It’s in the news today, that Rebecca Smith a British woman, won a competition to have her pet cloned and she now has Minnie Winnie a clone of her 12 year old dachshund Winnie.
This set me thinking about the cloning of animals and doing a PoC search I found this article Michael wrote a while back, it must have slipped under the radar as it has no comments.
I must have missed it at the time as it’s a very well written article and I’ve found it very interesting. Would you clone your cat? I wouldn’t, for many reasons, the main one being that we have no right to interfere with Nature this way, it’s going too far!
Imagine cloning the very first cat we had in our lives, what about when the clone grew old, would we/could we clone the clone? Each and every cat we have/have had in our home has been/is special and unique and much loved.
I don’t see how a cloned cat can grow to be exactly the same as the cat he/she is cloned from, because they will grow up under different circumstances.
My first extra special soulmate cat was Bert, I was in my twenties, he died when I was in my forties and a very different person to who I was when he came along and different again to who I am in my sixties, because with age we get experience and learn from our mistakes.
If we had cloned our first cat that would have been an already living breathing cat denied a home. For every cat cloned that’s one less home for another cat needing a home.
If cloning became popular and affordable there would be even less homes, more cats than ever would die unwanted.
I imagine cloning has been modified since Dolly the sheep, the first cloned animal, aged very quickly. I shudder to think of the experiments going on in laboratories and the number of cloned animals born in the process, only to die or to be killed as imperfect.
Only rich people will be able to afford to have a pet cloned right now, just as only well off people can afford to buy pedigree pets. Will having a cloned pet become the fashion for so called ‘celebrities’ and a status symbol of their wealth?
Thousands of animals are being killed in Shelters for lack of homes, all breeding of new breeds and cloning of animals should be stopped until that situation is resolved. But that will never happen because in this sad world the human race are never content, they want more, more, more and the animal kingdom are the ones suffering.
As much as I loved all the cats we have had and as much as I love Walter and Jozef I know and accept that one day we will lose them. Life and death of humans and animals are the natural order of this world to keep the numbers balanced.
I’d love Walt and Jo to be here with us forever, but they are irreplaceable, a Walter clone wouldn’t ‘be’ Walter, a Jozef clone wouldn’t ‘be’ Jozef. Each and every cat to me is unique and I think we have no right to clone any animal, they can’t consent to it.
I wouldn’t want another me in this world and like humans, cats are to me individuals, each the one and only, born as Nature intended.
I’m opposed to the of cloning pets. Aside from the problems already mentioned regarding health and the inability to replicate the character of the original,I have great concerns for the welfare of the other animals involved in the procedure. Firstly you need an animal to donate an egg, then another to carry the embryo to term. If that pregnancy doesn’t result in a viable kitten or puppy, how many more time is the procedure repeated until they are successful? What happens to those the rejected babies and all the other animals used? It’s no surprise that South Korea offers the cloning of dogs as a side-line to farming them for the meat trade.
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Personally I wouldn’t do it, but I’ve done a lot of research on genetic memories. If what science is saying is true, the memories of our ancestors are carried in our DNA. This would mean the cloned animal would have the memories of the animal it was cloned from. I’m not sure how easy it would be for the cloned pet to tap into those memories. I believe even if this were the case it would lead to disappointment because you can’t recreate a memory just by wishing it were so. We’ve proven that with humans. Every moment is special, whether it’s with an animal or a human. I did trace much of my family tree using the basis of genetic memory. Strangest experience of my life.
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The consequences of cloning have not been fully thought through and some of them will be unforeseen one of which is the point that you make, namely, memory. I do not know if memory is held within DNA but if it is, how does cloning interfere with this process?
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I think the problems of cloning alone with the health issues would be enough for not attempting this. An animal is influenced by external stimuli so much that you really wouldn’t have the same animal.
I just wait for my cats to be reincarnated. Much more reliable 🙂
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Talking my language, Elisa.
Agreed.
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There is one day in the future that I am dreading more than any other day and that is the day that I have to say Goodbye to my Mikey…until I see him again.
As romantic as people want to make cloning out to be, when you really think about it, your heart just tells you that it’s wrong and pointless.
