|
Post by bjd on Feb 4, 2015 20:27:22 GMT
I hope you get some news of your cat, Casi. It must make a huge empty spot in your house after so many years.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Feb 4, 2015 20:55:59 GMT
Lagatta, could Renzo have some sort of infection on top of the renal failure?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2015 14:57:51 GMT
Bjd, it's been about 3 1/2 months since Rosalie's disappearance. We have long given up hope of seeing her again. It has left a huge gap in our household especially after losing Grazie about 6 months prior. We are a one cat, my little Sadie, and one dog family at the moment with no immediate plans to acquire another pet. Although, if a stray were to show up we might be seduced. All 3 of the cats we recently had were strays or foundlings.
Lagatta, I'm hoping Renzo remains comfortable. Frequent urination is quite common in elderly cats as the kidney is usually one of the first organs to become compromised. Rosalie in her later years drank copious amounts of water and used the litter box excessively but never seemed to be in any discomfort. Grazie, on the other hand, began to become incontinent which was a sure sign of his eminent decline.
Please give Renzo a special stroking for me.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Feb 6, 2015 0:17:51 GMT
Renzo isn't at all incontinent or otherwise "confused", though he does have some problems grooming himself, especially just above his tail - stiffness, I think. He loves for me to brush him and keep him clean and looking nice (he's a very dapper little tomcat).
htmb, Renzo had an infected ear - one of his ears is crumpled like a boxer's, no doubt from a fight with a little friend - oh, the cats in the garden are all neutered and not very aggressive, but a claw easily gets stuck in an ear in territorial spats. But I have medication for that, and he responded well.
I'm doing a braise of a free-range turkey leg (the drumstick and thigh, together) tomorrow, and he'll definitely get some of that tasty and digestible meat.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2015 14:52:01 GMT
Just checking in here on how Renzo is doing. Goodness knows he is one of our oldest members, not necessarily chronologically but, a "character" in his own rite.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 2, 2015 4:23:19 GMT
Ohmigosh, Casi. I'm so sorry to read (much belatedly) about Rosalie's disappearance. 24 years is an admirable long life for a kitty. But it's never long enough. And the question marks about her fate must be almost unbearable. Thinking of you and Rosalie.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 2, 2015 4:43:37 GMT
Mr. Kimby's mom lost her beloved kitty recently, at age 16 and in failing health. a vet came to examine him and put him down right there on her breakfast table. This sad event occurred not long after Mr. Kimby's dad was moved to a nursing home because of frequent falls and a general decline in strength. At first MIL was frantic with grief for the kitty and swore she would go crazy if she didn't get another cat right away. But as time passes she may be realizing that there are advantages to not having to care for a pet when you're 90 and "starting to lose your buttons". She is also becoming aware that it might not be fair to the kitty, to be placed with such an old lady. We were worried that she might be heartbroken if she failed the inspection and was denied an adoptable kitty, but the situation may be sorting itself out. Looking forward to getting down there to see them, and try to do as much damage control as we can. But we were afraid we might have to spend most of that time trying to find a kitty... The rest of the story: Mr. Kimby's mom kept going back and forth between "I really really really need to get another kitty" and "I'm too old to have a kitty". When we got to Florida that fall, Mr. Kimby and I actually went to an animal shelter discretely to try to pre-screen a few mature neutered kitties that might work for MiL since she clearly is too old for a kitten. But when we got back to her place, the first words out of her mouth were "I think I'm too old to get another kitty," so we never even mentioned where we'd been. We returned to Montana and life went on. Fast-forward several months and Mr. Kimby's on the phone with his mom and she says something about her kitty! What kitty? Didn't I tell you? I got a kitty! She was pretty fuzzy on the details, but eventually we pieced the story together. One of the elderly residents in the "continuous care community" had to go into the nursing home and needed to find a new home for her kitty, "Pearl", a 6-year old Siamese-tabby cross by her looks. Staff knew that MiL was looking for a kitty, so someone (a family member?) just showed up on her doorstep and asked if she wanted her. Did she ever! This was around April 1st. A week or so later MiL called the cat's former owner to say how happy she was with Pearl. A few days later, the cat's former owner died...perhaps knowing that her kitty was in a good place allowed her to leave this earth in peace.
|
|
|
Post by mossie on Mar 3, 2015 20:12:06 GMT
That is an uplifting story Kimby, I trust your MiL will be able to enjoy her new pet for a lont time to come.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 3, 2015 20:31:21 GMT
She's definitely happier since Pearl arrived. FiL is still in the nursing home, and MiL is still in their "independent living apartment" with Pearl. Almost all of MiL's needs are met - including Meals on Wheels delivered to her door - except she does have to go to the nearby supermarket every few weeks to stock up on cat food and wine, two things she can't get "on-campus". She's still driving, but only 3 miles to the supermarket. And 3 blocks to the nursing home to visit "Dad", bringing his clean laundry back to him.
Pearl seems happy, although with MiLs diminished sense of smell, we suspect she's lax about changing the litter box. And since you can't teach on old dog (MiL) new tricks, we can't convince her to try the clumping "scoopable" type of kitty litter, which is far easier to maintain.
