He's twenty, which is about the same as 99 for you or me. He moves pretty slowly but he gets around. And, as happens with age, his digestion bothers him. Right now he poor old guy is so stopped up he is overtaken by the need to strain every few minutes, no matter where he is.
Oh, he gets fiber; he gets only canned cat food and a bit of oil, too. But he still gets stopped up. He is quite mortified by it, as tomcats often are. And he's had worse episodes.
I got out the cat-carrier, figuring in there he won't absent-mindedly stop, strain and wet all over the floor. Tommy Cat took one look at the carrier...and hopped right in. Maybe he's hoping for a trip to the cat-doctor. ...Sadly, I can't really afford the rates the 24-hour vet charges right now and my own recent health problems have left me with scant energy for the drive. Hoping to take him to the regular vet tomorrow if his problem hasn't, er, moved by then.
Update
3 days ago
11 comments:
Hope he's feeling better in the morning.
Why can't I get those words out of my head.
"this too shall pass".
He's a sweet kitty, and even forgave me for leaving the hall door open so the interloper could sneak into his room on pawed feet.
Poor Tommy!
I hope he feels better real soon.
Here's hoping your friend gets better. I confess to a prejudice for Fur Persons and their Hoomans. We can tell when one of our cats is feeling poorly, when they climb in the carrier willingly. (Although there is rarely any reluctance at The Place Of Kitty Torture, which is what I believe cats call the vets, when they are healthy.)
Which reminds me, Mrs. Drang gets to take The Boys to the vet's tomorrow, for shots...
(She tried to set it up for when I wasn't working, so I could help, but, alas... Now and then working weekends has it's advantages...)
Hope the kitty is feeling better by now!! And you too, Roberta!
The fact that private pet health insurance exists logically entails that sooner or later the people will demand national pet health insurance. Of course this will give government a lot of say in the choice of pet, but events in the simian sphere and NYC's aversion to ferrets have pretty well settled that, in principle at least. One assumes we will all be issued Portuguese Water Dogs until the country goes sharia, and then cat people will be in hog heaven.
I'd be considering letting a 20-year-old cat go to sleep. That sounds cold-blooded, but just imagine what our masters in human-care planning have in mind.
OT but hopefully this will make you smile :
Listening to Last FM right now and the song with the best title evah is playing... "That Finger On Your Temple Is the Barrel Of My Raygun" by Stars of the Lid.
Sounds like the title of your next chapter? LOL
WV = wrivid
Very angry Japanese man?
Old gentlemen cats are great. I wish my namesake had made it to twenty. He was a "lap bandit."
WV: wehedesh. Yes, Joss, I am watching "Dollhouse." For now.
Still pining for a book. Maybe a Fjord. Or your hand.
sam
Some years ago my wife and I had an old tom cat. He was long haired and had a bad time getting stopped up with hairballs. The vet taught my wife how to give him an enema.
All I can say is---don't try it without training!!
WV: dinin Yes, really.
For what it's worth, as a person who's been on both sides of the Door In Back in vet clinic, what actually happens usually is nothing more technical than a rubber glove, a lot of lube, and, er, "manual disimpaction".
Of course, some people DO prefer to pay others to do this.
Poor old kitty! I hope he has an easy time of his twilight days. Good health to both of you!
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