I've had cats and dogs for about 45 years. As happens in life, I am currently down to one cat via attrition. I was recently reminded that she was getting old when my endocrinologist, who I knew well, told me he was recommending a Dexcom device. Currently, my cat wakes me if my blood glucose drops significantly. Doc reminded me that she was getting old and, well, it was time to look for something more reliable. It really saddened me, because when this old girl goes, there will be no replacement unless I can find an old cat needing a home. I don't think it's fair to bond with an animal who will likely outlive you. I can deal with coming up on the end of my life, but not having a pet around...that's hard.

yeah...I am going to be sad. Spent the majority of my life without a pet. Got my Britany when I was 44. And he has been a constant friend and companion. Going to be sad in 5 more years

My wife got a small dog {Poogle} but it wont be the same

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
yeah...I am going to be sad. Spent the majority of my life without a pet. Got my Britany when I was 44. And he has been a constant friend and companion. Going to be sad in 5 more years

My wife got a small dog {Poogle} but it wont be the same

How old is your Brittany?

Thanks for this thread, Fredward. Sadly right there with you. We've been a one cat family for over forty years and lost our little guy who was just past three. It's so empty here now. We're old and both have our share of problems beyond that. A kitten would outlive us, bonding to an older cat and losing it may be too much to take. We're lost at the moment.

I've got a cat who is my bud.
He just turned 13 and next week I'm 69.
Don't know how long we will both be around, so I'm doing my darndest to make sure we both enjoy each other.

We’re in our early 70’s and currently pet-less. We’ve had dogs since 1975 until a year ago. We’ve had 3 Goldens, a Goldendoodle, a Collie, a Bearded Collie, a Lab, an Old English Sheepdog and 2 little mutts.

We’re not comfortable adding a dog to our household at this point as we are traveling more and more and don’t want a dog to outlast us.

quote:

It really saddened me, because when this old girl goes, there will be no replacement unless I can find an old cat needing a home.

As far as I know, there's lots of middle aged cats or older needing rescue as most people want the kittens.
I'm not sure how you train it to wake you if you blood sugar is low but mine is trained to wake me for 1)low dry food in bowl. 2) Need wet food. 3)Need lovin' and scratchin'. 4) Are you alive? Just checking.
I'm not sure what I'll do when she's gone other than sleep well. But I feel if I lose her, I won't be able to sleep well anyway.

I lost my Brittany (14yrs old) back in 2017 and have not replaced him. We’ve had several cats pass since 2020 unexpectedly and have a 2yr old and a 12yr old. While we are young enough for another I have two things holding me back. First is my time/availability and a desire to train a hunting companion. The second is the fact my aging parents have 2 young dogs, an aging cat, and a young parrot. I have a feeling I will become the caretaker for at least some of these pets. My parents live for these pets and get purpose in caring for them. I honestly think they need them more than I need a dog ATM, and have assured them that they will all be loved if my parents pre-decease them. I do my best to bond with their pets in the event they end up in my care.

Age here is 75.. Have a close friend (79YRS) who has miniature Schnauzer that he got after his wife passed away several years ago.. We sometimes have become is his taxi for doctors appointments / shopping / etc and have bonded with "Bailey" to the point we have let her stay for a couple of days to almost a solid month while he responed to medical issues.. All of his children have been told and understand that when the time comes that my wife and myself will become "Baileys" extended forever home................................ drill sgt.

I'm 58, have had Roxy for 30 of those years. She is only 30 and will easily outlive me.

Pippin is also close to 30 with many, many years to go and Tabs is afraid she won't be around much longer to care for him.

I was 77 when our dog passed and it was a tough decision what to do. After a couple of months we realized we needed another dog and got a puppy. It's the best thing we could've done, keeps me moving. We go to the dog park every morning at 7:45, she plays disc and romps with other dogs. I have made some good friends there. We come home and my wife takes her for a walk, in the afternoon I get a cigar, a book and the disc and we sit outside for an hour or so.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I don't think it's fair to bond with an animal who will likely outlive you. I can deal with coming up on the end of my life, but not having a pet around...that's hard.

As we've aged, and we've lost furry family members, that has been one of my wife's concerns. We addressed that by setting-aside a fund for any cats we have at the time should they survive both of us. The cat rescue from which we usually adopt is specified to execute our wishes.

