Well, I didn’t want a new cat because I thought that would remind me too much of Mouse (no replacement…), and these two rabbits where indeed nothing like a cat (obviously). However, they also didn’t provide much interaction or joy, in the sense that they were mostly just sitting in a (large) pen and did not like to be touched or picked up at all. Being outside, they did not get all that much attention from the kids either, especially in winter. Which basically meant I was just feeding and taking care of them (which, of course, I did dutifully) but didn’t get much in return. Whereas with a cat, you also feed and take care of him, but he will occasionally show that he appreciates that, and that he appreciates you (even if only as being his slave…).
Basically, I found out rabbits are not cats. Which I knew, and which I thought I wanted, but as it turns out, I just wanted a new cat…
So. I got two new cats and continued taking care of the rabbits (after all: finish what you start, they can’t help it if I make a mistake) until one of them died from an infection. I then gave the other one away (in fact: paid money for it) to a foundation that rematches rabbits (yes, that;s a thing here), because I thought it would be cruel to leave the remaining rabbit in his pen alone. Lesson learned.
Funny, one of our cat is named Maus. We found him on Maus St. Late on a very snowy January night. Bitter cold, a lost kitten.
My wife and I have had 7 cats over the course of our marriage. All but one made it at least 17 years, and we still have one of the originals. She’s 21 and deaf and dotty as hell but still going strong!
My point being that I’ve lost 4 over the years, and it never gets any easier. I bawl like a baby for days. You and your furry friend are in my thoughts, Nesrie.
Ugh, so sorry for your loss, @Nesrie. That’s so hard. My dog is my best friend and has been there with me through a world of shit over the years but he’s getting old now. I dread the day when it’s time for him to go.
I am not an expert, but rabbits can be closer to cats than you describe. Keep them indoors and teach them to use a litter box, which I understand they take to almost as easily as a cat. Keep them uncaged, at least when you’re home. They will come to enjoy human interaction and cuddles. My step-mom had a rabbit that was moderately cat-like years ago.
Seriously, 21 is great. I had one cat live to 23, but the rest have all passed between 2 (feline leukemia) and 18. I have one right now who is about 18 1/2, but she’s on daily meds for what may well be cancer but I hope is just IBD (she’s taking prednisone, omeprazole, and mirtazapine every two or three days).
You are probably correct, but in our case it just didn’t work out that way (probably because we didn’t handle it the way we should have). The fact that we just couldn’t keep them indoors (not enough space) didn’t help either…
I think the hardest part for me, still, is playing through my head what I might have done differently to get a better result or more time. I did full labs in January. They said everything was mostly fine, but I knew he was lighter than last year. I could tell when I picked him up. I just… the practical part of me said I could throw thousands at the problem and just be told, he’s old. So when the lab work cleared… I just let it go. I’d give anything now though if it meant another year or two or just… a less horrific ending.
So sorry for your loss Nesrie. I lost my bud a couple years ago the night before i flew across the country when i felt i had to put him down rather than leave him for the maid to take care of. I also felt bad because i felt like i made less-optimal decisions about his treatment, but of course, there’s really not much you can do when they have a terminal disease, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.
I’m sorry for the loss of your kitty, @Nesrie. I’ve lost a few very old cats over the years and it’s never easy. It always comes suddenly too, seems like. They go from seeming to be totally fine and then one day you have to take them to a vet and he tells you it’s time to put them down, seems like. Well, I’d still rather have cats live a long time and feel the worse when they pass than the other way around, I suppose.
So I am avoiding a couple of phone calls. One is from my aunt who probably doesn’t know, and I know that will be hard because she’s a pet owner and although I’ve never referred to myself as a mommy to my pets, she does.
The other is my dad. We’ve texted, he knows. Both sisters called him. He brought my little kitty to our family years ago, but he’s out of town for the holiday. If he was nearby he would be the first one at my house, and I know this probably kills him a little that he wasn’t here for this. I’ve been okay during the last couple of days. I worked from 8 to 10pm yesterday to keep busy and catch-up, watched movies, play games, surf the net but as soon as everything is off, emotions hit again.
When I am not distracted by something, anything. I am sad.
Kitty #2 is acting a little weird. I can’t tell if it’s because I am off, or he is. He’s only 3 and healthy so it’s more of an behavior off than a concern.
I made the topic purposefully vague so it could be used by others, later. Me writing this here is just a little easier than conversing with those who know me and my pets. No one knows how to talk to me about anything else right now, and they’re not wrong with that approach… it’s just hard.
I mentioned before that we lost 2 dogs to cancer last year. When that happened, we had no intention of going out and getting more right away. There was one problem with that. Our remaining boy, Hamlet, was mopey and didn’t want to eat. He was clearly depressed without his sisters around.thats how Helga came into our lives.
I got a feeling there will be another cat in my future. I had my old guy, by himself, for probably around a decade or so when the family stopped living together and I took him with me. And then I tortured him by bringing home a kitty. I thought they were mostly indifferent to each to each other but my little guy is definitely not quite right. He likes to destroy my modem or my router by sleeping behind my monitors and lying on them during the day or sitting on the windowsill behind me. Every couple of hours right now, I coax him out of from under the bed right now.
I’m just kind of terrified of winding up with a sick one, or one with special diets or needs… it was so hard last year dealing with my older kitty. When I take a pet, it’s a lifetime commitment. I feel like I would live in a car rather than go someplace I couldn’t take them with me.
As some of you know, I lost two of my cats this year. I lost Murray and then I lost my big baby, Floyd. They both hit me pretty hard, but losing Floyd has been tough on me. I wrote about this and the nature of owning pets in the new unwinnable. I’d love to give the issue to anyone who would like to read it. If you think reading about my cats and how I feel about owning pets and taking care of them will make you sad, I would suggest you skip my column. It’s a good read otherwise as well.
Not here to try to promote or anything, but I thought a lot about this thread and about @Nesrie when I wrote it. I hope she’s OK and around somewhere.
I lost four pets last month. But all of them were roughly between 14-16 years old and quite long lived for their respective breeds. Two black labs and two cats.
It’s been kind of a shit year in general, but such is life. I feel like we gave all of them a long happy life and a good home, but I also feel like I’m fairly burned out on the idea of future pet adoption at this point.
I am so sorry. I felt the same way for a while. I kind of resisted the idea for a long while. Then these kittens came along and they needed a home. But I understand. The pain is hard to endure.
Well technically three of the four had to be put down for medical reasons, but ultimately they were just very old and their bodies called it quits.
The fourth was a rescue cat approximately 14 years old that literally showed up on our front steps back when and the first two critters she met in our yard were the two dogs. They were her buddies, especially the older one. After he went she was very lacking energy by the following week and one night she went behind the TV stand and curled up in her favorite spot and I found her there in the morning no longer breathing.
One of the three remaining cats in the house is actually hers. She’d been pregnant when we’d rescued her and while two of the three kittens ended up dying, the one that lived stayed. She’s no spring chicken herself now, but she was also best buddies with the dogs and has been extremely cuddly now that her mother and pals are all gone.
