how my old girl is training me to never leave her alone!
i have an 18 yr old cat who is a bit of a princess and really always has been. she was my sisters cat for her first 16 yrs, but due to problems with her elderly dog, i was lucky enough to adopt her as mine.
well, i spoil this girl rotten! she is so sweet to me and so loves to be petted and loved, and i of course just adore that, so i give in to her every whim.
not to mention, she *is* the oldest cat i personally have ever known, so to me she is very special.
well she is in fairly good health for an old girl, but a bit senile as well as hard of hearing and has some vision trouble, not enough to bother her too much, but it does make her anxious. and i have to be careful not to startle her by coming up behind her, etc
well i seldom leave my house for more than an hour at a time
if i leave for three hours, which i do to go to doctors appts (i am disabled and do not work) then she gets very clingy, and sometimes will even get so upset that she makes herself vomit, and then she won't eat, and on it goes
did i mention she is a bit of a princess? LOL
she also hates to be pilled, and if i have to give her any med for more than a day or so, she again, will stop eating and make herself sick, and then i have to give her fluids and syringe feed her.
so anyway!! my question *finally* is, how do i go about getting her used to me going out more often?
i was thinking, if something happened to me, or i was delayed in getting home, well its just not good for a cat to be THIS needy and dependent on one person
(there is no other person that can take care of her, another issue for another day!!)
right now, i need to figure out how to go about getting her used to the idea that i can be out for say, two or three hours, and she will be ok.
after i have been out for awhile, she will wake up all the time to come and check to make sure that i am still here- now she meows very loudly, but then when she sees me, she does this little squeakie meow, as if to say, oh!! you *are* still here, um sorry for all that racket!!
see why i love her so! she is just the cutest damn cat!
she loves the camera, i take it out and she poses, puts her head down on her paws and then rolls on her side, what a hoot!!
so, any ideas on how to help her with her clinginess?
obviously my original idea of not leaving her alone very often or for too long was not very practical.
she may even have picked up on that and started to fear being alone even more, so i have to approach this more matter of factly, like, she is not going to die if she is alone for a bit, in fact, for most of that time she is asleep!
(she is awake all night, eating and pestering me! yes my whole life revolves around her!!)
thanks for getting this far, sorry it was so long!
i have an 18 yr old cat who is a bit of a princess and really always has been. she was my sisters cat for her first 16 yrs, but due to problems with her elderly dog, i was lucky enough to adopt her as mine.
well, i spoil this girl rotten! she is so sweet to me and so loves to be petted and loved, and i of course just adore that, so i give in to her every whim.
not to mention, she *is* the oldest cat i personally have ever known, so to me she is very special.
well she is in fairly good health for an old girl, but a bit senile as well as hard of hearing and has some vision trouble, not enough to bother her too much, but it does make her anxious. and i have to be careful not to startle her by coming up behind her, etc
well i seldom leave my house for more than an hour at a time
if i leave for three hours, which i do to go to doctors appts (i am disabled and do not work) then she gets very clingy, and sometimes will even get so upset that she makes herself vomit, and then she won't eat, and on it goes
did i mention she is a bit of a princess? LOL
she also hates to be pilled, and if i have to give her any med for more than a day or so, she again, will stop eating and make herself sick, and then i have to give her fluids and syringe feed her.
so anyway!! my question *finally* is, how do i go about getting her used to me going out more often?
i was thinking, if something happened to me, or i was delayed in getting home, well its just not good for a cat to be THIS needy and dependent on one person
(there is no other person that can take care of her, another issue for another day!!)
right now, i need to figure out how to go about getting her used to the idea that i can be out for say, two or three hours, and she will be ok.
after i have been out for awhile, she will wake up all the time to come and check to make sure that i am still here- now she meows very loudly, but then when she sees me, she does this little squeakie meow, as if to say, oh!! you *are* still here, um sorry for all that racket!!
see why i love her so! she is just the cutest damn cat!
she loves the camera, i take it out and she poses, puts her head down on her paws and then rolls on her side, what a hoot!!
so, any ideas on how to help her with her clinginess?
obviously my original idea of not leaving her alone very often or for too long was not very practical.
she may even have picked up on that and started to fear being alone even more, so i have to approach this more matter of factly, like, she is not going to die if she is alone for a bit, in fact, for most of that time she is asleep!
(she is awake all night, eating and pestering me! yes my whole life revolves around her!!)
thanks for getting this far, sorry it was so long!
