#cw animal euthanasia

[happinessisntfun]

sad rowan posting hours

discussion of animal euthanasia below the cut

My horse is on her last legs (pun intended) and her arthritis has progressed into her hips and back, instead of just her hocks (knees). I was going to wait until September, but she's declining pretty rapidly. I think I'm comfortable waiting two or three more weeks, but no further.

I'm almost.... regretting not putting her down in June. No, I am regretting it. I was selfish and wanted more time with her. I'm putting her down before it starts getting cold.

She's had one last good summer, and I'm going to feed her an apple every day for however long she has left.

I'll give her a bath next weekend and get folks to come say goodbye. It's her time. I'm absolutely devastated and I'll probably spend the next three weeks crying, but she's had such a lovely life. Her barn is a dream and she's been happy with me since I bought her. She's a spoiled brat and I'll miss her so much, but she won't be in pain anymore.

So hey, if anyone who reads this does horse art, hit me up. I'm already planning a tattoo of my horrible girl and I want to get some art for a friend as well.

[markscherz]

The specimens in your video, are they killed to be preserved or do they die of natural causes before preservation?

As with all natural history collections, the vast majority of specimens in the Natural History Museum of Denmark (where I am the Curator of Herpetology) were euthanised to be preserved and kept in these libraries of biological knowledge, where they are curated and maintained for research purposes for centuries to come. We have one of the oldest collections in the world; some of our specimens are over 300 years old.

With amphibians in particular, we almost never find them dead in the wild, unless they've been run over by vehicles or have died of some disease in large masses, because their soft bodies decay extremely quickly. Even in captivity, a vertebrate that dies of 'natural' causes usually is almost always in a pretty grim condition either leading up to the death, or by the time it is found. These make for very bad specimens. With reptiles, you can do a little better, but not much. So, even though we have lots of animals from Copenhagen Zoo that died in captivity and put in the freezer soon afterwards, these are mostly in poor condition. Also, because they are not representative of wild animals (dietary and environmental differences), and lack information on their locality of origin, they are poor animals for research purposes, and mostly are avoided by researchers wanting to study e.g. natural variation in a species. However, they are still very valuable specimens, especially when they are the only specimens of a species that we have.

[shitty-f1-imagines]

this one is kinda sad sorry :/

[spaghetticat3899]

FYI, on a serious note/update, I might be more/less active over the next… however long. Penny, my cat, might not be around by the end of tomorrow, and it’s gonna make me extremely upset.

I’ve had her and Boogs since they were kittens, I’ve had 16 years of them within my sapient life, and I cannot imagine her absence. She’s been unwell the last month or two, and I was hoping she was gonna come back from it, but she’s the worst I’ve ever seen her today; she can’t even eat. My mother even hinting that we might have to let her go opened the floodgates, and I haven’t been this emotional and stressed in a long while, not like this anyway.

I love you, Penny, and I hope you know that, even if I can’t tell you. I love your meow, your sweetness, your cuddles, your pretty eyes and fur, and I love you for all the memories we had together. To some you might just be a cat, but you were my best friend, my family, and I can’t imagine my world without you there. Thank you.

[kantocamping]

💀 -tell me of loss

I think I mentioned it, but I lost a spearow a few years ago. She was pretty old and had heart issues; ended up needing to put her down, because her quality of life was impossible to bring up. She was a sweet bird, and I had her for ~15 years. Traded a magikarp for her at a festival. I still miss her, honestly.

[overlyactivepingpongball]

said goodbye to my girl Kia on tuesday, stayed with her to the end and made sure she was comfortable while she went to sleep, gonna miss her

[ragefear]

what a way to end 2024. Jesus Fucking Christ

[sexlapis]

- halloween cats? (flufftober 2023)

❀ : toji fushiguro x reader

ᨳ  ࣪ . synopsis : on the eve of halloween, you unexpectedly bring home two cats. toji is not too pleased.

