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I grew up on a farm. We lost a couple sheep. We had at least 3 different dogs over the time I lived there. We had a swarm of cats that came and went. We had

I grew up on a farm. We lost a couple sheep. We had at least 3 different dogs over the time I lived there. We had a swarm of cats that came and went. We had a baby goat that died from tetanus, that was rough to watch. At least most of the chickens that died were because we butchered them. Animals die. It sucks, but way less than a human dying. Maybe life would be easier for vets if their customers had a more temporal view of their animals.

hotnfresh 3y ago
I also grew up “country”, descending from a long line of rednecks. I think growing up around livestock and farm-pets (cats belong in the barn and are basically disposable…) leads to a super-different relationship with animals from what city folk have. Being around, and dealing, a lot more death. Doesn’t hit one as hard as people who didn’t have that experience.
- bsder 3y ago
  > Doesn’t hit one as hard as people who didn’t have that experience. Can't say I agree with that statement--it still hurts hard when animals you've raised for a very long time die. However, I pretty much concur with the rest. Animals are not small people--they are animals. If they are a young animal with good recovery and lots of lifespan ahead, sure, I'll spend money. Broken bones. Natch. Swallowed something stupid. No problem. Got in a fight and need to be put back together? Sure. Once you start talking more advanced things like cancer. It becomes a "maybe". How many good years will that animal have after the treatment? And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money at the end of an animal's natural lifespan. It's only going to make a very marginal improvement in the amount of time you're going to get. And, the animal is likely to be miserable, to boot. Better to spend the last 3 months letting your dog do what it enjoys rather than to have it last 9 months of misery. We are mortal. Pets are mortal. C'est la vie.
  - hotnfresh 3y ago
    Yeah, I didn’t mean to suggest that country-sorts necessarily become totally numb to animal deaths of all kinds, and certainly not that they aren’t bothered by animal suffering, just that their ability to cope with it seems to be far better-developed, generally. There’s a difference of attitudes & culture, and simply having more exposure to animal death probably plays a role. Doesn’t mean they’re not sad when their favorite hound dies, or whatever, or don’t feel bad for a calf caught in barbed wire.
- deleted 3y ago
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hotnfresh 3y ago

I also grew up “country”, descending from a long line of rednecks. I think growing up around livestock and farm-pets (cats belong in the barn and are basically disposable…) leads to a super-different relationship with animals from what city folk have. Being around, and dealing, a lot more death. Doesn’t hit one as hard as people who didn’t have that experience.

bsder 3y ago
> Doesn’t hit one as hard as people who didn’t have that experience. Can't say I agree with that statement--it still hurts hard when animals you've raised for a very long time die. However, I pretty much concur with the rest. Animals are not small people--they are animals. If they are a young animal with good recovery and lots of lifespan ahead, sure, I'll spend money. Broken bones. Natch. Swallowed something stupid. No problem. Got in a fight and need to be put back together? Sure. Once you start talking more advanced things like cancer. It becomes a "maybe". How many good years will that animal have after the treatment? And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money at the end of an animal's natural lifespan. It's only going to make a very marginal improvement in the amount of time you're going to get. And, the animal is likely to be miserable, to boot. Better to spend the last 3 months letting your dog do what it enjoys rather than to have it last 9 months of misery. We are mortal. Pets are mortal. C'est la vie.
- hotnfresh 3y ago
  Yeah, I didn’t mean to suggest that country-sorts necessarily become totally numb to animal deaths of all kinds, and certainly not that they aren’t bothered by animal suffering, just that their ability to cope with it seems to be far better-developed, generally. There’s a difference of attitudes & culture, and simply having more exposure to animal death probably plays a role. Doesn’t mean they’re not sad when their favorite hound dies, or whatever, or don’t feel bad for a calf caught in barbed wire.
deleted 3y ago
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