Should Cats Be Made To Change Their Moral Compasses?

I would have to say that the vast majority of pet owners truly love their pets and want to do the absolute best by them at every turn. Sometimes constraints of time, or money, or physical limitations may not always allow that. It does not mean their attachment is any less than the person who is able to do everything for their pet.

Some people go as far as to consider their pet as their child, at least emotionally so. Sometimes that is just the level of attachment to which they are comfortable, sometimes they were unable to have children and so the energy that they would have put towards a child is channeled into their pets.
They may assume all human drugs are safe for their dog or cat. They may believe symptoms expressed by their pet are the same as those expressed by humans. There are also those that think the absence of certain symptoms or the lack of severity of certain symptoms means a disease is absent or not significant for their pet. All of these are a natural progression of thought when pets are viewed as humans, but they can lead to all sorts of problems. These are the ones that may be an unwitting detriment to their pet's health.

But there are those whose personification of their pet extends to the assumption that the social mores of human society are recognized and embraced by the four-legged community as well. I am reminded of a particular experience in which this level of personification had a more amusing outcome.

I was working at another clinic years ago when I had a lady bring her cat to me for what she was sure was the end. I had never seen this client or cat before, so I had no previous history to review and no prior contact with this client to understand which level of personification she exhibited.

We'll call her cat Jasmine and pretend the name has been changed to protect the client instead of admitting the author is having a bout of cerebral flatulence and simply can't remember the name. Jasmine had been experiencing some strange behavior, some clinginess, and a progressive abdominal swelling. The owner thought she was either filling up with fluid from some failed organ (as had happened to a family member of hers), or that she had some huge tumor developing (as had happened to another family member). Either way she was sure she was losing Jasmine.
I took one long look at Jasmine and presumed the abdominal swelling was cause by her being pregnant. She seemed to be feeling fine and alert and not at all abnormal other than the size of her belly.
I looked at Jasmine and then at her owner, we'll call her Ms. Carmichael (since Jones and Smith are so incredibly over used as generic names for story-telling purposes), and told her “She looks like she may be pregnant.”  And then the following exchange (or something close to it) ensued:

Ms. Carmichael: “That’s not possible Dr. Martin!”

Me: “So she is spayed then?

Ms. Carmichael: “No she is not, but even though I never intended to breed her I did not feel it was necessary to do the surgery. I felt that if even if I decided not to have children, I would not need that kind of surgery either.”

Me: “Well, on feeling her abdomen I feel distinct masses that feel exactly like kittens by their shape, size and position, so I still believe she is pregnant. We can take some x-rays to get a better idea.”

Ms. Carmichael agreed and after the x-rays were taken, I put them on the view box to show the three unborn kittens in Jasmine’s tummy.

Me: “As you can see there are three kittens visible on the x-rays, so if we let nature run its course, she should be fine and you will have three new kittens to enjoy! After that, if you do not want any more, I would recommend she be spayed.”

Ms. Carmichael: “I still do not understand how this could have happened!”

Me: “Well she very may well have gotten out one time when you were not looking during her heat cycle and got impregnated by a stray cat in the area, and then returned with you none the wiser about her little ‘outing’.”

Ms. Carmichael: “That is not possible either as I know for a fact she has not been outside the house for any reason for over 6 months!”

Me: “So there is no way she could have come in contact with a cat that could have bred her, even possibly a friend’s or relative’s cat that came to visit perhaps?”

Ms. Carmichael: “No I have had no outside cats some to visit me either.”

At this point, before getting ready to be the first veterinarian to write up a confirmed case of an Immaculate Conception kitty, I remembered a little lesson taught me by several clinician’s in vet school, that when getting the history or information, often you have to reword the same question several ways in order to get the information you need. I tried one more approach to solve this mystery.

Me: “So is there no possible way that Jasmine could have come into contact with any other cat and  there are no other cats in your household except Jasmine?”

Ms. Carmichael: “Well, there is only Tommy.”

Me: “And is Tommy neutered?”

Ms. Carmichael: “No he isn’t.”

Me: “Well I think we must have our Daddy!”

To which she replied with the most honest expression of horror: “No Dr. Martin, it couldn’t be Tommy! He’s her BROTHER!”

So I ask again, should cats be made to change their moral compasses? I think Ms. Carmichael would answer a resounding “Yes!”