Patience and Worries for our Beloved Pets

For those of us with pets, we can’t imagine our life without them. But with that immense love we feel for them, also comes eventual loss and tremendous grief. I’ve had pet losses that happened decades and decades ago, but if I let myself think about any one of them specifically, I can be overcome with grief all over again and cry my eyes out. Yet we continue to have pets, even knowing they will eventually leave us and break our heart.

On the flip side, they can also be annoying as hell. For instance, this morning my 17 year old orange cat was climbing all over my face and head while I was lying in bed, she was wanting something, only God knows because I didn’t. I already fed her, I tried to hold her but she wasn’t having it, yet she continued to hover like a mosquito. I gently tried to peel her off my face and hope she didn’t strike like a snake and bite me which she’s been known to do, and in that process, I managed to knock the TV remote on the floor which exploded, causing all the batteries to escape and scatter. I got up out of bed, picked up all the pieces, raised my head and whacked it hard on the edge of the kitchen counter. I put an ice pack on my head and at the same time felt a wave of despondency over the fact that I’m not nearly as nimble and coordinated as I once was. The younger me would have caught the remote in midair before it ever hit the floor, and I would have instinctively known that the counter was above my head before I raised it. But I’m getting off the subject.

The other cat I have is 19 years old. I have never had pets that lived this long. In their old age they have also turned into needy toddlers. It’s almost too much for me anymore and I don’t know if it’s their neediness in old age or my lack of patience in my own old age or a little bit of both. Sometimes when I finally get one of them settled down where they’re not demanding something from me, the other one starts up. Can’t I have any peace around here for crying out loud in church?! Don’t get me wrong, I love them to pieces and whenever I get the chance I will kiss and cuddle them with hugs and love even though neither one of them likes to be picked up or held for more than 5 seconds and seem totally annoyed that I’m invading their space. Oh yeah? Now you know how I feel.

Last night the orange cat kept me up all night. She started up around midnight. She made some kind of a cat coughing noise so I stayed awake worrying she was going to puke which she is also known to do. Then she came over and tried to lay on the pillow I was using and there just wasn’t enough room for both of us, so she was practically sitting on my face and I could barely breathe. I tried to go back to sleep, then I heard her scratching around in her litter box. A few minutes later I heard her eating dry food and she may as well have been chomping on rocks it was so loud. This went on from about midnight till 3 a.m. when I finally gave up and decided to get up for the day.

If I lose these two before I die, I will probably adopt an adult cat if I even decide to get another pet. If I have a pet that outlives me, then my son will be the one to have to take custody of it whether he likes it or not, and that is a serious consideration for all of us if we want another pet in the future or if we have one now. Who will take care of them after we pass?