HUGE A&P Dilemma, object to dissecting cats, any options?

tommycher · Sep 30, 2004

I was a bit freaked out when I found out we would be doing that also. But, you will find that these cats have been preserved, dead for a long time, and often they are not intact due to previous dissections. You will be able to see certain organs intact, and believe it or not, you will find it to be some of the most valuable learning you will have in the future when you are assessing a patient! Often, in lab people work in groups, not everyone does the actual cutting. Don't sweat it, just know that most nurses are animal lovers, and objecting to this activity will not save that animal, but may help you save a life in the future. Good luck, you will do fine!

Snowee · Sep 30, 2004

Check with your student ombudsman to see if your state or your institution has a way for you to opt out of the dissection. Several states have laws now that if someone has moral/religious/etc reasons for not dissecting, they cannot be forced to do so, cannot be penalized, and must be provided with an alternative method. Please, let's not all go into the pros and cons of legislating this here; perhaps another thread? This poster needs help about her/his specific situation at the moment.

LPNtoRN, I rescue cats. To date, I have rescued 131. I have each one neutered or spayed, then place them in a home. The absolute bonker ones or the really ugly ones (lol) I keep! I have 3 keepers at the moment. So, being a cat maniac, and knowing that many of these cats for lab use are obtained illegally (does anyone recall the big hullabaloo in Maryland 12 years' back, when one supplier was found to be grabbing cats literally from porches?), I say to you, BE CALM, DO THE DISSECTIONS, PRAY. You probably MUST do it. I HOPE you will be at a table with 3 or so others, and perhaps one of them can do the actually cutting and so forth, and you can just look. Not great, but steel yourself and just go forward. Few colleges can afford one cat per student. Don't want to push my view on you, but it helped me to stand there and visualize Jesus standing with me, arm around me, petting the cat. Good luck.

LilRedRN1973 · Sep 30, 2004

We had to do fetal pigs in 9th grade, cats in 11th grade, and then in my college level A&P, we did cadavers. There were quite a few students in high school who did not wish to do the cats. They paired up with those who were eager to do the dissecting and it went fine. They were spared from having to any actual cutting on the kitties. Nobody had a problem with the cadavers but then again, you knew if you enrolled in this particular professor's class that you would be using cadavers and not cats, as in the other college A&P class. That is one reason I chose the professor using humans instead of cats. I felt it was more relevant to the field I was pursuing rather than dissecting a cat all over again.

nursepearl · Sep 30, 2004

We also had cats in our A&P class. I am a HUGE cat lover and have had many cat loves throughout my life. But, i sucked it up and did what i needed to do. Sure its sad...but thats the way things are. Cats are killed everyday and just thrown out....well at least these are being used for our learning. Thats the way i had to think about things in order to get through it.

Good luck to you!

rnmi2004 · Sep 30, 2004

Let me start by saying, I am a cat lover. We have adopted 3 rescued cats; if we had a larger house we'd have more cats. They are spoiled to death.

However, if part of my A&P class had involved dissecting cats, I would have done it. In my HS biology class, we dissected cats. Cats are not euthanized to satisfy a "demand" for anatomy classes. Whether or not I choose to dissect a cat doesn't affect the number of cats put to sleep by a society that doesn't know what else to do about large numbers of unwanted cats.

I once saw on Animal Cops Detroit a house full of cats--the owner was a "collector." I can't remember the exact amount, but there was well over 100. Anyhow, they were obviously not well taken care of and they were all feral. There is no way the Detroit Humane Society would find enough homes for that many wild cats; the worker basically said they all had to be killed. It is very sad that people are irresponsible with their pets.

LydiaGreen · Sep 30, 2004

I once saw on Animal Cops Detroit a house full of cats--the owner was a "collector." I can't remember the exact amount, but there was well over 100. Anyhow, they were obviously not well taken care of and they were all feral. There is no way the Detroit Humane Society would find enough homes for that many wild cats; the worker basically said they all had to be killed. It is very sad that people are irresponsible with their pets.

