Talk:Ginshi Shirazu/@comment-148.160.250.14-20151201133148/@comment-10733658-20151201152426

What we've been told about Haru's disease makes it clear that she's suffering in an almost unimaginable fashion.


 * Intense pain
 * Digestive system issues.
 * Confusion and memory alteration.
 * Degradation of the five senses.
 * Regression into a child-like mental state.

From this, we know that Haru has absolutely no quality of life. We also can see that her particular tumor is not compatible with life, because the size and presumable weight would snap her neck without those supports. She cannot eat, and is basically living through various devices keeping her alive. That's pretty horrible.

I think Shirazu's decision is two-fold. One is that he realizes when he's gone, there will be no one anymore. Haru, what little is left of her, will be utterly alone in the world. There will be no one to care for her, to love her or advocate for her best interst. I also think he may have realized that he was keeping her alive partially for himself. That, as is very common in such situations, he simply wasn't willing/ready to accept things and let her go.

With him gone, the last thing keeping her in the world is gone.

I know that End of Life stuff is a pretty tricky subject. People have a lot of different views on it, based on personal experiences and beliefs. I've had my fair share of both pets I've had to face that decision with, and relatives I've seen pass away. Because of that, I'm definitely a Quality over Quantity kind of person.