Caring for our senior cats
As our pets age, they become a bit "crunchy", as my vet recently said it. It made me smile, but also made me sad. Our orange cat, Simba, is almost 15 and has certainly become a bit crunchy. We got him as a kitten and it's hard to believe that so many years and memories have passed! We almost lost him in the beginning of September because he was very ill. The vet suggested euthanasia, but we decided to take our chances and treat him for roundworms. Two months later and he is much better, but I know that he will never be the young cat he was even 1 year ago. It's hard to accept and there have been many tears. Every day is a bonus and sometimes the grieving process starts before we say goodbye.
Like us, our cats change their personalities through the years. They go through their playful phase and into their more mature and quirky phases. Later in life, our cats sometimes become a bit more grumpy and way less tolerant, peeing in the weirdest places (It is my experience that this is a way for them to tell us they are not feeling well). They may howl for no apparent reason until hindsight shows us what the problem was in HD. Bring on the guilt and there's plenty of that to go around with a senior cat. We lose sight of the fact that we have given them a life of longevity and bliss. Let's face it, 15 is old for a cat and in cat years that is around 90 years old. What are we feeling like at 90?
Another thing to think about is quality of life. I recently heard a friend say that she felt guilty for putting her 19 year old cat down. I understand that icky feeling all too well. As pet owners, we are their caretakers to the end. This is a huge responsibility and burden to our hearts. We are forced to rise above our own needs and focus on what they require from us. Most of the time that decision is clouded by "what ifs" and we freeze.
Knowing the right time to say goodbye is never easy and there is almost always doubt. If we slow down and listen to our intuition (in an ideal world), we can make better decisions and be more present for our senior pets. We can always spoil them and make them comfortable in their last months and maybe even use some of that PTO to spend some quality time and make new memories!