. cw : s4w, short fic, fluff, lowkey crack fic, mentions of animal euthanasia, toji & reader are married, reader loves cats, toji swearing, petnames (‘kid’), _____= your name

ᨳ  ࣪ . wc : 1.1k

.. a/n : first fanfic after seven months of no writing! please enjoy <3

masterlists

*

“…what the hell is even that?”

you’re soaked by the time you step into the house, the rain had seeped through your (very poorly chosen) coat and you had forgotten your umbrella. face and hair sprinkled with droplets, nose red and clothes drenched, a multitude of shopping bags hanging from your arms. you were a mess.

but all of that is not what toji is referring to.

in both of your hands you carry a pet carrier. you didn’t mean for it to happen. it was a free day for you so you decided to make the most of it. first it was clothes shopping, then trying out new pastries in cafés, purchasing a bouquet of orange and black flowers for the vase at home, getting spooky-themed nails and more of the sort.

you believed you were done for the day, but on your way back home you spotted a sign saying, ‘Cat Adoption Here! Give a Cat a Loving Home!’ and being the cat lover you are, resisting was futile.

so there you were, standing in your home facing your bewildered husband, holding a pair of old, bonded cats.

“uhhh. they’re…toy cats.” you lie. “it’s a new thing for young adults toji,” slipping off your shoes, you rush past him, placing the pet carriers on the floor softly and plopping your shopping bags on the kitchen counter, “you wouldn’t understand.” you sniff the kitchen, smelling something sweet and homey. “oooh, what are you baking-”

“don’t bullshit me, _____.” toji chides and followed you to the kitchen. “i heard a ‘meow’ in there-”

“ok, i got a cat!…s.”

“…”

you sigh. “i…i got two cats.”

toji groans. “_____-”

“you don’t understand!” you exclaimed. “i had to! i know i should’ve spoken to you first but i did it to save them! they are both the sweetest cats i have ever met and they’re bonded and those people were going to kill them because they were old!”

“what?” questions toji. “_____, why would they kill the cats?”

“…well, they told me they’d euthanise them since nobody wanted them..that’s animal murder and that’s illegal last time i checked.”

“and that’s “killing” to you?”

“well if somebody euthanised me without asking is that not murder?”

toji doesn’t say anything and just stares at you.

that’s a win in your eyes. “exactly.”

you hear a whiny meow from one of the carriers. “oh my god, we must’ve scared them with our shouting.”

“i wasn’t shouting..”

but you pay him no mind as you lay on the floor and open the little door to the pet carrier.

“tt-tt-tt-ps-ps-ps, hi little kitty.”

the black, one-eyed cat, named ‘stitches’, lets out the cutest, high-pitched meow as she slowly walks out of the carrier. stitches looks around the new area she is in for a few seconds before walking up to you and nuzzling your hand. your heart almost bursts.

“awww!! you are sososo sweet!” you coo, scratching in between her ears and stroking her smooth, shiny fur. stitches purrs, seemingly already happy to be here. “toji look at her! isn’t she adorable? her name is stitches. because of her eye and stuff.”

toji blankly stares down at you and the cat from where he is standing. stitches looks up at him and blinks slowly before leaving you and walking up to him. she stands for a second before reaching up and puts her paws on toji’s tree trunk of a leg and meows.

“aw, toji, she likes you!” you cry out. “we definitely have to keep them now.”

toji huffs and gently waggles stitches off of his leg. “none of that, cat.”

stitches isn’t one to take no for an answer, proven when she decides to jump and climb up toji’s body all the way to his shoulders.

you cackle as toji jumps at the cats sudden movements, shoulders hunched in shock and confusion. “hey! what the hell!”

“oh, yeah, we are so keeping them.”

you quickly open the door of the other pet carrier, ignoring toji’s struggles of trying to remove the cat from his body. it was funny to see big, intimidating toji stumbling all over the place, being taken down by a cute, tiny senior cat.

“kid, you sure this is an old cat? seems pretty fucking athletic to me.” he grunts as he tries to pry stitches’ claws out of his flanneled shirt, arms contorting to reach behind his shoulders.

“mhm, i’m sure toji.” you reply, picking up the other cat, an orange male named ‘teddy’ and holding him in your arms. “this one is a boy cat. his name is teddy and he likes to be held like this.”

“uh-huh.” toji says, finally getting stitches off his body and placing her on the ground. “thanks for the help, kid.”

“you’re welcome.” you’re barely paying attention to him, gently rocking the fluffy orange cat in your arms, baby talking to him and making soft noises. teddy the cat lets out a gentle meow.

he draws his attention to you, hair ruffled from his recent battle. “okay why don’t you have a shower and change? you're drenched.” toji pats your dumb wet head.

you had forgotten about that. “alright, yeah.” you put teddy on the floor and jog towards the stairs, leaving wet footprints in your path. “keep an eye on them, toji!”

