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      Saturday, November 14, 2009


catstuff
08:35 AM - 11/14/2009

The topic: What I dread with an aging population

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is the deathwatch.

You know, when the cats start actually showing signs of age.  DeeJay and Annie were the last cats that I considered old when they passed.  Diseases took others, Handsome, Wally, Lisa, just to mention a few.  They weren’t what I considered “old”, even though, technically, they were.  Seems that anything over eleven or twelve is considered geriatric with cats.

Bart will be eighteen this month. The arthritis is taking its toll on him. And when he takes a tumble or a stumble, it’s takes days or weeks for him to recover.  We’ve got a pain management plan for him, but he’s supposed to take the meds with food.  And his appetite isn’t all that great right now, when he’s hurting, he doesn’t want to eat.  I’ve started giving him deli beef and right now I’m cooking up a chicken breast for him.  To look at him right now, as he is on the futon, you’d never guess he has problems. He looks alert, he’s vocal, he pees (never misses the litterbox, always is able to make it there), he poops.  He responds to affection, so, in spirit, I don’t think he’s ready to go.

But his poor body is just so worn out. 

I started him (again) on the glucosamine and chondroitin.  That takes a couple of weeks to kick in.  I hate that I do this, I give him this stuff to help him, it does, I think ‘he’s okay’ and stop giving the pills.  And then the hurt starts creeping up on him again and one day I look at him and just feel so bad.  This cat is just so full of love and I’m going to miss him like hell when he’s gone. 



I’ve only had one cat in my life (parents’ cat) that we had a “deathwatch” for.  I do not look forward to any more, but I’d rather have the watch then to lose them early in life.  Hugs to you and Bart!

Posted by Lisa @ Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 12:37:42 PM


I sincerely hope that good old Bart surprises the heck out of you and breaks a Guiness Book age record!! smile

Posted by Mary @ Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 4:50:01 PM


I know exactly what you mean.
WHen my Sammy got to 12, I started to anticipate doom.. when he mad it to 14, looking great and being so happy, I relaxed, when he got to 18, CRF, after months of subcutaneous liquid, hand feeding etc….
Well… at 18 years and 6 months, I los my baby.

Part of what helped him a lot was an arthritus injection for dogs and cats, gave him a huge new lease on life….cartrophen….

When he was free from pain, he improved with his eating and his rest, and was just so much better…..you probably alrady know all about it anyway - but just in case….

Here is a link about it:

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=cartrophen+injections&meta;=&aq=1s&oq=cartrofi

Take care!

Kerry

Posted by Kerry Bailey @ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 1:44:13 PM

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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