By Barbara
Would you, as a cat caretaker, commit suicide?
In the news this week there has been a story about a desperate woman who could not afford to stay in the house she had lived in for eighteen years, she was only in her early fifties but unable to work through illness and since her son and daughter had moved out and she lived alone it was decided by the powers that be that she was no longer entitled to full help for a three bedroomed house and she was told she would have to find an extra £20 a week rent. This she could not do, as it was she couldn’t afford to feed herself, she had actually told a neighbour that she could no longer afford to live.
This lady had lived a happy family life in the house, a single mother she had brought up her children there, had friends around her and didn’t want to leave her home and garden where the cats she had shared her life with over the years had been buried, neighbours said she used to like to sit in her garden in peace, in the sun, and remember her cats. She also had a cat, Joey, at the time of her death and it’s said that on the morning she died she left him in her house, locked the door and put a note with her keys through a neighbour’s letterbox and then walked to her death on a motorway.
I find this so, so sad and it’s stayed in my mind because I keep thinking how desperate she must have been, to leave her cat, her family and her beloved home, to take her own life, and it made me wonder what other people’s opinions are on taking this way out and more or less abandoning her cat?
Speaking for myself, if I was ever inclined to commit suicide (and I think I would have to be more desperate than I’ve ever been so far in my life to even consider it, and I have had my moments of total despair from time to time) I know I wouldn’t be able to do it if by doing it I was leaving a cat, or a person, worse off for my passing.
So, is it selfish to kill yourself if you have a cat (or dog) totally relying on you for food and shelter, or is it forgivable if you’re desperate enough, or maybe does it comes down to mental health where the poor soul was incapable of behaving rationally and so couldn’t see any other way out?
I’m pleased you agree because there is a stigma to suicide and there should not be.
A lot of people commit suicide by dressing it up as an accident to avoid the stigma.
I totally agree Michael it takes a hell of a lot of guts when I hear of a suicide I always wonder what was in that persons mind to make them end their life if the death was a slow one what was going through their mind its just so sad 🙁
Thanks, Marc. She lives with her parents. Our only worry is that she might marry the jerk. My cousin is brilliant, beautiful and could be with anyone. She lacks confidence, I think. That’s why she is still living with her parents. She trained as a medical death examiner, but with no local openings she will need to move to another state, probably, to get a job. I think she probably lacks a sense of smell, as I do, making her a good candidate for that field. We share a love of studying anatomy and languages– she is nearly fluent in Spanish. She could do so much more than live with her parents and hang out with a guy who belittles her closest friends and relatives. There are so many people in this world who will just kill your spirit. It’s a wonder there aren’t more suicides. It’s starting to be a trend in this country for kids who have been bullied at school to attempt suicide. Some of them succeed. Not once have I read of any of their bullies expressing remorse or guilt.
Ruth – sorry you know I forgot to mention something important which is that in England it’s called the other way round: Public School means an expensive boarding school and I have no idea why that is. It’s strange and doesn’t make sense. Perhaps there’s a historical reason for it.
That boyfriend of your cousin sounds like a pretty seriously prejudice kind of guy. I’m sure there are plenty who come from english boarding schools with similar attitudes and who don’t even realise it. It would be easy for them to remain in that same bubble their whole life. It really is a thing to think about – if these people allow their prejudices to come out in their jobs. If he’s a nurse I sure wouldn’t want him to be taking care of me. You are right that it is somehow so opposing what his job stands for to have a character like a huge snob. I hope your cousin is ok though.
There is one point about suicide that I think is rarely if ever mentioned. It takes guts and courage to do it.
Sure, if you are desperate that makes it easier but you have to overcome the survival instinct.
I don’t think people who take their own lives are cowards. It is more the opposite.
Oops, I meant toad being eaten by a snake. I must still have frogs on my brain. The next day I went to that little pond it was frog mating season and nature gave me an entirely different show, which no one had a problem with my sharing it. But snakes needing to eat is as much natural as frogs getting it on. I don’t think we can find anything evil in nature, even though the world is not what it would have been without human sin and no animal was created to die. From the minds and hearts of humans come all kinds of evil.