I am faced with a horrible situation. Tomorrow at 8am I am supposed to take my cat to the clinic to get her spayed. When I first adopted a cat I intended to get her "fixed" (even though she's not broken). But after interacting with her extensively and forming a bond with her. I've began to really question the morality of taking away another living beings right to reproduce. I also began to really question whether or not I had a wild animal living in my home. She went through her first estrus cycle last month, she was calling a lot and was more affection than normal. She was (IMO) not suitable as a long term pet. The constant calling was slightly annoying and I could tell she didn't want to be a pet either, she wanted out. She wanted to interact with other cats.
Humans are capable of believing any wacky idea. The Mayans used to sacrifice people because they believed the gods needed it for life to continue, in Salem they used to burn innocent women and accuse them of being witches, in parts of Africa there is a belief that if you have sex with an innocent child you will pass on the HIV virus and be cured forever, the list goes on... But basically my point is; people are STUPID. The problem with wacky beliefs is that when you are a member of the society that has those beliefs, you are incapable of seeing how wacky they are.
Our relationship with cats has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. The first spay and neuter clinic opened in Los Angeles in 1969. Prior to that humans rarely "fixed" their cats. Flea and tick medicine was also not as readily available and so our relationship with cats was different. We respected each other and had a mutually beneficial relationship but we were still separate. Considering that our relationship with cats dates back thousands of years, this very new phase in our relationship with the animal seems off to me. Because it takes a long time for an animal to evolve. And cats are not evolved for their current relationship with humans.
My next question is this. How many of the arguments that we make in our justification for how we treat cats are based on a common human error of mistaking a correlation with a cause. Here are a few examples;
1) When cats live as "feral" animals they live short and tough lives. This is why we need to domesticate them.
- My counter-argument for this is that ALL wild animals live short and tough lives. But they fight to survive and they still manage to reproduce. Look at the lives of wild Lions for example; only about 1 in 8 wild male Lions survive to adulthood. They are constantly battling for every meal they get and sometimes unfortunately that meal just doesn't come. I'm sure they also have their fair share of parasites as well. Why don't we start domesticating Lions too? I'll tell you why, because they are too big and would chomp our faces off. I am convinced that my domestic cat would chomp my face off too if she was big enough.
2) By spaying and neutering cats you are greatly reducing their chances of reproductive cancer.
- This seems like a desperate argument to me. I can make this argument about any body part. For example; if you cut out someones jaw it will reduce their chance of getting jaw cancer. The question is; what is the opportunity cost? Humans can't place a value on the opportunity cost because we are incapable of understanding life as experienced by a cat. Motherhood could very well be one of the most important, enjoyable, and proud moments a cat ever experiences. It might be so rewarding that it is worth a life of hardship and struggle. The easiest life does not equal the best life.
3) Million of cats are euthanized each year because people don't spay and neuter their cats.
- No, millions of cats are euthanized each year because people euthanize millions of cats each year. One female cat can give birth to 180 kittens during her lifetime. They are "induced ovulators" with a 50% chance of getting pregnant each time they have sex. One male tomcat can impregnate thousands of females per year. So basically where there is sufficient food there will be cats. There will always be a tomcat out there to pick up the slack and fill the niche.
Please keep in mind. I might be biased because I live in a tropical rainforest and the wild cats here do pretty good for themselves compared to cats that live in cities.
Please have an open mind and let me know your thoughts. I still haven't decided if I will show up tomorrow. One side of me wants to release her into the jungle and let her live wild. The other side doesn't want to because I feel like by babying her I've prevented her from learning how to survive on her own. I basically feel like I fucked up by adopting a cat that was born in the wild from wild parents.
Humans are capable of believing any wacky idea. The Mayans used to sacrifice people because they believed the gods needed it for life to continue, in Salem they used to burn innocent women and accuse them of being witches, in parts of Africa there is a belief that if you have sex with an innocent child you will pass on the HIV virus and be cured forever, the list goes on... But basically my point is; people are STUPID. The problem with wacky beliefs is that when you are a member of the society that has those beliefs, you are incapable of seeing how wacky they are.
Our relationship with cats has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. The first spay and neuter clinic opened in Los Angeles in 1969. Prior to that humans rarely "fixed" their cats. Flea and tick medicine was also not as readily available and so our relationship with cats was different. We respected each other and had a mutually beneficial relationship but we were still separate. Considering that our relationship with cats dates back thousands of years, this very new phase in our relationship with the animal seems off to me. Because it takes a long time for an animal to evolve. And cats are not evolved for their current relationship with humans.
My next question is this. How many of the arguments that we make in our justification for how we treat cats are based on a common human error of mistaking a correlation with a cause. Here are a few examples;
1) When cats live as "feral" animals they live short and tough lives. This is why we need to domesticate them.
- My counter-argument for this is that ALL wild animals live short and tough lives. But they fight to survive and they still manage to reproduce. Look at the lives of wild Lions for example; only about 1 in 8 wild male Lions survive to adulthood. They are constantly battling for every meal they get and sometimes unfortunately that meal just doesn't come. I'm sure they also have their fair share of parasites as well. Why don't we start domesticating Lions too? I'll tell you why, because they are too big and would chomp our faces off. I am convinced that my domestic cat would chomp my face off too if she was big enough.
2) By spaying and neutering cats you are greatly reducing their chances of reproductive cancer.
- This seems like a desperate argument to me. I can make this argument about any body part. For example; if you cut out someones jaw it will reduce their chance of getting jaw cancer. The question is; what is the opportunity cost? Humans can't place a value on the opportunity cost because we are incapable of understanding life as experienced by a cat. Motherhood could very well be one of the most important, enjoyable, and proud moments a cat ever experiences. It might be so rewarding that it is worth a life of hardship and struggle. The easiest life does not equal the best life.
3) Million of cats are euthanized each year because people don't spay and neuter their cats.
- No, millions of cats are euthanized each year because people euthanize millions of cats each year. One female cat can give birth to 180 kittens during her lifetime. They are "induced ovulators" with a 50% chance of getting pregnant each time they have sex. One male tomcat can impregnate thousands of females per year. So basically where there is sufficient food there will be cats. There will always be a tomcat out there to pick up the slack and fill the niche.
Please keep in mind. I might be biased because I live in a tropical rainforest and the wild cats here do pretty good for themselves compared to cats that live in cities.
Please have an open mind and let me know your thoughts. I still haven't decided if I will show up tomorrow. One side of me wants to release her into the jungle and let her live wild. The other side doesn't want to because I feel like by babying her I've prevented her from learning how to survive on her own. I basically feel like I fucked up by adopting a cat that was born in the wild from wild parents.
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