A personal decision that my boyfriend and I just made was deciding
whether or not to get our cat neutered. We just adopted two kitties,
a girl named Luna and a boy named Gaara. The issue is that they both
are not fixed. When deciding what to do, our desicion making
process was very similar to the five step one referenced in our
textbook.
First, "identify the problem and uncertainties" (Datar, 2018). The
problem was that both of the cats were not fixed, which means that
the female cat could become pregnant. We definitely did not want
this. An uncertainty was would they even try to mate?
Second, "obtain information" (Datar, 2018). We began looking into
what our options were, and obviously we could either get the male
neutered or the female spayed. Other options would be to give one
of the cats away or to just let them coexist and see what happens.
My boyfriend and I further researched and found that neutering was
cheaper than spaying a cat.
Third, "make predictions about the future" (Datar, 2018). Really,
there were only two options. Get the surgery to prevent them from
not only getting pregnant but also keep them from spaying, or don't
get the surgery and probably end up with a litter of kittens in the
future.
Fourth, "make decisions by choosing among alternatives" (Datar,
2018). We chose that it would be best for our cats if we got the boy
neutered, which would be cheaper for us and prevent any unwanted
pregnancies.
Fifth "implement the decision, evaluate performance, and learn"
(Datar, 2018). Our boy, Gaara, just went in and had a successful
surgery today so we will have to see how he heals and how the cats
behave towards each other in the future.
The opportunity cost is that the money we are putting towards
getting the cat neutered could be put to other needs of theirs, such
as food and litter, or to the needs my boyfriend and mine's needs,
such as rent. An opportunity cost was also not making money at my
job because I had to leave work in order to take him to the vet.
I think that the qualitative and quantitative factors both played an
important part in this decision. The quantitative factors were the
money we spent, the miles we drove, the time we used, etc. The
qualitative factors were risk of pregnancy, how it would affect the
cat's behavior, etc. We took both of these kinds of factors into
account when making this decision. If a qualitative factor has
changed, such as one of our cats being infertile, that would have
changed our decision. If a quantitative factor had changed, such as
the surgery becoming much more expensive, that might have also
changed our decision.
References
Datar, S. M., & Rajan, M. V. (2018). Horngren's cost accounting: A
managerial emphasis, global edition, 16/E 12. PEARSON EDUCATION
LIMITED.