“yeah, yeah.” he waves dismissively.

toji turns back to the cats and sighs, hands on his hips. the two felines look up at him expectantly. “now what am i going to do with you two, huh?”

stitches walks up to him and reaches her paws onto toji’s trouser leg.

“ah-ah, no, no, no. bad cat! bad-”

stitches is already climbing his leg again and finds her way to his shoulder, rubbing her cheek against his temple and purring.

“ah goddammit.” toji exhales, crouching down and attempting to shake stitches off once again.

toji looks at teddy, who is staring at him quietly. “wanna help me out here orange cat?”

“…mrrp.”

*

finished with your long, hot shower, feeling warm and cosy, you go downstairs to see how toji is doing with the cats (not before having one of the cookies toji had baked though).

“toji?” you call, walking through the hallway to the living room and the sight that greets you tugs at your heartstrings.

there toji lays on the sofa, asleep, snoring, with teddy sleeping on his chest and stitches nestled at his side on his arm, also asleep.

“aw, toji..” you snap a quick picture for memories sake and save it to your favourites. underneath all that hard, domineering exterior of his, toji at heart is just a big softy.

toji seems to sense your presence and he slowly blinking awake. he groans and looks up to see you standing above him. he rubs his eyes.

“so we can keep them?”

toji rolls his eyes, huffing and puffing, looking at your pleading eyes. he doesn’t even remember why it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep them. who is he to deny you of anything? “sure why not?”

you smile, teeth and all, and kiss him on the forehead, careful not to disturb the cats. “thankyoutoji!”

the cats are purring and you’re all giddy and joyful. toji can tolerate these cats since they make you so happy.

[rulesforthedance]

sick animal cw, pet death cw (no one is dead yet)

Ronin took a turn for the worse this evening. I was able to get him comfortable and he's gone to sleep for the night, but I'm calling his vet first thing in the morning to see if they can get him in for euthanasia. Can't help feeling like I've failed him. Like maybe if I'd asked more questions the first time he had a "that's a little weird, but it's probably nothing" ultrasound, we could have caught the tumor soon enough to take it out. Like I wasted this beautiful creature and the opportunity I had with him. You don't have to reassure me that this isn't the case (it won't make me feel any different). I'm really really sad.

[yupuffin]

Hiya Yu!! I hope you're having a wonderful and safe day today! I'm here with questions for Quay!

[33] What are one of their fondest and most treasured memories?

[49] Do they possess any unexpected skill or knowledge that surprises others, and otherwise, what is something anyone would assume they know or can do, but in fact they don’t?

[59] What would they want to be remembered for?

[14] What does it take to make them laugh, and what does their laugh sound like?

Hey, Nimo! O: As I'm writing this, today has indeed been wonderful and safe! Thank you for the well wishes, and same to you!

[14] What does it take to make them laugh, and what does their laugh sound like?

Quay is the quiet type who doesn't laugh much, so I definitely dug through the fics and stuff I've written for him so far to isolate when it does happen. 🤣 Unsurprisingly, Mortefi is the primary culprit so far; Quay tends to laugh when Mortefi either deadpans or gives some form of spontaneous physical affection. I also think Quay would be a sympathetic laugher, because in one of his voice-overs I have him referring to Aalto's cheerful disposition and claiming that "it's hard not to laugh along." (Although this would be heavily dependent on him trusting the other person and feeling comfortable enough around them to express himself.) Quay's standard laugh isn't loud, though -- usually it's just a brief chuckle under his breath that you can probably only really hear if you're standing close enough to have a conversation with him.

[33] What are one of their fondest and most treasured memories?

Seeing his first nudibranch on a tidepooling trip during his studies is definitely up there. I haven't worked out exactly which parallels between my time in school and Quay's I want to keep, but that one is almost certainly one of them. 😆

As for events during the canon timeline, you could easily make a case for a lot of the things he does with Mortefi, although narrowing those down to specific instances would be considerably harder, for obvious reasons. 😛

[49] Do they possess any unexpected skill or knowledge that surprises others, and otherwise, what is something anyone would assume they know or can do, but in fact they don’t?

