U.S. Politics

My 16-year-old cat has early-stage kidney disease. He's the best pet I've ever had. We've had 12 unforgettable years with him, but I'm not ready.

My wife picked him when we were in college together. We went to an adoption event to get a canine companion for our separation-anxiety-riddled dog and came home with a cat instead. I still don't know how I allowed it to happen. I had an extreme aversion to cats at the time. Now I'm a cat person and can't see myself going back.

I joke with my wife that God brought her into my life specifically to introduce me to that cat.
Damien said:
I think people are just lonely and too scared (or any number of other emotions) to talk to the people that know them.
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Yep. Despite sharing great spaces like this with you wonderful people, the internet is an isolating place. I think people feel more alone now than ever before.

My MIL gives off that therapeutic aura. You can't leave the house with her without someone giving her their life story. I seem to have the opposite effect on people, somehow. I never get that. Maybe I stink or I'm fuck ugly.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
My 16-year-old cat has early-stage kidney disease. He's the best pet I've ever had. We've had 12 unforgettable years with him, but I'm not ready.

My wife picked him when we were in college together. We went to an adoption event to get a canine companion for our separation-anxiety-riddled dog and came home with a cat instead. I still don't know how I allowed it to happen. I had an extreme aversion to cats at the time. Now I'm a cat person and can't see myself going back.

I joke with my wife that God brought her into my life specifically to introduce me to that cat.

Yep. Despite sharing great spaces like this with you wonderful people, the internet is an isolating place. I think people feel more alone now than ever before.

My MIL gives off that therapeutic aura. You can't leave the house with her without someone giving her their life story. I seem to have the opposite effect on people, somehow. I never get that. Maybe I stink or I'm fuck ugly.
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If it makes you feel better, my cat growing up was diagnosed with the same probably around the same age, maybe even younger, and lived to 21. Kidney disease seems to move slow with cats and most seem to end up with it if they live deep into their teens. She even refused the special food after a couple of years and still kept on.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
My 16-year-old cat has early-stage kidney disease. He's the best pet I've ever had. We've had 12 unforgettable years with him, but I'm not ready.
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We have four cats now (fluctuate between 3-5 or so). Several years ago we lost -my- cat. Had him since he was a kitten, and he was 13 when we lost him to complications from diabetes. We didn't even know he had diabetes until he almost died at about 12 and it cost me about 20k to get that last year with him. Wouldn't trade that time for double that amount of money. I still wasn't ready when we lost him (to be fair, he was in pretty good health once we got his condition sorted out).

Still miss him almost 4 years later.
 
Kidney disease was the cause of death for our third cat, the one we gave subcutaneous fluids to. I am terrified of needles and I learned how to administer the fluids for her. I never want to go through that again but it was worth it.

(She lived with it for like 6 years but only needed the fluids at the end, and they extended her life so much and she was pretty happy and loving the whole time despite hating the process as much as we did.)
 
docsilence said:
Kidney disease was the cause of death for our third cat, the one we gave subcutaneous fluids to. I am terrified of needles and I learned how to administer the fluids for her. I never want to go through that again but it was worth it.

(She lived with it for like 6 years but only needed the fluids at the end, and they extended her life so much and she was pretty happy and loving the whole time despite hating the process as much as we did.)
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Yeah, we had to do twice daily prick tests and injections on Loki. It only took him maybe a month to get used to it, and the change in his health was practically immediate. Until literally the day he died, you wouldn't have even known he was sick at all. My wife still gets on to me about blaming myself for his death, because we're pretty sure stress spiked his levels and actually killed him, and that was entirely my fault.
 
So so sorry to hear, TSI. Like others have said, it's far from a death sentence anymore- every one of those little stinkers is so different. I've also had a couple friends whose kitties have gotten kidney disease, and darn it if they didn't continue to live a long time. Just keep on loving him like there's nothing different, as hard as that may be. I think I read, supposedly Japan has come up with, or is close to coming up with, a cure for feline kidney disease and are planning to roll it out in the next year or so. Pricing and ethics aside, it's certainly something I hope works.

My little guy has had some allergy issues lately and I went to the pet store to get him some special food as advised by his vet. I asked the employee for help, and she asked how old he is, and when I told her, she said "Oh, you should look in the senior section, then." You could probably hear my heart drop through my feet. He just turned 9, but really only started coming out of his shell a couple years ago, and still acts so kitten-ish in so many ways, so in no way do I look at him as a senior cat. Apparently, the real aging scale is a bit off from what she said, so he's not considered a senior just yet, but still; that thought of our furry friends getting old just doesn't compute.

Wishing you and yours all the best, TSI. "Sick" or not, he's still your best lil friend, and nothing's gonna change that!


Oh, and I feel ya'll on the "people talk to me" thing. I've always been the go-to for people who know me, whether as a therapist, a mediator, what have you. Strangers have also come up to me and told me their life stories, either at places I work or just on the subway, what have you. I always get stopped and asked if I work at whatever place I'm at, regardless of what I'm wearing; people have said it's because I "look kind" or "look like I know what I'm doing". Which is lovely, because half the time I have zero idea what I'm doing. I always love helping people with their problems if I can and feeling of use; I certainly prefer it over focusing on my own issues, but to anyone else like that- don't forget to take time for yourself and your own mental health too! It can be very taxing over time.
 
joshsquash729 said:
Apparently, the real aging scale is a bit off from what she said, so he's not considered a senior just yet, but still;
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It does depend on what they're aging the cat -for-. Like, 10 is senior. But if you're getting an 8-year-old female cat fixed, they will treat her as a senior cat in terms of how they handle her treatment, just to be on the safe side. Indoor cats also tend to be treated as senior, in terms of the type of food they should be eating, at a younger age than outdoor cats, if I understand correctly.
 
Chooch555 said:
Dear lord, are we actually a group of empathetic, caring people masquerading as toy geeks?
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Not I. I refuse to give up my very clear position as a cold, uncaring alpha male. Feelings and toys are for beta nerds, of which I very clearly am not. Trucks. Boobs. Fishing and beer. Bald eagles and flames. Uhhhh....am I doing this right?

Damien said:
It does depend on what they're aging the cat -for-. Like, 10 is senior. But if you're getting an 8-year-old female cat fixed, they will treat her as a senior cat in terms of how they handle her treatment, just to be on the safe side. Indoor cats also tend to be treated as senior, in terms of the type of food they should be eating, at a younger age than outdoor cats, if I understand correctly.
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Shhhhh. My little guy is a teeny beany little kitten and will always remain as such. He's so eensy-weensy, you'll have a hard time seeing him without a microscope. He'll simply never achieve senior status because he doesn't age.

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joshsquash729 said:
Shhhhh. My little guy is a teeny beany little kitten and will always remain as such. He's so eensy-weensy, you'll have a hard time seeing him without a microscope. He'll simply never achieve senior status because he doesn't age.
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One of our cats is VERY small. She's 8, but she's smaller than the cat we just got was when he was less than 1. My son and I drive my wife crazy constantly saying she's just a widdle baby girl and the tiniest sweetest kitten ever. She is, let me be clear, not those things. She's attached to me and my son, but to anyone else she's kind of a mean, old cranky cat. So every time my wife is like 'the hellbeast just screamed at me until I fed her' we'll be like 'that's because she was sooo hungry because she's a growing little tiny kitten baby and you are a terrible shrew that tried to starve the tiniest kitty muffin!'

This cat will cause my divorce.
 
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