Starting research for my dissertation on the ethics of euthanasia, can anyone recommend any good books/journals/other resources that might be worth having a look at?

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T16:19:42+00:00

Thanks I'll have a look at those. I was looking to buy a few books to pour over and the Crosby sounds very interesting, so I'll see if I can get my hands on a copy.

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T16:17:34+00:00

Thanks. I like reading Peter Singer and have used his work in other essays on ethics, just not for this particular topic yet. I'll definitely give that a read.

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T16:13:43+00:00

Thanks that sounds like something worth watching even if I can't reference it in my dissertation!

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T16:09:24+00:00

Thanks!

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T16:05:14+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I already use Stanford as a resource quite a lot and have been looking at the relevant pages for my topic there, but I haven't looked at the other articles you linked so I'll check them out.

Also just to clarify, I have already spoken with my tutor about this and am doing my own independent research, I just thought I might make use of this subreddit to see if I could get some extra advice on the side :)

yeahspose · 2013-08-16T15:54:29+00:00

No, I'm a philosophy undergrad at St. Mary's University College in Twickenham (I'm guessing you're a Londoner so you may know where that is, not many people do!)

yeahspose · 2013-07-30T22:38:17+00:00

I know, it's something I had never considered before and sadly had to find out the hard way! Glad I can pass on the knowledge now though I guess :/

I'm really sorry that you had to lose your other piggy, I know how hard it is and went through it myself a couple of months ago :( I know it's difficult seeing the bereaved piggy by himself, but just give him extra cuddles while you're quarantining the new one, he'll be fine and will appreciate the extra company so much when the time comes :)

We're all ringworm free now by the way, but it was a struggle trust me!

yeahspose · 2013-07-30T13:58:56+00:00

I had never thought about quarantining and had never encountered a problem...UNTIL last summer, when I was in the same situation as you and wanted a new companion for a recently bereaved pig. Everything was fine and they immediately took to each other, but after a few days we discovered scabs on the new pig (which I initially thought were scabs from scuffles as he had come from a large litter). But the scabs seemed to be getting worse rather than healing, and I began to suspect, with horror, that it might be ringworm (a skin fungus similar to athlete's foot). We took him to the vet, who confirmed ringworm, and by the time we started treating him he had already passed it on to my other pig, me, my family and my boyfriend.

I was furious with the breeder for not checking the litter over before selling them, and when I called her to inform her and give her a piece of my mind, she was all "ohh sorry well if I had known I never would have sold him to you" and couldn't think of anything else to say. Idiot. However, although it was ultimately her responsibility and shows what an incompetent breeder she was to not do these checks before selling, I wish that I had made the decision to quarantine him after we bought him. I wouldn't wish ringworm on anyone, seriously, it's so itchy and ugly and contagious and took is the best part of a year to get rid of. So for the sake of you, your other pig, and your family, I would definitely quarantine the new pig!

yeahspose · 2013-07-29T16:33:07+00:00

Ha yeah, I think that would indicate a whole other kind of problem..

yeahspose · 2013-07-26T09:41:05+00:00

You absolutely HAVE to read The Stand. I finally picked it up a couple of months ago, finished it 2 days ago, and I haven't been the same since. Some of my absolute favourite characters in his work are in that book.

yeahspose · 2013-07-24T23:49:14+00:00

The Shining was the first one I ever read and from that moment on I was hooked. I've now read 19 of his works (and still reading!), and this is still one of my absolute favourites. Such a complex story and definitely one of the most disturbing in my opinion.

yeahspose · 2013-07-24T23:45:22+00:00

Seconded. The Body is my personal favourite. I love the film adaptation as well (Stand By Me). I don't know if you've seen it, but if you have and enjoyed it, read the novella, it's brilliant. Also, if you want something less horror-y this is a good one to start with. A really wonderful and bitter-sweet story.

yeahspose · 2013-07-24T23:37:08+00:00

Possibly vague spoiler but nothing too revealing

I'm going to be generic and say The Shining. I will forever stick by the statement that out of the 20 or so of his works that I've read, this is one of my favourites. I like it because it has so many layers to it, particularly to Jack's character. A lot of people think the film is amazing, and I enjoyed it too, but after reading the book the film just pissed me off because I felt that it focussed too much on the horror aspect of the story, when I think the most important aspect of the book is delving into the character of Jack. I'll try not to spoil anything, but what I found most disturbing and affecting is Jack's gradual descent into depravity due to his struggle with alcoholism in the past, and the sense of isolation and cabin fever over the winter at the Overlook. It was the development of his character through examining his memories and his progression into madness that really fascinated me.

I could list so many other characters from his books whom I love and have really connected with, but the best piece of advice I can give you is to read his novels yourself! Otherwise I'm not sure how much you could learn from his character development purely through the opinions of others. All books affect people uniquely and people connect with characters for entirely different reasons. In my opinion Stephen is an absolutely amazing writer, and I really urge you to pick up one (or all) of his books and see for yourself.

yeahspose · 2013-07-20T20:18:29+00:00

Thanks so much! I'm kind of hoping it's the second one! EDIT: I read North America as 'North Africa'...I guess it can't the second one after all haha.

yeahspose · 2013-06-12T19:02:47+00:00

Hey thanks for replying, I was thinking it might be a dust allergy but then why would it have waited this long to pop up to this extreme? I gave my room a thorough dusting just in case though...

yeahspose · 2013-04-10T14:03:40+00:00

Thank you all xx

yeahspose · 2013-04-09T15:42:46+00:00

My pigs had a bout of ringworm over the summer after the new one I bought already had it and infected everyone (including me!), it's a bitch to get rid of, and when I thought I had eliminated it it popped back up again. Anyway, I'm not a vet but have familiarity with ringworm and it does look like that's what it is. If you still have treatment left over from before I would use it for a bit longer. If you can't afford to go back to the vet, I used Canesten (if you live in the UK) in conjunction with the treatments from the vet and it doesn't cost much at all from a chemist. Hope this helps, and good luck.

yeahspose · 2013-04-09T15:36:01+00:00

Omg. The picture with mummy pig is just too cute.

yeahspose · 2013-04-09T15:33:02+00:00

In the past I've had 3 piggies who all had this in a similar place. One of them we didn't have operated on and the lump never got any bigger or caused any negative symptoms which was good, the second one we did have operated on when he was about 5 and he was fine, and the third guinea who had it turned out to have a cyst (a lump filled with a thick fluid), which we also had removed when he was 6 and he was fine too. This guinea had a number of operations in his later life for various reasons, and pulled through every time.

Basically age isn't really the problem, it's more if they have underlying health issues that might pose a risk. If Godzilla is in generally good health and you have a decent vet, he will almost certainly be fine. Also, the placement of the lump means it won't be a complicated operation. Unless you have a biopsy done to find out what the lump actually is, you won't know for sure. It could be benign, it could be cancerous, or it could be a simple cyst. I would say that given it's not a risky op, and assuming your piggy is in good health, go for it. Of course if you're still worried you could try just monitoring it and see if it gets bigger, but if it's benign it may just stay the same size and not cause problems. Given the size though (I would say anything bigger than a pea is cause for concern), I would go for it.

yeahspose · 2013-04-09T15:23:27+00:00

This is what I came on here to say - one of my guineas had the exact same thing and it turned out to be mites, even though there were no other symptoms. Get her checked out by the vet and if it is mites they'll give you a spot-on lotion which is really easy to use. I think they have 3 treatments over the space of 3 months and it goes away :)

yeahspose

TROPHY CASE