Oho, so, the thing about Quay is he basically needs to be walking around with a "cw: animal death: sign floating above his head at all times. He's got a meek personality, but he does work primarily with dead animals, and doesn't shy away from them in the slightest (not like he shies away from casual conversation), so that gives his character a fair bit of incongruity. From his research background, Quay definitely knows how to perform a cervical dislocation, which is a euthanasia technique for small animals like mice and rats. As the name suggests, it involves, after anesthetizing the animal to knock it unconscious, breaking the spine at the point just below the skull, which kills it quickly and painlessly. Apparently this knowledge makes me sound like a serial killer, and I'm sure people would think the same of Quay. 🤣

Quay's baking skills would probably count as unexpected knowledge, too. I mean, how many STEM majors do you look at and go "yeah, that guy definitely knows how to whip a solid meringue" 😆

Definitely going to have to think of something for the "unexpected thing he doesn't know how to do" because I'm sure I've made a reference or two to something like that so far, but I can't think of what specifically it would be... I will update everyone when something comes up 🤣

[59] What would they want to be remembered for?

I honestly doubt Quay has thought this far ahead, since he's very much a live-in-the-moment sort of person, but he definitely doesn't dislike the idea of being remembered for being a pleasant person to be around (once you get to know him, anyway). Realistically I think he would also enjoy being remembered as either 'the dead bird guy' or the guy who spontaneously materializes at all of the best tidepools in Jinzhou. 🤣

-

And of course, thanks for the ask! \o\

[thepringlesofblood]

not as fun, but i cannot resist an opportunity to infodump about snakes:

this "stargazing" behavior can be caused by a Lot of different things.

vitamin deficiencies (specifically B1)

a variety of diseases and infections, such as IBD

head trauma/traumatic injury

inbreeding or a genetic defect (like with spider ball pythons)

environmental issues like the temperature or humidity being too high or low, e.g. respiratory infections from improper humidity

exposure to something toxic, like a pesticide

if it's a permanent issue (which it usually isn't), survival depends mostly on the snake's ability to a. move around its environment safely and b. eat consistently and be able to process food.

(if you go to 4:06 in this video, you can see an example of "star-gazing" in a snake with a kinked spine. cw: animal death and humane euthanasia are discussed thoroughly)

listen, PSA to all good omens fans. i’ve seen this “fun fact” going around that snakes can’t see stars, to use for crowley angst purposes. this is not true, there’s nothing preventing them from seeing stars. snakes in general don’t have great vision, since it’s not their primary sense, but snakes are physically able to look up and see stars, albeit blurrily. HOWEVER a true fun fact is that snakes will often do a behavior called “stargazing” which is a symptom of underlying sickness, often neurological, when they act wobbly/tilt backwards and stare straight up. i think this has even more angst potential and is actually true, do with that what you will ((:

[souji-upseta]

CW: animal death

i'm still forming my thoughts, but i just wanted to give the update that, as i'd feared would happen, splitzø's condition very suddenly and very severely declined overnight, practically a 180°. there was no hope and her suffering was absolutely horrific.

got her to the emergency vet as quickly as i could for euthanasia, and death gave this beautiful, sassy, feisty little duck peace.

and peace is splitzø's least favorite thing, and she will loudly and vocally oppose peace at any point it might threaten to encroach on her surroundings. she was SO talkative. so much energy. she was the most chaotic bowling pin you'd ever meet.

i'm gonna miss this chaos birb.

i'm not rly ok tbh, and that's all that needs to be said on the matter and all i can say bc im fucking exhausted, but keep us all in your thoughts, if you can. especially her poor flockmates, fuck...

please just go tell your pets you love them, if nothing else.

Fly high, Splitzø.

5/8/23–4/14/24

[nicholasloathery]

Instinctive. Cw: death, disturbing imagery, dog metaphor..?

Ive been told before to follow my gut

It proves a bit harder when no ones told me where it is

Ive felt my fate deepen in my lungs

Ive followed scents with the intent of progress

A jittery sensation that takes over my limbs

But my stomach feels left behind

Ive been told before i jump in too easily

I wonder which part of me falls in first

They must think i lead with my feet to my desires

But if anything my head will hit the pavement if i fail

I haven’t yet failed so theres no way to know

They seem so sure that i will

Their guts seem different from mine

Ive been told before i love to exaggerate

I dont really love it, otherwise theyd hear more

They only view it as love because before they never listened

People only like their own entertainment

Their hearts feel different from mine

But who am i to say im the outlier?

Everyone thinks theyre the outlier.

