Two Cats, a Cockatoo and a Question

The question is how much do you love your pets? I heard three stories about pets and their owners recently.

 A friend of ours owns two cats – Singa and Pura. They moved to Dubai 6 months back from Shanghai. Just before the move Singa was diagnosed with diabetes. He had to be kept under observation at a vet hospital for couple of weeks. After a short stint in hospital Singa was united with Pura in Dubai. Just like us humans once diabetes is detected Singa will now need a life long supply of insulin shots. The whole rehabilitation has cost our friend a small fortune.  But none of these matter for Richard because Singa is his family.

We heard this story from a friend – A story of his friend’s cat. Whilst he was away on a vacation, the cat who was left behind at home with a cat-sitter, died.  On hearing the news, he asked the cat to be kept in a vet morgue until he came back from holidays. On his return, he organised a memorial service inviting his friends and family. He wept when he said goodbye with a heavy heart. It felt perfectly natural for him as he was mourning the death of a family member.   

Another of our friend’s friend had a cockatoo. He asked his driver to keep an eye on the pet whilst he was away on vacation. The driver regularly went to feed the bird, but one day he found the cockatoo curled in one corner of the cage. He rushed the bird to the nearest vet. The doctor had a thorough examination and administered a dose of medication. On his way back, the cockatoo died. The driver retold the story to owner on his return.  On hearing the time and money he spent on the bird’s treatment the owner quipped, “I could have bought 6 cockatoos for the amount you spent on treating the dying bird”.

I am reminded of the MasterCard advertisement.

Diabetes treatment for a cat – AED 30,000

Morgue expenses at the vets – AED 17,000

Medication for a dying cockatoo – AED 100

Treating pets like your family – PRICELESS