The 'Hall Of Lame' v 2.0

Sounds like one heck of a storm, Thor! Lots of damage around you?

Yeah.  I used to get sucked into that, too, Holly.  With Killer.  What I now do is pick him up gently, and place him down on the nearby couch.  Usually, this'll wake him up and he'll dart off.  But hey, that's his decision. 

Or he can do like TJ and just caterwaul at the wall . . . or a piece of furniture. 

Thor, he's 18-1/2 now, and has started the decline.  He's on blood pressure meds, but I don't have the money to do a blood panel to find out the "underlying cause."  To me, the underlying cause is old age.  To spend $200 for bloodwork just to find out what else is wrong--and can't afford to treat him for--is ridiculous.  The vet agreed with me that at this point, it's just a question of quality of life.

His vision is being affected, although not to the extent where he can't get around like he used to, and he's wailing at walls, which, the vet tells me, is kind of like senility in people.  Sometimes you just have to call his name and he "snaps" back into now.

It makes me very sad, but I can assure you that he is not suffering.  The minute I think he is, I will do the right thing.  So I'm just enjoying the time we have left.

(He's also become very demanding when he wants attention; it's like he's yelling at me.)

I won't be getting another cat, though.  It's become too expensive, especially since I don't have money for the vet.  As my sister said, it's difficult to picture me not having a cat after 31 years of having one.

(Sorry, has this thread drifted?)

I couldn't quite tell if Poptart was suffering.  Some days were better than others.  The vet was on the fence about it, as well.  At one point after I'd been treating her with subcutaneous (needle under the scruff of her neck) fluids, the vet did tell me "if you were to consider intervening, I'd support you."

I waited another three months, after that.