Ive been told before to follow my gut

I feel like a dog dry heaving over dead grass

My proof of pain wont hurt anything else

I make sure theres no evidence but at what cost?

I feel as though my guts not right

Not that im wrong but its been almost flipped

Not that it hurts too much, but i think i am dying

I think i shouldve died long ago

Ive been told before that no one knows when they die

That a fantasy land like that breeds anxiety

That i really should try medication or box breathing instead

That instincts should be left to animals.

If youve seen a dog die from a twisted stomach, id assume it sinks like a stone

Watching them go from fine to on the floor

Watching flies crawl before the medics get there

Ive never seen a dog die from anything but euthanasia, premeditated by people who know whats best

Premeditated by people who know about death

Premeditated and you cry because the dog doesnt know

Ive never seen a dog die from a twisted stomach.

Im not quite sure where a stomach even is

Mine sometimes feels like its flipped over strange

Like i should be dead already

Mine sometimes feels like i should listen to it

But they assure me im imaginative

How could someone ever know that.

[ingydar-phan]

(Small vent cw - animal death mention cw)

It’s so fucking hard and sad seeing cute Instagram reels of cats, ESPECIALLY baby kittens, when my cat is about to die. Especially because he’s not even dead yet. Hes not dead yet, he still eats and drinks and pees and poops and accepts affection. But he’s also skinny to the bone and has no interest in indulging his brother in playing. My dad keeps telling me we need to schedule a euthanasia date and i know it’s more humane to do it while he’s still on an okay note but i just want him around as long as he can bear. My baby. Those little kittens are how my baby used to be

[burn-the-white-flag]

Goodbye Bella

CW: pet death, assisted euthanasia, disability

Leading into Bella's assisted euthanasia, I found myself leaning on the Dog Heaven narrative in order to preserve a little bit of plausible deniability about what was going to happen. Death is often talked about in metaphors and euphonism-s, like or "went to a better place" or "is no longer with us". It does feel gentler to say that instead of attacking the issue head on; "Bella is going to die" and then "Bella has died". I found myself doing that too, before we took him to the animal hospital this morning to be painlessly and instantaneously put to "sleep" with medication by my sister's friend and Bella's vet, Cassie.

The process was grisly, in a quiet way. My parents and I held him as he braced against the needle being inserted into the catheter. The first injection was a test, the second was the anesthesia, and the third was a neon pink substance like Sudafed. After the anesthesia, Bella gradually went limp as his heart pumped the numbness throughout his body. After the third injection, his heart stopped.

Even after Cassie confirmed his heart had stopped, my mom continued to pet his limp body and tell him he was a good boy. The main emotion I felt was shock over how quickly it had all happened; the time between the first injection and Cassie's confirmation had only been a few minutes. The second emotion I felt as I watched my mom was disgust. The body in front of us was no longer Bella. There was no light in his eyes, no stinky breath, no reaction to us petting his neck (which he had strongly disliked). The life that was Bella was gone forever.

I don't believe our souls persist let alone move on to heaven, and now that Bella has died I feel it would do a disservice to pretend that I believe that for the sake of being "gentle" about what happened. Towards the end of his seventeen and a half years of life, much of it was suffering. Consciousness may not always be the ideal to strive for.

For the last year or so, Bella had nearly complete vision and hearing loss. As I spent this past week with him, we would take him out to our snowy front yard because he was too weak to actually go on a walk. After he peed, I would wait a bit to see if he wanted to poop (one time I accidentally brought him in too early and then he pooped in the living room). He would also wait for me to pick him up -- if he waited long enough, he would communicate to me that he wanted to go back inside by barking. I would often get distracted by something and he would have to bark a few times before I lifted him out of the snow.

Even then I was haunted by the scene; a small dog standing in a field of powdery snow surrounded by tiny paw prints, blind and deaf and only able to feel the cold through his paws, flexing the necessary muscles to bark in the way that he had once learned to do, waiting for someone to pick him up and take him back home. What if the afterlife is like that? Pitch black, silent and cold; we shout into the void, unable to hear ourselves, waiting for someone to hear us, and no one ever does? What is my soul without my eyes to see, my ears to hear, my mouth to speak, my hands to write?

I would rather my soul and my mind return to the Earth along with my body. Broken down into bits, incorporated back into a world that keeps living and moving. Perhaps my desire to think of my soul, my mind, and my body as unified is borne out of my able-ism, and I'm sure there a seriously disabled person would have a very different take on afterlife and the soul's relationship with the body.

