Reading Stoic_Slaughter's journal

Today had been a sad day for me, as I was feeling a little neglected. I walked outside to talk to my cat, because he seemed as lonely as I. However, upon meeting him, I realized that he was not lonely at all; he had found himself a little rodent friend, and he was beaming with pride that he had, apparently, killed it. Of course I started crying, rushing over to see what he had done to the poor thing. I saw that he had injured it on the neck, and it was bleeding. I ran inside to get a tourniquet, (a small piece of paper towel) seeing if I could save its life. Somehow, I did. It ran away, and I felt better for the moment. I told my mother what happened, and she shrieked with terror. "Why didn't you let it die? Oh Charles, look at this...now we're going to have a mouse running around here." I don't understand. I never kill bugs, rodents, snakes, or anything unless they might harm me in any way. What was that little mouse doing to her? It just wanted to live as we all live. Maybe I'm too stupid for her, but I hate killing anything. It's not fair that I should kill something just because I can, or because I don't like it. I'm not above other living things because I have higher intelligence than them. It's not fair.

For my next trick, I shall make you all disappear.

Awwwwww! That's so sweet!

I've felt that way about things myself. We raised rabbits for food when I was in my early teens. I couldn't kill the rabbits, even for food. And then when they were dead, I couldn't eat them. Got ill. Not sure I could do it now either. If I lived on a farm I'd probably turn vegan.

I think that most humans have an exceedingly difficult time killing another living thing. Your mom is thinking "rats." (My mom says that all the time, but with an entirely different context.) "Horrible rodents." But if she was called to, do you think she could kill the mice? Probably not. Bugs are one thing. Four-leggeds animals are another. They're mentally closer to us as human beings.

I think the answer to "What are they doing to her?" is that unfortunately rats and rodents CAN carry very nasty germs, rabies and viruses. That's a fact of life. It's nice to think them soft and fluffy, but reality tells us another story.

But there's something else to consider. If the cat severely hurt that mouse, you'd be better-off putting it out of suffering.

(And no, you're not stupid.)
(And no, life isn't fair.)

I'll bet that just took 5 years off my life--but GODDAMM if it wasn't worth every second

Before rushing to the aid of the poor victim of a rodent, did you stop to consider the notion that your cat's attack was simply the result of the natural survival instincts of a predatory animal? There was absolutely nothing wrong with the impending death of the rat. It was simply a victim of natural circumstances. Sure, your cat may be domesticated, but that does not mean that it's lost all predatory instincts. We should be glad as humans that we are unable to take such vital characteristics away from the animals that we are already subjecting to life in an artificial environment (i.e. your mother's house). In a natural environment, that rodent would be dead and used as food for the cat. There's nothing wrong with that. Humans have the brain power to sympathize with the pain that your cat's rat was enduring, but that shouldn't lead one interfering with the food chain. I'm just tired of humans playing god. What's more, you reintroduced an injured and possibly dying animal into the wild. Just because you didn't let the cat kill it doesn't mean it didn't suffer an even more painful and prolonged death when you weren't watching. I admire your intentions, but, this being a pseudo-intellectual website, I'm surprised that you weren't more analytical about the situation before you posted this sob story. There should be no tears over spilt milk... or spilt blood in the case of the rat.

Best wishes to your cat.