in different families, different customs, different traditions, different opinions, different styles, different everything.
I grew up on a working dairy farm with livestock. My Dad didn’t have boys; my sister and I were it. We WERE his boys, free farm hands. We learned to work, and worked just as hard as boys.
We also learned at a young age that we eat animals. Meat does NOT just magically come from a store. It’s an animal that was raised, butchered, packaged and sold.
If there was a very sick cat in the barn, there’s a chance it could spread and you can’t afford that. The cat gets put down. Barn cats have a job, hunting rats and mice, keeping that rodent population in check on a farm.
Once as a kid one of the many cats hissed at me, looking sick and foaming at the mouth. I got scared, told my dad. That’s Rabies symptoms. He dispatched the cat and we had it sent in for testing to verify what it was sick with. (FYI to do proper rabies testing the brain must be intact for the tests – per the state) Rabies is NEVER something you take lightly. Turned out the cat had advanced Distemper and they show very similar symptoms at that point. At least we knew and could take precautions in the future.
I learned that some farms don’t treat their animals as nice as others. Some farmers shouldn’t be farmers, but there are a LOT of farmers who should be still farming because of how good they were. (Seriously, the death rate of small family farms in the USA is horrifying as factory farming and takes over, and if you think I’m exaggerating you need to do some learning.)
I learned that I would rather raise my own meat. Knowing exactly how the animal was raised, cared for and treated. I feed them good, healthy food. They have a good life, until it’s butcher day.
I also learned that you can never attach human emotion onto any animal. I’m in no way saying they don’t have emotions. They do, just not the same as humans and let’s face it, some humans have TOO many emotions. LOL
When it comes to an animal being injured or sick enough that you need to consider the possibility that you may need to put this animal down and out of their misery and pain, well, you need to buck up and face the facts.
Over the years I’ve seen too many people get some chickens, or goats, or any type of livestock for pets, then when an issue comes up they just can’t handle it emotionally.
One family bought Cornish cross chickens to raise for meat and when it came time to butcher, they couldn’t do it!
I’m sorry, but if you plan on getting any form of livestock you need to take several steps back first. Do more extensive research and prepare yourself for the very real possibility of something happening that will put you in the position that you may need to end its life.
You need to realize just how you will do it and be ready.
You can’t just ignore that fact and hope it doesn’t happen to you. Because that is when it will.
Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.
Now, don’t go thinking that I’m just heartless for thinking this way. Even I know it is much easier for me to say this rather than actually dispatching an animal myself. I do have a hard time, but if I must, I’ll still do it.
With a chicken flock, if you get one chicken that somehow develops the habit of eating the eggs. Well, you don’t get any eggs! Plus, that chicken will soon have all the others learning to do the same thing. The fastest way to fix this is to get rid of that chicken.
Taking the time to try and find someone who will want to take in an egg eating chicken is damn near impossible and most like will cost you money, eggs, and time in the process. All of those are always short on a working farm.
I’ve had this happen only once in all my years. I took care of it myself.
A couple times I’ve had to take care of things myself as I was the only one here. I’m not going to just wait for things to get worse because I’m waiting to pass off the responsibility on someone else.
If my husband is home, I usually ask him first.
Now house pets do make it much more difficult. A dog is a member of the family. You love them, snuggle them, take them places with you. Love them.
Eventually the day will come when that dog either passes away peacefully on its own (best case scenario), or you need to make that hard decision of ending their suffering. It never matters if you WANT to deal with it or not, YOU WILL NEED TO.
The hard part is making that decision. Just how bad do you let your beloved pet get? How much do you let them suffer before you realize this is really it and you need to make a choice.
Me, I can’t stand seeing the animals I love suffer.
Not everyone has the monetary means to spend on repeated vet appointments only to just prolong the inevitable.
Now, some people are going to say “Don’t own an animal if you can’t afford to take care of it!”
Yes, I agree!
You need to be able to pay for proper food, housing, fencing if needed, vaccines if needed, etc. You need to give the animal proper care, exercise, attention, and love.
But when it comes to extensive Veterinary care for a major illness or accident, there’s still a limit.
This is now all hypothetical but sorry, I’m not going to put my family in major debt over a Vet bill. I’m not going to start a go-fund-me to pay for Vet care on an animal that MIGHT live a few months. I was not raised that way.
A vet even told me once that he won’t see any chickens. For the cost of his time the person could just go buy 5 new chickens. It’s sad, but it’s honest.
I prefer honest.
On the farm, a calf became very sick with listeria. Even IF the calf somehow managed to survive (Which was a VERY expensive long run of strict medications daily and still given a poor prognosis) the long-term effects did not give it a good future. At that point a farmer needs to weigh the options, cost, time, humane treatment. The calf was dispatched the most human way possible and handled accordingly.
That is all one can do.
I worked in a Veterinary office for a little over a year and learned a LOT talking to all the different vets while working with them.
What one Dr. told me has stuck with me and it will forever. He explained to me exactly how the Euthanasia shot works on an animal. How it was developed for the owners of the animal, NOT for the animal itself. All because of human emotions and reactions.
Growing up on the farm I was taught the most humane way to dispatch an animal. Going through a hunters’ safety course teaches you this also. The BQA training I went through for the farm taught me this same thing. This Doctor just confirmed it. This, is something I will never forget.
Now, as I watch our elderly Great Dane declining, this all is brought up again.
I love her dearly, she’s been so good for me and she helps me. When I’m not feeling well, she hovers. Well, she used to when she could still jump onto our bed.
I’ve already cried a few times now, knowing that her time is coming. There is no magic pill that will stop her from aging. Does spending thousands of dollars on testing and an extensive vet bill pay off, when she is 10 years old and just nearing her end? How do you put a dollar amount on MAYBE extending a life by a few months, maybe? If that.
Do I wish she would live healthy and happy forever? Of course I do!
But I also am smart enough to be realistic.
Death is inevitable to us all.
So, I do what I’ve grown up doing. I mentally prepare myself in advance for what I know will come. Though, I admit it does get harder as I get older. As I think that happens to most people as they get older. I’ve noticed it a lot in my own father.
I will watch her more closely. I have always talked to her often during my days, when everyone else is gone. (I’m just like that.) Now, extra snuggles & extra treats when it’s just the two of us and I hope she knows she’s loved. ❤
Even though at some point, we will need to let go, and say our goodbyes.
What was your hardest goodbye?
*Hugs*
Come spill the tea with me!