The incredible relationship that Mikey and I share is built on knowing one another, it’s built on years and years of every days.
It’s the day I discovered he was deaf and all the nights I spent crying into his fur after my sons death.
Its playing hide and seek (his favorite game) and running from him because he actually chases me.
It’s the day that I discovered I would have to store his food in a container because cat food bags are no match for my kitty. I found this out the hard way.
It’s watching him climb that tree for the first time.
It’s the day that we put ramps around my bedroom for him and a platform above my bed for him to lounge on and seeing him jump off that thing on to my bed.
It’s the time he slipped out at 1am and I was outside with a huge flood light searching the woods, crying my eyes out until I saw him next to the canal drinking water. finding him that night was the happiest night of my life..
It’s the way that he says ‘Mama’ and how his little face just gets the cutest expression when he says it.
It’s me trying to sneak out of the house to water the garden while he is asleep because wherever Mommy goes, Mikey goes and if he doesn’t get to go he sits in the window with the sad little Monkey face that I just cannot handle at all …so I sneak.
And it’s built on so many more days than this….the memories, so many memories.
You can clone a body but all of those days that have built this most amazing friendship will not be there because they belong to Mikey and to me and there is just no way to replicate that
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There is a lot to comment on in your comment. One thing that comes to my mind is memories. You refer to the beautiful memories that you have and these will become everything one day when you lose him. And they will be beautiful memories which you will hold in your head for the rest of your life.
I would think that cloning a cat would destroy or damage those memories. The cloned cat would interfere with the memories because in front of you you have a cloned version of your former cat who would be a bit different. This is another aspect as far as I am concerned about cat cloning that makes it disagreeable.
Perhaps the point that I am making is that cloning is unnatural and there are unforeseen consequences which are detrimental. It has not been thought through properly, while at the same time commercialism has been introduced into it.
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Michael, thats what I mean, just as you say. Cloning a cat is is cloning there genetic makeup, who they are and the life they have lived does not get cloned but thats the most important part to me. Having a cat that looked like Mikey but had none of our memories would be just like having a cat that looked like Mikey…thats it. I would never do this. When Mikey goes, he will remain in my heart only.
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It seems we all agree on this and Jennifer is right, we can not clone a soul.
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We cannot clone a soul.
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Nice one. And a subtle comment – and very true. I think your comment highlights the weakness of cloning which is really about hard science and living creatures are not just about hard science-they are very far from that.
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As I was reading the comments I was thinking about posting a comment about the soul of a cloned animal, and then I got to the bottom and saw these posts on the very subject. It’s a bit like a horror film when a lookalike comes along but with dead eyes, so – does a cloned animal have a soul, is it in fact an animal or is it just a replica? Like Michael I find something a bit sinister in it, it makes me shiver a bit at the thought of it.
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The “CLONED” pet will have identical looks of its deceased donour but not the personality or characteristics.I myself am devastated at the recent death of my 22 year old Alexandrine parakeet “Mittoo”, a Internet star. I have got him stuffed and thanks to taxidermy he now sits on a perch in my house. memories of good and bad times we both had together.Even if i had the money i would not go for “CLONING” as i feel it serves no purpose as the pet would be totally different in all characteristics barring looks. Don’t all “Dachshunds” almost look the same ?I ownede a prize winning dachshund “Lucky” and having visited numerous dog shows realized that all “Dachshunds” look identical if true to type and breed standards, barring the different colous, mine was brown unlike “Minnie vWinnie” who is black in colour.No, even i f i had tons of incalculable money i would never clone my present pet cats “Matahari” or “Matata”.
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It may even prove to be a disappointment to the owner because as you say cloning does not reproduce the character or personality but the owner may expect (and want) the dog or cat’s personality to be the same or very similar. It may prove disappointing to the owner to have a cat or dog that is an exact copy physically but is actually different. It may even be unsettling to the owner to experience this.
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that would be terrible michael i could never imagine doing that. i know people want to remember their animals forever but just dont think this is an ideal situiton.
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no way at all. why would u want to to a pefect animal. Leave the animals alone.
