Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Happy Valentine's Day -- people suck!
rectumdamnnearkilledem
My mother in law has a similar "problem." She wanted to keep this one but he kept kicking her other cat's asses all over the house so he has to be an only cat. We can't have another pet until he kicks the bucket. I'm not sure how old he is so that might be a while.
Cats can live a very long time. Our Lola is 18 and her biggest issue is an overactive thyroid, which requires daily medication (yay for Pill Pockets!). She was sick with something this Fall and we didn't think she'd see her Halloween birthday. Then she suddenly perked back up right around the time we were going to make the call to the vet. Our next 2 oldest cats are pushing 14 and 15, but still in very good health, so I don't foresee them going anywhere soon. Youngest cat is pushing 5 and is the "fittest" of any cat we've had that age. If he continues in this vein I'd not be at all surprised for him to live beyond 20.
The earliest we've lost a cat was our Gus. He had a stroke or some other neurological seizure kind of thing when he was only 11. That's pretty young for a cat to pass. I think the average life expectancy is more like 14, though I think included in that average are cats that go outdoors, which generally shortens their life by a good deal.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Sorry girl. That's the saddest thing. So sorry! People do suck!!! ((((( hugs ))))) from one cat lover to another.
- Anya
not bad for mile 25
Cats can live a very long time. Our Lola is 18 and her biggest issue is an overactive thyroid, which requires daily medication (yay for Pill Pockets!). She was sick with something this Fall and we didn't think she'd see her Halloween birthday. Then she suddenly perked back up right around the time we were going to make the call to the vet. Our next 2 oldest cats are pushing 14 and 15, but still in very good health, so I don't foresee them going anywhere soon. Youngest cat is pushing 5 and is the "fittest" of any cat we've had that age. If he continues in this vein I'd not be at all surprised for him to live beyond 20. The earliest we've lost a cat was our Gus. He had a stroke or some other neurological seizure kind of thing when he was only 11. That's pretty young for a cat to pass. I think the average life expectancy is more like 14, though I think included in that average are cats that go outdoors, which generally shortens their life by a good deal.
You know if you don't feel you're spending enough money on your cats, you can get the radiation treatment for that thyroid.
My daughter's cat and her (daughter's) boyfriend both had thyroid issues, and both got the radioactive iodine in the last two months. Their apartment glows in the dark.
(modified for parenthetical clarification)
You know if you don't feel you're spending enough money on your cats, you can get the radiation treatment for that thyroid. My daughter's cat and her (daughter's) boyfriend both had thyroid issues, and both got the radioactive iodine in the last two months. Their apartment glows in the dark. (modified for parenthetical clarification)
Ha, had she been younger when she was diagnosed (I think she was about 15) we probably would have gone that route. We never expected her to live this long. She's very stubborn (but also very sweet). But she does well with the meds and they only run us about $100/year.
Here's a quote from Albert Schwietzer- "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
And now you know why we have 4 cats and I have a Pandora One subscription.
jfa
That really sucks , you did what you could. For what it's worth, the shots (still hope you don't need them) are not that bad. I got bit last year by a stray dog and had to receive them. Other than the cost ( I could only get them at the ER in my town) they are not painful or stuck in the stomach, etc. You can message me if you want more details about it.
Loves the outdoors
Sorry to hear this. Poor cat. That's a pretty brutal test method. We don't have Rabies here, so I had no idea any suspicion of it was effectively a death sentence for the animal.
I am a little surprised about your anger about outdoor cats though. Are all cats kept indoors in the US? It's a pretty rare cat here in NZ that permanently stays indoors. I can't even really imagine how it's possible to keep a cat indoors full-time. We often have windows and doors wide open and cats are pretty sneaky.
One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.
There is a severe overpopulation issue with cats in the US and shelters are overflowing. No-kill shelters can't accept new cats and there aren't enough people to adopt the cats at other shelters, so daily cats are euthanized to make room for more. They are not required to be licensed and people are bad about having them spayed/neutered (I'm doubt I will ever forget the mama and feral babies that used to frequent our yard. Eventually we never saw the babies anymore, which makes me suspect they met an unfortunate end). I'd say that at least half the cats I know of go outside at least sometimes. Cats allowed outdoor can spread toxoplasmosis which recently has been found to be much more dangerous than originally believed, and not just to fetuses.
Cats that spend time outdoors are far more at risk of contracting horrible parasites and viruses, they are at risk of injury or death from numerous causes (there was someone in our neighborhood before we moved here who used to shoot cats, from what one of our neighbors told us. They loved to feed birds and got tired of seeing cats making off with songbirds right in their yard). One of our boys had frostbitten toes when we rescued him. The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is MUCH shorter than that of an indoor cat, even if vaccinated.
We like to say that cats are only difficult to keep indoors if people aren't smarter than their cats. None of ours really have any urge to be outdoors. Most cats only bolt to go outdoors when they are allowed outdoors. Keep them inside all the time and that is what they know. Outdoors rightfully becomes a scary place.
And, as much as I adore cats, I loathe other people's cats in my yard. The perimeter of our house and our front stoop reek of cat spray. Other people's roaming cats become OUR problem. You read my account and the story of my childhood cat losing a leg to a dog (which was my parents' fault for allowing him outside, especially when no one was home to intervene when the dog attacked on our property--neither animal should have been loose and unsupervised outdoors) and still wonder why I have such anger towards outdoor cats (actually, my anger is not aimed at the cats, themselves, but at their irresponsible and inconsiderate "caregivers")?
The cat that bit me could have bit a child. If kitty was rabid I will need shots to not die, myself--rabies is fatal across the board. If a rabid cat were to bite a child and the child not report it the end result could be tragic. Cats are the #1 domestic vector of rabies in the US...more than dogs that end up with the stereotype. Because cats are not required to be licensed there is no law requiring pet cats to be up-to-date on rabies vaccinations, unlike dogs in the US.
So, yeah, I hate that cats roam freely. I hate that they can cause harm to other animals and that they can be harmed, themselves.
Yup, I'm not too worried about the shots. Looks like they do them in the deltoid. Can't be any worse than tattoos or childbirth, I'd think.
Here's a recent piece about toxoplasmosis. I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon not deal with THAT parasite!
they do a lot of positive harm to other animals though. without cats the rodent population would grow greatly. they couldn't do that job fully by staying indoors all the time.
I don't know...ours seem to catch mice in the house from time-to-time. While they catch rodents they also catch tapeworm. Ever woken to tapeworm segments on your pillow? No...well, I have. It's fucking nasty. If you don't know how the segments get out of a cat you should google that shit (shit is a clue, here). Fortunately, I haven't had to deal with those nasties as an adult, since I haven't lived with an indoor/outdoor cat in 20 years.
Here are some good reasons why cats as rodent control is really not a good idea.
Love how you always manage to work childbirth in ....still I hope the shots are not needed.
You and your family are good people.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown) • Go With The Flow • Thyroid Support Group
Love how you always manage to work childbirth in ....still I hope the shots are not needed. You and your family are good people.
Heh, childbirth is a good frame of pain scale reference.