Missing my dear oldies

[TheBunsOfPanettone]

They both had to be put to sleep in the summer, in their late teens with kidney disease and what huge cat shaped gaps they have left in my life.

The other day I came in and through the dusk saw my black velvet hat lying on a chair and thought very briefly it was old boy snuggled up asleep.

I miss feline company very much and would like to adopt again but am not currently working so it isn't practical. Meanwhile I help at a local sanctuary every week feeding, cleaning runs and spending time with the kitties.

I keep seeing threads here about litters of kittens being found and strays turning up on people's doorsteps and wishing a stray cat would just circumvent all my scruples about being jobless by turning up and appointing me as its new servant or that I could come across a stray kitten - and then feeling bad about even imagining such a thing because for that to happen abandonment would be necessary and it makes me think of the abandoned mites that end up in cardboard boxes, bins, in road accidents etc. and do not get found until it's too late if ever.

Today I bought some kitten milk and cat food to be prepared just in case.

Fostering through the sanctuary might be an option but first I need to tidy up my over cluttered house. It's an incentive to get on with that anyway... and to find that job.

Apologies for a bit of a sad thread, I just wanted to post among cat people about how I'm feeling at the moment.

((((Hugs)))) Buns. I know how it feels.

I was actually going to suggest some fostering - I think rescues cover all the vet etc costs for you don't they? (I don't know about food etc.)

Buns I am really sorry & I also know how it can hurt to lose an elderly animal
I also lost one of my oldies a few months ago (kidney failure - she was 18) and my other oldie is being nursed along (he's 17 and blind with high blood pressure, very likely to decline over the next few months) - I was really dreading their deaths even though I knew they were/are very old & I had given them good lives. I had had them both from kittens and hated to think of a time when they would both not be here.

Then over the summer I started one of "those" threads after a stray kitten turned up under our car bonnet. It was absolutely not the right timing for us to have a kitten but we kept the little thing and he was a great comfort when the first oldie died a few weeks later.

Had we not been found by him, I would probably have looked into fostering or helping out at a local rescue as I couldn't imagine not having cats involved in my life somehow.

I hope you manage to find a way to have cats around you, and that you're able to have your very own cat very soon

When you've got so much love to give to a cat it just seems wrong that you haven't got one, when there are so many desperate for homes. And yes, rescues do cover the vet bills for foster cats.

Many rescues, such as ours, need long-term fosterers for old cats, or ones with ongoing health problems such as diabetes. These cats will stay with you until they die, but all their vet costs will be covered by the rescue. You only need to provide food. And cats and the rescues couldn't care less how untidy your house is.

Actually, Buns, I reckon if you gave one of the sanctuary workers a buzz and said that you were just, maybe, possibly, perhaps, thinking about fostering, you'd get your hand bitten off - and would find yourself with an oldie foster before you could say Xmas Day.

i also think you should maybe look at fostering i only work part time so money is tight here but rescue covers food, litter and gives a letter to cover any vets fees, and being as you lost oldies maybe do what i do and look at fostering motherless kittens, you get the joy of having tiny little ones in the house and knowing you are getting them ready to be responsible cats for someone to love forever, and the rescue wont mind if your house is untidy gives you incentive to keep it tidy anyway because kittens get everywhere lol

Now that's a very positive take, issey.

:) current pair rampaging round the front room at 100 miles an hour

Thank you everyone for your sympathy and your suggestions. It's good to be able to post in a place where people understand about loss and the huge part our feline family members play in our lives.

Timtam23 I am glad a kitten adopted you at the "right" time even though it was the wrong time, to be such a comfort through the death of your older cat. I hope you are able to keep your remaining oldie in good health for a while longer. It is horrible though, when you know they're on the way out .

A while ago a prospective adopter was refused for "hoarding" (clutter not cats!) and that spooked me a bit as I have definite hoarding tendencies - but I've been battling them and getting back on top of things over the last couple of years. I think the concern was that a severely hoarded house would be dangerous for a young, curious, energetic kitten and I can only agree with that. But it's certainly made me more conscious about how the rescue would view my house. My house isn't in great repair either and when I have some money (a job!) I will need to have some quite noisy building work done, but at the moment there's obviously no date for that.

The tidying up continues..... long term fostering of an oldie may be the best idea, given I've no money right now and when I do work again it's likely to be a lower paid job than my last one. I've wanted to change careers for a while and only stayed in my last job so long because of Old Boy's astronomical vet bills. On the other hand NOT having a job gives me a lot of time to spend with kittens that need socialising.....

Sounds like a foster either way then? (But just - the right one.)

Having said which, what constitutes an 'oldie' is sometimes debatable. I acquired Seniorboy at 13 and no-one in the family (including me) gave him much more than a few weeks or months. Luckily he clicked with me (or rather with me and my electric blanket) and nearly 6 years later he's still with us and still enjoying his life.

Bless you for buying some cat food just in case you come across an abandoned cat.

I think you're right about a severely cluttered house not being suitable for kittens, but for an oldie it really wouldn't matter.

I don't suppose you're in London are you?

CN, I've just messaged you.