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The actual process
used (the stripping out of internal tissues and
bones, the "tumble-drying" of the skin)
lacks dignity and appears unsympathetic, but
remember that your cat's spirit (soul, essence,
being) is no longer inside. You may be able to
arrange for cremation of the flesh and bone part
of you companion.
Freeze-Drying
Freeze drying or
desiccation takes approximately 6 months and
slowly desiccates (removes water from) the cat's
body. The cat will be put into the desired pose
before freeze drying starts and some cosmetics are
needed to pink-up the ear flaps, nose and other
areas not covered by fur. This process is similar
to natural mummification. The process is
relatively new and the long term results not
known. The freeze dried cat may have to be sealed
into a glass container as moisture and temperature
fluctuations will cause slowly deterioration of
freeze-dried tissue (as they have to exhumed
mummies).
Cloning
Cloning hit the
headlines recently when Dolly was cloned from an
adult sheep. The possibilities excited cat owners
who desired to duplicate a departed pet. In
cloning, the nucleus of a tissue cell is implanted
into an unfertilized egg and this is grown inside
a surrogate mother cat. The kitten will be
genetically identical to the donor cat. Cloning
reproduces the genes, not any traits developed due
to environment. The clone will look like the
original cat but may have a different personality
and grow into a totally different individual. You
may begin to resent the clone for not being the
cat you remember.
Cloning currently has a very
high failure rate. One problem is that cells have
an internal clock which tells them how old they
are. Your clone kitten may have been born 6 weeks
ago, but all its cells know they are 15 years old.
This causes premature ageing and deterioration and
probably an early death. Some people are banking
tissue samples from their cats waiting for the day
when cloning is perfected and affordable; this may
not be within their own lifetimes.
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