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This thread finds me both admiring, and a bit mournful.
My oldest household pet is my current cat. He turned 20 years old in August!!
Hes my 'little buddy', my 'little man', my "cuddle-bugs". My OH brought him home, but he came right up to me, and HE adopted Me. He looked up in the dim light, his long orange fur and those big round orbs we call eyes, and i was just as taken with him as he was with me. He has snuggled up to me every night since. And, more often than not to my annoyance, on TOP of me.
He is pure persian mixed with tom cat. My OH took one as they werent pure breeds so hard to get rid of.
The fact he lived ( indoors only) to 20 makes me admire him.
As we have no children by choice, he has been our baby boy for 20 years.
The mournful part is we took him friday the 9th to get shaved ( they use gas anesthesia, which wasnt a problem before),[ because he will no longer groom or let us comb him out]. and he was just ok on Saturday, but Sunday started to decline, and by monday the holiday he didnt eat at all. I woke up at 12:30 to use the facilities, and found him lying there almost stone cold and unresponsive , finally as i was about to panic and wake my OH, he lifted his head and mewed. whew, but the decision to go to 24 vet was made when my OH got up a little later. But every call led me to call another number,
so we waited and beat down the door to his regular vet at opening on Tuesday. He spent the next two days at the vets getting fluid therapy to clear the toxins of the gas. He got really feisty with them, and the vet said he could go home. But by today his 5.5 pounds has become 3 pounds and he won't eat anymore. Hes lost so much in just over a week hes skin and bones. He stays mostly on the bed. we could not get him in today.
We have a vet appointment tomorrow and i think we will have to make THE DECISION. My OH has never handled death well, and not at all at the holidays.
His ( unrelated) sister we put to sleep at age 18 3 years ago.
Two long aged house indoor cats.
Ive said no more pets after him. I cant go through thus again. My OH wants a small dog. My best friend will try to talk us into one of the two cats he wants to get rid of.
But. No, i cannot do this again.
So it got me wondering, we are usually older here, so we've had our share of housepets.
So how long did you have a household pet live with you?
We had a 20 yr. old Siamese cat named Toast. She was a dear. She passed away 26 years ago, I still see her out of the corner of my eye.
When my 15 plus yr. old Shelties passed within 4 months of each other, I was crushed. I couldn’t bring myself to get another dog for 9 years. I now have a wonderful, quirky, stubborn Scottie, named Thistle. She is pure Joy.
Last edited by funisart; 11-19-2018 at 06:31 PM..
Reason: Add
I had a goldfish that lived maybe five years. In a small bowl, its body never grew bigger than about two inches, but iy developed wonderful flowing fins that swept along behind it. Quite a beautiful fish.
I have an 18 year old cat now. I had a West Highland terrier that might have been 19. The odds of the 18 year old cat reaching 19 or even 20 seem to be decent.
Such a heartbreaking decision to make, Galaxhi, but when it's time it's the kindest thing you can do is to end your beloved pet's suffering. Hang onto the thoughts that you gave your kitty a wonderful long life, he knew your love every single day and he loved you back. And he'll take that love with him, experiencing it still, as you ease him onto the Path leading to the Rainbow Bridge.
We have a normal grey male cockatiel who's very close to 30 yrs old. We've had him since he was 3-4 months old, and we've shared our lives, the ups and downs, events, moves, and our love all that time. He's slowed down, spends most of his time perched on top of his cage on his playground, playing with his toys, eating, sleeping, and talking when he feels like it. His feet are arthritic, but he still takes a lap or two flight around the great room when he feels like it, joins in our conversations, and enjoys having his head scratched, sharing some meals with us. He occasionally goes into what look like seizures, when he does we hold him till the seizures stop a few minutes later, then he comes out of it, wonders what the fuss was all about, and starts talking. I know one day he won't come out of a seizure, and that will be it. But in the meantime, he seems to enjoy his life (he cracks me up when he drags his little mirrors around and props them up in different spots so he can see them), he eats well and he's interactive, so it's ok for now.
A cat who made it to 20 and died of kidney failure (2001).
I had 2 of my 3 dogs put down on October 17. One had cancer, age 13. The other had strokes and was age 17.5 years old.
I have lost 7 dogs in 7 years. 5 were rescues, 2 from a breeder as pups. A predator took one, cancer took 2, heart failure took 3, epilepsy took one.
Have one 12 year old left and I just rescued a wonderful senior dog, also age 12. And the cycle of love and life continues. Planning to add a pup next year.
Death is a part of life. We are all gonna go sometime. My joy in life is rescuing. and adopting dogs and loving them into happiness and wholenses. They bring so much love and joy into my life. I will never stop loving and living with dogs. They give far more than they take away when they pass.
Last edited by HappyDogToday; 11-19-2018 at 09:13 PM..
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