My Cat
Our family has three cats. Two of the cats were mine and one was Mrs. LP’s prior to our marriage. Three cats and two kids make for a full house.
Here is the problem. One of my cats is somewhere around 20 years old. She was a stray when I found her, and in pretty pitiful shape. Her teeth were messed and broken, she had huge scabs all over her, and her fur was coming off in chunks. Why would I take in a cat like that? Because she was so sweet and affectionate, if a little haggard looking. I took her home to my apartment building that did not allow animals and kept her hidden for a while until she was nursed back to health. I spent an enormous amount of money getting her teeth fixed so that she could eat. I had just moved out on my own at the time, and remember having to skip meals to pay for all the vet bills. But it was worth every penny. She has been a best friend and companion for more about 14 years. Our relationship even outlasted my first marriage and multiple other relationships. I even once told a woman I was dating she was no longer welcome in my home after she yelled at my cat.
Why I am blathering on about this? A few months ago she started missing the litterbox. No big deal. No one has perfect aim, right? Well, this has escalated to the point that the whole house is her litterbox. She goes EVERYWHERE. And she doesn’t exactly step gingerly around it either. She walks right through it, so that she has started to smell like urine herself. We have tried all sorts of behavioral modification techniques, extra litterboxes, different cat litter, just about anything you can imagine. So we got desperate and locked her in a bathroom. She can come out some when we are home and keeping a close eye on her, but otherwise, she lives in this bathroom. That room is now disgusting, even though Mrs. LP scrubbed it from top to bottom yesterday with bleach.
The problem that we have - aside from the smell - is that we have a baby, one who is curious and slowly starting to gain mobility. She will be crawling soon. And cat urine and feces is filled with bacteria that can be very harmful to humans, especially little ones. The vet told us today that she has dementia, sort of a kitty version of Alzheimer’s. I took the news a little harder than I thought I would. She will continue to behave this way until she dies.
So I am now stuck in this dilemma. I know I have to get rid of her for the sake of my daughter. And I would do anything for my kids. But the thought of giving my cat away - especially when I feel like she is so helpless - is just really crushing me. She is so frail and weak these days that I hate the thought of someone else taking care of her. And yet, through all this, she continues to be this very loving and affectionate animal, who stands at the door and cries out when we lock her in the bathroom. This just really really sucks.
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Pets can give us so much happiness, but then again they can cause so much dilemma.
With me it is our dog. He is allergic to just about anything you can imagine, and has a terrible time with skin conditions and hives because of this. On weekend mornings we used to let him lick the egg yolks and bacon crumbs from or plates, one of his favorite things to do.
Then we found that he is allergic to poultry. Not only that, but he is allergic to wheat and several other on the ingredients in pet foods. The more we fed him his favorites, the ore harm we were doing him. That hurt when we finally realized it.
We have spent plenty of money on vet bills to have him tested. He takes four prescription medicines every day and is on prescription only dog food made from whitefish and potatoes. (notice the “e” GW)
Bottom line…we love this dog and we continue to care for him. His latest challenge is that he is beginning to develop problems with his sight. One more thing to contend with.
LP,
This does suck, and I understand. Today we just buried a cat our family had for 13 years (since I was a 10th grader). We named him “Bob Dylan Bennett,” after the singer of course. He developed kidney failure (likely not from the tainted food), and went downhill fast this week. In fact, he was himself on Sunday, and we all made a special trip to my parents yesterday and when we arrived he was barely himself. It was very sad. He died in the night. I admit it has been hard on all of us. I mean, I have known him longer than most of my friends! Hang in there, it is difficult, but the joy pets give is worth the hard times like these.
I had to put my 19 year old cat down last Sept. That was 6 months after the vet said she had kidney and liver failure and might live a month. The vet did some tests and gave her some shots, so she revived for a few months, but then at the end, she was getting messy in more than one way.
I needed to go out of town again for a week, due to a relative’s health situation. I didn’t want to come back to a mega mess. I took her to the vet and paid him to deal with everything. He said, do you want to hold her while she dies? No way. Just take care of things. I’ve got living relatives to deal with, that’s enough.
That was a really nice cat, but the last year or two, she just “was.” Didn’t do much. The six months of knowing that she was bad helped me make the decision emotionally.
When you deal with this situation, however you decide to take care of things, you will realize you are doing it for your wife, your kids, yourself, and for your house.
Thanks for the words and stories everyone. Our cat will be put down in the coming days.
LP,
Sorry to hear that. It is a shame. You know, I like my pets better than I like a lot of people.