I had 1 cat in my life, before 2005. Her name was Ashley, a grey tuxedo I rescued off the streets when she was about a year old. She lived to be 21. It totally broke my heart when I put her to sleep. But about 4 months later, I decided my income and my home would allow for me to get another cat that might otherwise not have that chance.
So, in 2005, I adopted, what the shelter said was 'a very sweet 6 1/2 year old cat'
Lies upon Lies!!!!
or if I wish to be kind about it, 'overly optimistic in their assessment of this cat....lol.
Her name at the shelter was Cleo..which I didn't really care for, and when I learned of her past, I renamed her Kayla to help her get past her bad memories. I learned she came from an abusive home where the man of the house kicked her often and the children tormented her. She was a nervous wreck for the first 2 years I owned her. Sometimes she would crawl up on my lap and I could pet her...but at first, if I even got near her tail she would freak. I think the kids use to pull on her tail.
After having my lovable, sweet Ashley for so many years, the personality differences between the two had me wondering if I had made a huge mistake in taking Kayla in. She was cranky, didn't trust me, and half the time when she was on my lap I didn't know if I should try to pet her or leave her along as either way it usually ended with her hissing and spiting and scrambling away...leaving bloody trails in my skin as she did so.
But, as the years wore on, she came to trust me, and then to want my company and learned she could gently jump down when she wanted to and not just sudden shoot off my lap in a whirlwind of claws and hissing. I suspect the kids use to hold on to her, even when she wanted to be let go, and so that was what she learned to do when she wanted to get away from people.
I took Kayla to the vet many times over the years and the vet seems to think that Kayla was probably more like 8 or 9 when I adopted her and not 6 1/2 as the shelter did. ( I think they look at those animals sometimes with rose colored glasses in hopes to get them adopted out...lol.)
Anyway, Kayla ended up being 'my girl' and while it took time, I came to love her deeply, just because she was a cranky old witch on the outside but inside she truly loved me and showed me her love...while the rest of the world just got to see her nasty mean cranky side.
I found out on Thursday that Kayla has bone cancer. And while she's probably 18 to 19 years old, her hearing is great, so is her eye sight, she barely has any arthritis issues and no dementia. She was still running zoomies through the house just a few weeks ago.. down the hall, up the kitty condo, up on the the piano jumping over the t.v and down on the floor and down the hall... Not the kind of activity one would expect from an 18 or 19 year old cat.
So this cancer stuff just stunned me and I'm rather bitter about it all...I think it would different if she was acting old, and was pretty blind and deaf...ect...
I've been crying so much, I'm almost sick from it. I've lost plenty of animals in my life and always it hurts.
But just like when I lost Harper, the dog in my avatar, due to diabetes...this bone cancer with Kayla...it's just so much harder because both animals should have had several more good years left in them.
I'm getting a grave dug tomorrow for Kayla and next week, the vet will come to my home and put her to sleep. I'm just glad my vet will do that and Kayla's last hour won't be spend being afraid due to a car trip and going into the vet's office. Right now her bone cancer has showed up in her left front leg...it's swollen 3 times bigger than it should be and her leg is like rock hard...but she's not running a temperature and while it's hard to walk as she can't bend her elbow, she doesn't seem to be in pain - but she is uncomfortable....and I don't want it to get past that point. I could probably let her live for another month or so, but it would be pointless to do so.
This is Kayla, I love greys....sometimes they look brownish, or grey, or silver, or even bluish in color - she did anyways.
This was her animal shelter photo as it appeared in PetFinder.
Once I got her home and she relaxed and ate well and was groomed more often her coat got softer and took on a nice shine that it didn't have at the shelter.
Stormy
So, in 2005, I adopted, what the shelter said was 'a very sweet 6 1/2 year old cat'
Lies upon Lies!!!!
or if I wish to be kind about it, 'overly optimistic in their assessment of this cat....lol. Her name at the shelter was Cleo..which I didn't really care for, and when I learned of her past, I renamed her Kayla to help her get past her bad memories. I learned she came from an abusive home where the man of the house kicked her often and the children tormented her. She was a nervous wreck for the first 2 years I owned her. Sometimes she would crawl up on my lap and I could pet her...but at first, if I even got near her tail she would freak. I think the kids use to pull on her tail.
After having my lovable, sweet Ashley for so many years, the personality differences between the two had me wondering if I had made a huge mistake in taking Kayla in. She was cranky, didn't trust me, and half the time when she was on my lap I didn't know if I should try to pet her or leave her along as either way it usually ended with her hissing and spiting and scrambling away...leaving bloody trails in my skin as she did so.
But, as the years wore on, she came to trust me, and then to want my company and learned she could gently jump down when she wanted to and not just sudden shoot off my lap in a whirlwind of claws and hissing. I suspect the kids use to hold on to her, even when she wanted to be let go, and so that was what she learned to do when she wanted to get away from people.
I took Kayla to the vet many times over the years and the vet seems to think that Kayla was probably more like 8 or 9 when I adopted her and not 6 1/2 as the shelter did. ( I think they look at those animals sometimes with rose colored glasses in hopes to get them adopted out...lol.)
Anyway, Kayla ended up being 'my girl' and while it took time, I came to love her deeply, just because she was a cranky old witch on the outside but inside she truly loved me and showed me her love...while the rest of the world just got to see her nasty mean cranky side.
I found out on Thursday that Kayla has bone cancer. And while she's probably 18 to 19 years old, her hearing is great, so is her eye sight, she barely has any arthritis issues and no dementia. She was still running zoomies through the house just a few weeks ago.. down the hall, up the kitty condo, up on the the piano jumping over the t.v and down on the floor and down the hall... Not the kind of activity one would expect from an 18 or 19 year old cat.
So this cancer stuff just stunned me and I'm rather bitter about it all...I think it would different if she was acting old, and was pretty blind and deaf...ect...
I've been crying so much, I'm almost sick from it. I've lost plenty of animals in my life and always it hurts.
But just like when I lost Harper, the dog in my avatar, due to diabetes...this bone cancer with Kayla...it's just so much harder because both animals should have had several more good years left in them.
I'm getting a grave dug tomorrow for Kayla and next week, the vet will come to my home and put her to sleep. I'm just glad my vet will do that and Kayla's last hour won't be spend being afraid due to a car trip and going into the vet's office. Right now her bone cancer has showed up in her left front leg...it's swollen 3 times bigger than it should be and her leg is like rock hard...but she's not running a temperature and while it's hard to walk as she can't bend her elbow, she doesn't seem to be in pain - but she is uncomfortable....and I don't want it to get past that point. I could probably let her live for another month or so, but it would be pointless to do so.
This is Kayla, I love greys....sometimes they look brownish, or grey, or silver, or even bluish in color - she did anyways.
This was her animal shelter photo as it appeared in PetFinder.
Once I got her home and she relaxed and ate well and was groomed more often her coat got softer and took on a nice shine that it didn't have at the shelter.
Stormy