Pet adoption agencies, btw, usually have more older pets than they can find forever homes. People often want very young pets, puppies and kittens, rather than more mature pets.

In our case, we're cat people, this means we end up with cats that may not have been well-socialized. Not particularly "people cats." We take comfort in the fact we're giving them a loving home, even if they often don't seem particularly appreciative of it

At one time in my house we had two dogs, and three cats. The cats are gone now, but one of them developed diabetes when he was about 13. Thankfully he was the one cat who you could catch on a moment's notice. Never saw myself giving insulin injections to a cat. He eventually progressed to the point where he didn't need it anymore. Didn't know that was possible, but when it comes to cats I guess it is.

I can relate to the OP. Our dogs are old (9 years old). I have them on glucosamine and multi-vitamin regimen. One has an anti-inflamatory prescription drug. We hope to give them a good life until we have to put them down.

We're not planning to replace them for the freedom of not having pets. We'll miss them. But we enjoy them and I think think they enjoy us as well.

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Originally posted by dsiets:...
I'm not sure how you train it to wake you if you blood sugar is low...

Fredward's cat is lying about the low blood sugar.

I would check the cat's pockets for a syringe and vial of insulin and look for needle marks between my toes, if I were he.

I suspect it is one of the following reasons...

1)low dry food in bowl. 2) Need wet food. 3)Need lovin' and scratchin'. 4) Are you alive?


My catmonkey is shameless...

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

In our case, we're cat people, this means we end up with cats that may not have been well-socialized. Not particularly "people cats." We take comfort in the fact we're giving them a loving home, even if they often don't seem particularly appreciative of it

That's what we are doing, now.

My GF is a certified Cat Lady, even has the T-Shirt (or ten) to prove it, raised Balinese for show years ago. Of course, we picked up the occasional abandoned cat as well, which I referred to as "Dumplings."

One we got from a Rescue several years ago, a beautiful Siamese, can't stand my GF, won't be near her, and occasionally is skittish around me as well, but she knows she has a home for life. We are down to that one and a rescue Black Cat that is Miss Personality, earns her keep every day with affection and antics, which is good since she gets various meds multiple times a day without objection. Or blood.

We're mid-70's and our health isn't great, but I insisted, starting about 10 years ago, that we only take in adult cats so we don't leave any behind. It's necessary.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
yeah...I am going to be sad. Spent the majority of my life without a pet. Got my Britany when I was 44. And he has been a constant friend and companion. Going to be sad in 5 more years

My wife got a small dog {Poogle} but it wont be the same

How old is your Brittany?

He is 9 and in really good shape but most Brittanies live to 14 or 15. I should let it bother me but it does

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

How old is your Brittany?

He is 9 and in really good shape but most Brittanies live to 14 or 15. I should let it bother me but it does

I understand completely and started to have the same feelings when our Brittany was about that age. But...


Our Brittany, Dixie, lived to be 17 1/2. She slowed down, but was in pretty solid shape until about 16. Still a good companion until about 17 and then "got old". We put in a lot of extra care in the last 6 months, but felt she deserved it. No visible pain, just wearing out. Don't cheat yourself out of the joy of the next 5-8 years.


To the OP's point, my wife and I have also decided not to get another dog. I'm not sure we'd want to be wrangling a dog in our mid-70s.

we adopted a 7 year old Bitch Lab in 2014 Coco passed away in 2021 we had 7 blissful years with her swimming walking running etc but now both my knees are gone I can barely walk 4 miles..my wife keeps on about another Cocopops I say no but so we adopted a cat well Cat adopted us he turned up about a week after Cocopops passed away.
Something got him but he has healed up nicely.
CAT outside meowing away by Scopophobia nothing fancy just pictures., on Flickr

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
As far as I know, there's lots of middle aged cats or older needing rescue as most people want the kittens.
I'm not sure how you train it to wake you if you blood sugar is low but mine is trained to wake me for 1)low dry food in bowl. 2) Need wet food. 3)Need lovin' and scratchin'. 4) Are you alive? Just checking.

This was my thinking as well. I wouldn't have an issue getting an older cat in my latter years as long as I knew I as financially able to take care of it. I would try to make sure I could leave something to a rescue organization with instructions to try to re-home the cat.

Heck, you could probably find a cat whose owner passed away or needed to go into a nursing home.