On the one hand, it was very disrespectful for the OP's friend to compare the death of his cat to her brother, since that turned death into a competition. On the other, human life is not worth more than an animal's. Sure, we've got those good ol' opposable thumbs and know how to build cute little buildings and such, but we're still not that much better than animals. We kill others of our own kind because we disagree on who God is, or because they angered us politically and "pose a threat to our nation." We also, as a majority, don't respect other animals. Just 'cause we're smarter doesn't mean we're better. How much the death of a creature impacts someone should be based solely on how much that creature meant to the person, not on their species.

listen, i love animals. i have two cats and a dog, and i donate to the SPCA every month. if any of my pets died, i would be very sad. but comparing that to a human dying? comparing that to my sister dying, or my dad dying? that's ****** up. people are people and animals are animals. you need to get your priorities straight. human lives are not comparable to animal lives. and if you truly believe they are, then start having a relationship with your dog and explain to everyone "No, it's the same as a person, you see!"

Losing a pet is a sad and horrible thing to have to go through. Its basically losing a member of the family if they are loved very much. But everyone equating losing a cat to losing a sibling. Most of you probably dont have any brother or sisters so you have no idea what its like and sound extremely ignorant and down right crazy when you say things like that. And if you do have a brother or sister than that is just ****** up. I dont know what kind of ****** up relationship you have with your siblings but if you think losing your cat is the same thing as losing your sibling I just don't know what to tell you. Especially a younger sibling, someone your generally supposed to be looking out for.

I'm sorry for your loss. That's terrible. But your friend probably felt awkward and didn't know how to respond to that.

sorry for your loss :(

Losing a cat could actually suck even more than losing a brother, especially if the former happened to be your best and/or only friend. Try being empathetic rather than taking it as an offense; there's really no sane reason for doing the latter. At least he tried. You're not the only one that can get hurt, you know.

ok...some of you people have some SERIOUS issues if you think that losing a cat is the same, if not a greater, loss as an actual person. you can't replace a person, but you can replace a cat. sorry for your loss OP!

You need to be respectful too, who are you to judge whose death is more important? Maybe that cat was their best or only friend. You don't have the right to think your brother's death is more important because you haven't experienced the kind of love your friend has with their cat.

/: People can be so very annoying. I had a dog that died in a house fire 6 months ago. I had her for some time and loved her. Also, I know someone that had a cat for 21 years and was crushed when he died last year, although when her brother died she just didn't really care. It depends on the person, and I suppose whether or not they loved who ever died. I would not care if any of my family died, but I haven't even been able to get a puppy after mine died. So, who knows?

Listen, you PETA dumbasses: 'That is almost as bad as when I lost my cat last spring term.' The key phrase here is 'almost as bad.' Death of cat > Death of brother. And you're bitching at OP because she isn't being sensitive enough?