Well see how things are when we visit in May.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2015 23:31:09 GMT
I always thought it was a mistake for my parents not to get another dog, even though it would have certainly outlived them. A new pet would have kept them in better physical and mental health. I would have made sure that they knew that I would make it my personal responsibility to find a good home for the dog when the time came, or even take it myself (or maybe even convince my brother to take it since he and his wife already had three cats, a parrot and two horses -- the parrot has died since then, at about age 35).
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2015 5:11:16 GMT
Thanks Kimby for the belated response. The "mystery" of it still haunts me at times. I did dream about her this past week.
But, your story is indeed a feel good one and thanks for posting it. All too often the posts on here of our furry fiends either being ill or have left us.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Mar 8, 2015 0:38:46 GMT
I love this:
Indeed among the needs, along with coffee... The last complex similar to Kimby's Mil's I've happened to visit had a small grocery, and of course it sold wine (Quebec consumes 65% of the wine drunk in Canada, with 20% of the population. And very little hard liquor).
Pearl sounds very sweet, and as she is part purebred, it might be a bit easier to place her when her human can no longer take care of her. Kimby, if you are driving there or will have a car, please take some scoopable (clumping) litter, as it is so much easier in many ways - removing the little turds and the congealed pee removes almost all odour, and it is physically much easier for an elderly person than dealing with the weight of a tray full of soiled litter.
As for Renzo, even in chronological and biological terms, he is one of our oldest members, as at 19 in the week of the 15th, he'll be about 92 in human terms. I'd say the only sign he has of being a bit "tetched" is that he will cry out for a while in angst, although he has water, has been fed and his box is clean (thank the Powers for clumping litter). For the moment he is otherwise fine, though obviously his days are numbered. Much as I love him, I don't think I should take "heroic measures" if he should fall ill.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2015 1:04:10 GMT
We have tried to get MiL to switch litters, as we LOVE the convenience of the scoop able kind. But she resists.
Re: Renzo's age. We had our Boodles till 20 years and and 5 months, and Casi had her calico, Rosalie, till at least 24 years. Renzo may still have a few lives left!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 12:41:37 GMT
Rosalie was pure BLACK, not a calico, and she had a bit of Siamese in her. Maybe in her next life she will be calico.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Mar 8, 2015 14:05:29 GMT
Renzo is also black and part-Siamese.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 14:09:31 GMT
Renzo is also black and part-Siamese. May account for their longevity Lagatta. As with humans, the genetic make up often accounts for many things including life span.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 17:50:54 GMT
Thinking back on family animals during my life, I realize that none of them ever lived to be old and yet we did take them to the vet when a problem arose. Deaths were swift but luckily administered by the vet -- heart worms, feline anaemia, skin cancer... I am kind of glad that I never had to find a dead pet when I got up in the morning.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2015 20:54:33 GMT
Casi, sorry about mid-remembering your kitty as calico. I wonder whose cat I was thinking of.
Our 20 year old was mostly black, too, though she had a white bib, chin and stockings. ( And REALLY long white whiskers.) Maybe the gene for black conveys longevity as well. In cats anyway.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Mar 8, 2015 21:07:00 GMT
Casi, sorry about mid-remembering your kitty as calico. I wonder whose cat I was thinking of. Our 20 year old was mostly black, too, though she had a white bib, chin and stockings. ( And REALLY long white whiskers.) Maybe the gene for black conveys longevity as well. In cats anyway. Kimby, my old cat was a calico.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 21:27:44 GMT
My cat Grisou was a grey tabby. She often bit me but she absolutely loved my grandmother.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2015 21:34:24 GMT
Did you pull her tail, K2? Maybe you deserved it!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 21:46:35 GMT
Oh, I know I deserved it. I was always tormenting her.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2015 22:09:24 GMT
Boys will be boys!
(And cats will be cats!)
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jun 7, 2016 16:37:33 GMT
Renzo is in another crisis: eating practically nothing (but drinking water), even thinner and complainy. I thought he was going to die, he did perk up a bit and I cuddled him all night, both of us drifting off to sleep. Hard to know. He is now 20 years and 4 months old.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2016 16:47:19 GMT
Sorry to hear it, lagatta. Poor Renzo, but he's happy for the cuddles, I know.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2016 17:04:57 GMT
Lagatta, I'm sure that being with him is the very best soin palliatif that he could have.
|
|
|
Post by deyana on Jun 7, 2016 19:07:00 GMT
My Angel is 10 and a half years old now. She was such a pup when I first started posting on here. How times flies. It's sad to see this once very energetic dog now slowing down and being called a 'senior'
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jun 7, 2016 19:33:08 GMT
Yes, well Renzo has been a senior for ten years. Obviously it is e question of whether to keep up les soins palliatifs or opt for l'aide médicale à mourir. Big issue here...
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jun 7, 2016 19:36:33 GMT
It's never an easy decision, Lagatta, especially when they seem to rally for no discernible reason.
|
|
|
Post by deyana on Jun 7, 2016 23:17:23 GMT
Renzo is in another crisis: eating practically nothing (but drinking water), even thinner and complainy. I thought he was going to die, he did perk up a bit and I cuddled him all night, both of us drifting off to sleep. Hard to know. He is now 20 years and 4 months old. He's had a good life with you, Lagatta. And a very long one. This must be a very difficult time for you. ((hugs)))
|
|