Saw that episode too and it thoroughly disgusted me. I just kept thinking if only the first two cats had been spayed/neutered, none of that would be happening. Sad but true. I also only adopt the unwanted - only for us it's dogs. We can only ever have two dogs at one time in our municipality but, we always have that two. Even the local pet store (also an agent for the humane society) now has my name as being one of the few people who will adopt older, ill dogs - how she got it, I don't know, but she did :rolleyes:

As to dissecting cats - my vote is "no thank you". I am pretty sure that I have heard about computer simulations for those who object to performing them on a real animal - I would opt for the sim. Yes, I know it is an invaluable learning experience but this can certainly be duplicated by a computer simulation. Could you ask about a computer simulation or other alternative?

imenid37 · Sep 30, 2004

I love cats. I have 6. They are all cats no one else wanted. As previous posters said, try to find an alternative. Also, I know that many people feel animals are just items to be thrown away once they tire of them. You may get very little sympathy from the instructor or other student. It is sad to be dissecting cats but unfortunately, those poor cats are beyond your help. What really burns me up is that the cats are raised (this is what I have heard) for dissection. I'd have less problem w/ people dissecting unwanted animals that had been euthanized by the SPCA after not being adopted. God only knows we have too many poor kitties anyway, it is a crime that someone is raising them for dissection. If anyone out there knows if animals are still obtained in the same way, please post. When I had to disscet a cat, I did it. I hated every second of it. There was no alternative, I was told. This was 20 years ago. Things may have changed. Best of luck.

z's playa · Sep 30, 2004

Strange....I'd rather dissect a cat than a human being :uhoh21: . It'd be nice to avoid it altogethter now wouldn't it.

I'm the proud mom of a 6 year old siamese kitty! As frisky as ever!

fleasle · Sep 30, 2004

Being an animal lover I was appalled to find out that the A&P class I will be starting this spring dissects CATS in their lab. I find this very offensive. I would like to know if anyone has had experience with this and if there is a way to opt out of participating in the mutilation of dead cats and still get through the class?

Before starting my pre-req's, I was told by another nursing student that my college used cats for dissection also. I too am a serious cat lover and found the requirement appalling. After much soul searching, I chose to enroll in A&P and get it over with. Much to my surprise, there are about 4 A&P instructors and only 2 of them dissect cats, the others use cadavers. I was extremely happy to see that the instructor I had chosen was one that used cadavers (dead people are fine, but no dead cats!). My suggestion is to check with your school and see if all of the instructors use cats, and, if so, check to see if you may opt out without destroying your grade.

I know of some virtual "dissection" software that is used in some colleges also. When I had to make my decision, I scoured the internet and found many more suggestions. For example, talk to the dean of the department and see if you can't get the policy changed, get the media involved if they won't consider it, check www.peta.com for arguments you can use, etc. Hopefully, you can find a solution without having to go to extremes.

TexasPoodleMix · Sep 30, 2004

I have 9 cats :) (all former strays/ferals) that I love with all my heart. (one is actually getting surgery done tomorrow on his ear!) We start the cat dissection on 10/16 I believe , and no I am not happy about it at all. Not the actual dissection, but supposedly the cats are BRED to be dissected. THAT is what I find deplorable. On the other hand I feel as though there is nothign I can do about it, it's either dissect the cat or find a new career path I agree with what Snowee says, I am just going to pray for strenght and hope for the best. It will be over soon.

julie978 · Sep 30, 2004

I have three adopted "babies" from the pound...and when I inquired the last time, they said in my *county* alone, we put 30,000 unwanted cats/dogs to sleep a year. 30,000! And a lot of research is still being done on animals ( I am in a nursing research class and diligently pulling articles from the Web). Not to mention meds, like Premarin (which doesn't that come from pregnant mare's urine I think?) Unfortunately, medicine has/and still exploits animals.

Huge ethical issue, but since I am a "hands on" person I feel I could not get the same A/P experience out of a book/computer, I am glad to have had the fetal pig/and cat to work on. I know this may sound funny, but I think they may have saved a few patient's lives or so.