As your pet gets older....

I have 2 lovely cats ... Morrissey & Phoebe ... they're about the same age ... maybe a year apart (not too sure as they were rescues). Probably about 12 & 13 years old.

Morrissey is showing his age with grey hairs, lost teeth & senior moments but little Phoebe still looks & acts like a kitten!
While he will walk slowly in (while you wait!!) for his meals, she will bound about like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof.
Unless she's been at the hair dye she's showing no signs of grey in her black coat & runs up & downstairs like a banshee!

Morrissey used to stay out all night doing the cat thing but now asks to come in on chillier ones & chill out on the back of the sofa. Phoebe has always stayed in at night & while she would love to sleep on our bed she is settled down in the living room with a litter tray & a choice of cushions! The sofa has to be covered with a throw as she will happily use it as a scratching post.

It's weird how they are ageing differently ... we were just saying how we will be shocked when she goes to cat heaven as we don't think of her as getting on a bit whereas he has slowed down considerably.
She seems determined to grow old disgracefully!

Bless 'em! Are your pets the same? We wouldn't be without them eh?

Re: As your pet gets older....

Oh yes Cathy, we have two dogs Baruska and Rianna.

Bara is now starting to show her age, and becomming more stuborn and crotchety, she has always had some health problems (Tummy, heart, breathing, coat) and the last of her litter to survive, but overcame all and was very active in her younger days. Now she is definately slowing down.

Rianna, who is also about the same age, breed, and sex, is as fit as a fiddle, always trotting around, still loves her walks, and eats like a horse.

OH will not go anywhere without them they are part of the familly and I'm dreading the time when their time comes to depart this mortal coil.

Re: As your pet gets older....

Having lost many animals over the years and more recently two dogs in quick sucession (Amy aged 16 and the puppy which followed her, Milly aged 9 months ) I am trying not to think about a time when I won't have Chloe who is almost 4.

Re: As your pet gets older....

And may you have many happy long years with Chloe Meg
My old cat Sparky is thirteen (or is it fourteen now?). He hasn't shown any signs of ageing yet, is a spiteful old so and so, even chases and spits at the neighbours cats and runs them out of their own gardens!

Re: As your pet gets older....

Yes we do tend to get very attached to pets don't we? I still miss my old siamese cat Suzie who lasted till she was 22 years old and our current cat Lucky will be 14 in November, she still likes to go out all night clubbing but I suppose that when the real cold nights arrive she will want to stop in, bless her.
She loves us to give her a daily grooming and would stand it all day if we had the time.

Re: As your pet gets older....

Cassie will be 15 years old next March but I don't think she looks her age. Sometimes an older cat's fur can become dull with age but Cassie's coat is still soft and shiny....... the vet comments about the good condition of her fur on every visit. I do use a furminator every so often to remove dead hair and she loves being brushed.

She's slowed down a lot now, has a slight heart murmur and prefers to lay in the garden in the sunshine than go fence-hopping into other gardens - but she plays like a kitten again when she has a new catmint toy
She's kept in at night, I lock her catflap at 7.30pm.

The 'old' lady herself taken a couple of months ago....

Re: As your pet gets older....

Cassie is gorgeous Mags ... what a lovely colour. She certainly doesn't look her age!

I love the names we all have for them too ... girls names & exotic ones ... 'tho Morrissey is named after a grumpy singer!

I hope you all have many more happy years with your companions.

Re: As your pet gets older....

Cassie is a stunner. She reminds me of Tibby the family tortoise shell cat from my childhood. Tibby lived on to a ripe old age but that was many years ago.

The lose of a much loved pet is heartbreaking and like others I have lost a few. At the time you don't want to face the loss again but then one does find place in the heart for another.

Re: As your pet gets older....

She is beautiful Mags, just like my Poppy, who has gone now and was 13 years old.

Re: As your pet gets older....

Mags Cassie certainly doesn't look her age. What a lovely shiny coat she has and such a beautiful colour.