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NEVER.THE CLONED CAT MAY FILL UP AN EMPTY PLACE,BUT IT COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF THE FIRST CAT ,BECAUSE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. IF YOU NEED ANOTHER GO TO A SHELTER AND SAVE A LIFE.I THINK YOU WOULD DIS HONOR THE FIRST CAT BY TRYING TO CLONE HIM.HE WOULD LOSE HIS SPECIAL PLACE IN YOUR HEART.
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Heaven knows that I would be thrilled to have my so loved deceased cats back with me.
But, they deserve to have their own place in my heart. There can never be replacements, regardless of the fact that they may have a look-a-like. There could never be a re-creation of them that could fill that space in my heart.
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Great topic Ruth,
I wouldn’t clone our cats for three reasons.
The first and most important, is while the cloned cats may look exactly like the original cats, since they have not been “born” in the same environment they would not have the same personalities even though many of them are based in genetics.
I too would worry about the health of the cloned cats, since they too would inherit the same “health” genes as the original cats and this is not a good thing at all.
The third reason would be that having two cats that look exactly the same physically, it would be extremely hard to not compare them to the original cats, and the cloned kitties would be at risk of perhaps not receiving the identical love I shared with the original cats.
I don’t think cloning is a good idea at all- much for the same reasons that Michael gave. But of course there is that little part of me that wonders… what would it be like?
I think that is only human curiosity. I would never do it- even if it were affordable.
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This is an excellent topic of conversation for those of us in the cat world. I may be a bit old-fashioned and therefore my views may not be in tune with modern life but my instinct is to dislike cloning of companion animals or indeed any animals.
There is something sinister about it and there is something uncomfortable about it. Also, the simple matter is that the most important part of a cat or a dog is the character and as far as I am aware you can’t clone the cat’s character or personality. Personalities develop through experience based upon the inherited characteristics of the individual. So it is a bit of both and therefore you cannot clone it and replicate the exact character of the original cat or dog.
For that reason alone, cloning is a failure in my opinion because a person will love a companion cat or dog primarily because of their character and personality. With a cloned cat you will end up with a cat that looks very similar or identical to the deceased cat but it still will be a different cat.
In addition, as I remember it, certain physical characteristics cannot be cloned and therefore you may also end up with a different cat in respect of appearance never mind personality.
Then there are the issues that Ruth mentions, one of which is that there are already too many cats in the world that are unwanted so why create more because even though a cloned cat is wanted that does prevent an unwanted cat being adopted.
There are other aspects of this with which I disagree one of which is, how healthy are cloned cats? Are there unforeseen health consequences that have been ironed out? Where will it lead to? Is the whole thing too impersonal and too scientific? Does it lack the emotional connection that one makes with a new rescue cat that you have saved from euthanasia? There are many more questions which are as yet unanswered. I don’t like cloning.
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Agreed.
Again, it’s interfering with nature, depriving an already existing pet a home, and the clone is a totally different animal.
All I can reason from the whole thing is that it may be pursued by people, in desperation, in an effort to have their “same” beloved pet that may be old, ill, or have passed. That’s a sad scenerio for me to think about.
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So I understand that a cloned animal is a replica of the original animal but surely an animal is like a person made up not only of the physical body and temperament but also the sum of it’s life experiences, surely for the cloned dog to turn out the same as Winnie she would have to be raised in exactly the same way, same environment same everything and if cloning is merely to have a lookalike animal why bother, there are plenty of beautiful cats and dogs looking for homes. And finally poor Minnie Winnie, destined to be no more than a second attempt at the same dog, not an individual but a carbon copy, a freak in fact, doomed to be gawped at for life. No, even if cloning was cheap as chips I wouldn’t want to do it, it’s a bit creepy really, a bit like Frankenstein’s monster, to me.
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I agree. Cloning is about getting the same “looking” pet, not the same pet. The cloned animal is a whole different ‘person’. ;). The right cat will always find you, and the richness if new relationships is best for all concerned. As you say, you are not the same person you were twenty years, or even six months ago.
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Exactly – I agree. It’s impossible to clone more than the physical.
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