The wonderful thing, though, is that you DID take care of her. You didn’t abandon her to her troubles as many seem to do (just take a look at the local animal shelters). I think having animals and taking care of them, no matter what, is noble. I really do! And the fact that you are such a compassionate person really helps a lot. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for little Sophie and thoughts and prayers to you and the Missus.

fg: Everything is relative. Coldly and objectively, a pet is “just” one more thing in the household requiring attention. But I’ve found it pretty much impossible NOT to develop a sense of huge responsibility for the animals that have shared our home, no matter how much it upset me at first to have the delicate equilibrium of relationships thrown out of whack.

With Sophie (The Pooch), yes, the tradeoff we came to — we dithered about this for a looong time — was to accept her short-term suffering in place of long-term misery. Which sounds awfully easy, in bare words like that. But it’s really NOT that easy in practice, not psychologically anyhow.

It is so difficult having pets in many ways. I was very reluctant to take on a cat because of the responsibility. “The responsibility!” I hear you cry – “this is nothing, think the pressures of a responsible life saving job, having children, having a partner or other relitive reliant upon you. – fg! A cat is a small responsibility”, you might say.

But it weighed on my mind because though “only a cat” (I adore her but still) I could not bear to see her suffer one bit (she recently did and I flipped out).
So its tricky with all the costs you mention above. I guess the key is, do you think she’s in or will be in pain?

Congrats on your loot!