Would you freeze-dry your beloved Maine Coon cat on her passing?

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I have just written an article about the ethics of freeze-drying a companion animal on their passing. I decided, correctly or incorrectly, that it is a self-indulgent, human-centric process designed to bypass the grieving and mourning process which is far more natural, necessary and decent. I think freeze-drying pets is unethical and an example of speciesism.

RELATED: The ETHICS of pet freeze-drying.

This woman did not have a Maine Coon but she describes the process. She fully believes in it and has not considered the ethics of it as far as I can tell.

I am certain that almost a hundred percent of Maine Coon owners love their cat. When you buy a Maine Coon cat you invest your money in an animal companion. A lot of money. And maintenance is higher than normal. You need plenty of love to deliver it.

On their passing (which would be normally be a little earlier than the death of a non-purebred cat) it's going to be very painful. I don't think there is a more emotionally painful process then watching your cat companion die which can be quite a slow process incidentally and then having to deal with their loss as they go over the Rainbow Bridge.

And that's why, rarely, but becoming more common, pet owners can't allow themselves to go through that painful process of grieving and mourning. They arrest it by preserving their cat with freeze-drying.

The process removes all the moisture from the animal which stops it decaying after death. The people who provide this service say that the body will last indefinitely but I am not so sure. I think that you will find that high temperature and high humidity will decay a freeze-dried pet's body.

But let's say they last a long time. Especially if you care for the body through regulating the environment in terms of temperature and humidity.

But the ethics of the process are dubious. It is all about doing what you want to do to please you and to avoid the pain of losing your pet. This is totally understandable. Of course, I accept it. But I think it is far better if a person who owns a Maine Coon cat allows themself to feel the pain of their loss, pass through the mourning and grieving process and come out of the other side a better person and with beautiful memories of their beloved Maine Coon cat.

That is the natural process. That is the order of things. That is how nature designed things to happen. The best way to preserve a beloved pet is in the human mind is a beautiful memory which can be jogged with nice photographs. Memory is perpetual.



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