LOL!! She's actually my mom's cat Skittles. I inherited her when mom died. She was a kitten from a litter a very sweet stray cat had in the back yard; my mom tamed her but she's always been a little feral. Skittles is sixteen, but still in amazingly good health.
Cats that old are extra special, methinks. Right now, sleeping on my lap is our oldest cat and she's about 15 years old. She's very sweet, but her kidneys are starting to go as well developing hyperthyroid. So hard to keep her warm and fed, she's always hungry anymore.
I think our oldest cat was around twenty-two or twenty-three when she passed. Squash was such a cranky diva-type, but such a sweetie when she wanted to be. Ah, such are cats!
She's going to have to be put to sleep on Monday, after a lot of soul-searching and weeping. She's senile, and she's been peeing out of the box. For about a year.
The vet and I tried so hard to break her of it, but nothing worked dependably--not medication, extra litterboxes, nothing. It was suggested that I start crating her, but she's so old, and since she's senile, it seems cruel--sort of like heroic measures on an elderly patient who doesn't know what's going on and will never really get better.
She's not grooming herself the way she used to. She's not eating as much. She's started vomiting. The medicines stopped working. She's only going to get worse; the senility won't ever get better. The incontinence is only going to get worse. My house is starting to smell like pee. I'm afraid my other two cats are going to start peeing, too.
I FEEL LIKE A MURDERER. I HATE MYSELF. I FEEL LIKE THERE MUST BE *SOMETHING* ELSE I COULD DO.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-06-18 12:57 am (UTC)Hard to capture on film, eh? Mebbe she is Russian Spy cat?
(to be read in a very bad Russian accent, for effect^.^)
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Date: 2010-06-18 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 07:42 pm (UTC)I think our oldest cat was around twenty-two or twenty-three when she passed. Squash was such a cranky diva-type, but such a sweetie when she wanted to be. Ah, such are cats!
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Date: 2010-06-27 05:03 am (UTC)The vet and I tried so hard to break her of it, but nothing worked dependably--not medication, extra litterboxes, nothing. It was suggested that I start crating her, but she's so old, and since she's senile, it seems cruel--sort of like heroic measures on an elderly patient who doesn't know what's going on and will never really get better.
She's not grooming herself the way she used to. She's not eating as much. She's started vomiting. The medicines stopped working. She's only going to get worse; the senility won't ever get better. The incontinence is only going to get worse. My house is starting to smell like pee. I'm afraid my other two cats are going to start peeing, too.
I FEEL LIKE A MURDERER. I HATE MYSELF. I FEEL LIKE THERE MUST BE *SOMETHING* ELSE I COULD DO.