Have you ever wondered if farmers get attached to their animals? Our livestock are different than our pets, but farmers love all the animals in their care.
Do Farmers Get Attached To Animals?
{This post is sponsored by The Glass Barn. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Referral links may be used in this post.}
I recently had to make the difficult decision to euthanize my 19-year-old cat. This cat, Orleans, has been with me through so much – veterinary school, internship, and residency; my Ph.D. research and defense; planning a wedding; more than 8 moves; having a baby; and watching that baby grow up into a toddler who could run almost as fast as the cat! After 19 years, I had lived with Orleans longer than I lived with my parents.
It was a challenging decision.
That’s not really true. I knew what my decision had to be. Orleans had bladder cancer, and the tumor had gotten so big he couldn’t go to the bathroom by himself. He was not having a good life anymore. But I stalled on acting on my decision because I wasn’t ready to let go yet. It was selfish.
It was challenging to act on my decision.
I cried and cried when I finally was able to let him go. Orleans had been by my side and slept on my pillow with me for so long. There’s a big hole in my heart (and an empty space in my bed) where he used to be. This happened two months ago, and I’m still crying as I write this.
Do Farmers Get Attached To Barn Cats?
About a year ago, we lost one of our barn cats to a different kind of cancer. Stripey had been a fantastic barn cat for 10 years. He was great at catching mice and other critters. He would come up to you for some attention but was also perfectly happy to be off in the pastures by himself. I was sad when we had to say goodbye to Stripey, but it was very different than saying goodbye to Orleans.
Why? I had a very different relationship with those two cats.
Orleans was an integral part of my life. He was there when I woke up, he planted himself next to my desk while I worked, he curled up in my lap on the couch, and he slept next to me every night. I loved that cat fiercely.
Stripey was an integral part of the farm. He had a job to do – keep the critter population down – and he did that job well. He was always ready for some praise, but at the end of the day, we went our separate ways.
Does that mean that I loved Stripey less than I loved Orleans? I wouldn’t say that I loved one cat more than another, but that I loved them differently. It’s sort of like the different relationships you might have with your family and your co-workers. You love your family and would do anything to keep them safe and protected. You love your co-workers (well, probably at least some of them) but not in the same way that you love your family. You might think of your co-workers as your “work family,” but unless those friendships are strengthened outside of work hours into a deeper relationship, it just isn’t quite the same as the relationship you have with your family.
It’s the same thing with our farm animals.
Do Farmers Get Attached To Their Livestock?
Our pets have a job to do – they are here to comfort us, to be companions, and to add some joy to our lives. In return, we give our pets:
- A safe and warm place to live – in our house or in our barn
- Quality food to help them grow strong – name-brand cat food purchased from a nearby store or our veterinarian
- Regular veterinary care to keep them healthy – including yearly exams and vaccinations
- Veterinary care to treat their illnesses – for Orleans, daily medicine to control his thyroid hormones and a special food to help his kidneys
Our cows have a job to do, too. The momma cows’ jobs are to raise a healthy calf each year. The calves have an easy job – they just have to grow and play. In return for their “work”, we give the cows and calves:
- A safe and warm place to live – outside in the pastures with shelter under shade trees or inside in their shed
- Quality food to help them grow strong – plenty of grass to eat all day, lots of hay when there isn’t enough grass, and some cracked corn for a treat
- Regular veterinary care to keep them healthy – including yearly exams, vaccines, and fly control
- Veterinary care to treat their illnesses – using antibiotics when we need to
Do we ever get attached? We sure do. Especially if we have a calf that needs a little extra TLC. It’s hard to let a calf go when you’ve raised that calf from day 1 with a bottle 3 times a day. We had a contract and a relationship with that calf. And when he is ready to be weaned from his momma, our contract is done. It’s time to sell him to another farmer where he will start a new contract and a new relationship.
And a few short months later, we will start new contracts with a new group of calves.
Do Farmers Really Love Their Animals?
John and I love our job. We get to take care of these calves for the first 6-8 months of their lives. I think that’s the most fun part! We get to watch the calves be born, learn to stand for the first time, figure out how to nurse and later how to eat solid food. We get to see them play with each other in the pastures all day (favorite games are always “head butt” and “king of the mountain”). We get to watch them grow up to be big and strong 500-plus-pound calves.
But we don’t bring them inside the house. (They would make a giant mess.) We don’t cuddle with them. (They don’t like to cuddle. Most of the time they don’t even like to be touched by people.) We don’t sleep with them in our beds. (They weigh 80 pounds when they are born, and get bigger fast! They take up a lot of room. And did I mention that they don’t like to cuddle?)
So do we love our cows any less than we love our pets? I wouldn’t say we love them any less. We just love them differently.
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[…] things can be said about some cat owners though I suspect this is more marked if pets like these are kept for utilitarian purposes. In […]