I'm waxing drivel. I'm thankful to Bella for all the years that he spent with me and my family. He was a good dog.

[mcrmadness]

I absolutely hate it when I see videos online where it's an animal that is old and/or sick, and people just find it cute or make fun of it. I just saw a video on Instagram of a 18-year-old cat who was quite thin with tangled hair and the cat was definitely limping, indiciating it might have problems with its back or leg joints.

What did the people in the comments do? Keep saying the cat is so cute, or laughing about how it's definitely been hiding all those years (it was the poster's grandma's cat whom they hadn't seen ever despite visiting their grandma every year, which alone is already very alarming). Only a few people were asking why does the cat's hair look like that, and some said it's because older cats are not able to take care of their fur as properly anymore, someone said cats do that to their fur if they're in pain, and someone else pointed out they might want to take the cat to a vet because it looks a lot like a symptoms of an illness, and someone else dared to reply to that comment by saying the cat is fine. Someone, who has nothing to do with the cat or the person posting it.

CW under the cut for me talking about animal euthanasia and symptoms of old, sick animals etc.

Meanwhile I sit here like. "This cat is clearly not healthy and would probably be better to put it down." I know it's a controversial take, but one of the most important aspects of pet owning is to know when it's time to let go. There's no point in trying to keep them alive if every day is filled with pain despite medications. Especially since cats are animals that WILL hide their pain and I have seen it too many times with our previous cats that they will start showing symptoms when it's already too late. It's also not a fun feeling to see a cat suddenly crawling on the floor because it cannot walk anymore, and all you can do is quickly take it to the vet for an emergency euhanasia because the cat's body has already given up anymore and it's not coming back even with medical help anymore. It just won't.

This cat in the said video looked exactly like our 17-year-old cat whom we decided to put down before it was too late. He had already been on medication for hyperthyroidism (which was also the illness someone else suggested in the comments for this video) for a few years, he had a daily pain medication because of his back and osteoarthitis. He had been losing weight and his fur looked messy and dirty, tho one of our other cats kept taking care of him and sometimes he tried to do that himself too. What was the final was when he started to puke so often and he puked more often than what the food stayed in, and he was starting to make some horrific noises when doing so, and I just told my family that this does not look good and I think we should take him to a vet asap and let him go because this is not a cat's life anymore. I wanted him to go while he was still himself and didn't want to see him also lose his ability to walk like the two cats before him. And my family agreed, and tho it was tough seeing him with so bright eyes at the vet, I still definitely rather remember that than if he had turned into a cat who's not willing to give up despite the body already dying.

Seeing videos of really old pets always irks me because often it's people going "LOOK HOW OLD THIS ANIMAL IS" and not caring about whether the animal looks healthy or free of pain. I have nothing against old animals as long as they still can live a life the species deserves and if the life is painless. Our late dog was also on several medications and it was the vet who told us that we were now at the point where the medications did not take away the pain anymore and it'd have been more humane to put her down, and so we decided to do that since she would have not gotten any better. I had also been watching old videos before that and it hit me that this dog we had back then was nothing like the old dog, and that she was no longer herself and she was clearly not doing well anymore despite all the medications.

Another pet peeve of mine is when people online keep posting videos of sick animals, or animals with disorders. I don't remember the name, but for example that disorder on cats that makes them walk funnily because it's something to do with their balance or something. And how romanticized that is. Or the cats with super short legs who can't even jump. I always think that these cats cannot live a normal cat's life so is that life worth living? I mean, if they seem fine, then sure, but if it looks like they struggle with normal things or have pain due to the disorder, is it really a cat's life then? I know mutations happen and cats like this are born every now and then and there's nothing we can do about it, but what I'm against is the glorification of such disorders and mutations and people breeding more animals that have those just because human being will find them "cute". Videos like these might also make clueless people want animals like these without them understading what it means. It's not just a cute cat but it might be adopting a cat with serious special needs - and again this is not cute. Other animals cannot really tell us whether they want to life like this because all animals have so strong survivial instinct of course they will choose life over death even if in the nature they would not survive. With a human being they can, but I don't think it's good to encourage breeding and glorifying animals with illnesses, disorders and mutations (unless it's something that does not affect the animal's state of life in any way, such as most colour mutations) because animals are not objects. They are living things with emotions and feelings.