Janet Wilder wrote:

> Dan Abel wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> blake murphy > wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:37:54 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>>
>>> even so, some people keep their pets too long to assuage guilty feelings
>>> about putting them down.
>>>
>>> it's true, though, that you can't ask them how they feel about it.
>>
>>
>> I think you've put your finger on part of the problem, here. By the
>> time many people need to make a decision, they are no longer capable
>> of making decisions, and sometimes are unable to communicate.
>>
>
> Then they should be able to say so in their durable power of
> attorney/living will. It shouldn't be all about feeding tubes and plugs.
> The person executing the document should be able to define the quality
> of life that they would want to end it on.
>

I have made this abundantly clear to not only my next of kin, but those
further on down the line, should the nearest and dearest show signs of
chickening out.

I would be willing to accept a certain level of diminishment of
capacity, down to, say, the level of your average house cat. No, maybe
I wouldn't be doing any algebra, but if I could feed myself, use the
litterbox (aka toilet), and enjoy lying in the sun, that would be okay
(destroying furniture would be a bonus).

But I don't want to be a potted plant.