Pets and Livestock

I grew up on a farm.  But now, being a parent, I realize how much my kids see and learn.  Most of the time, these are great experiences.  But the process of life and death, is a hard one. 

This past week, we had a calf that wasn’t going to make it.  This calf had a lot of issues that neither we nor our vet could help with.  Sometimes, the difficult choice has to be made on whether or not to put them out of their own misery.  On the farm, those decisions have to be made. Wyatt asked a lot of questions about why we had to put him down.  Why we couldn’t just ‘give him a shot’ to make it all better.  That same day, our indoor cat, Sandie, had to go to vet because he was sick.  More questions came. 

Livestock and pets are different on the farm.  They are the same in the aspect that we feed them, we try our best to keep them healthy, we try to keep them comfortable, we try to keep them pain free.  But, our livestock’s lives are meant to be different than our pets.  They are not meant to be long term.  They are not meant to be companions. They are here to feed us.

Simply put, we feel sad when any animal on the farm dies.  As I get older, it seems to hit me harder. I believe it is my kids sadness that I am taking on, too.

Our cat of 8 1/2 years, Sandie, got sick.  We took him to the vet, and unfortunately, the vet couldn’t help him.  He died on his own, and it was no decision of anyone's, but we tried to save him.  The house is now lonely when AJ is out late working and the kids are in bed.  I will miss my Sandie dearly.  Thank you for being a friend.