Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Puppies and kittens eventually get old

Be very clear on this when falling in love with those furry little faces. So cute and playful and full of innocence. Of course- they destroy your house as toddlers, we expect this, it’s part of the package. Kittens with their razor sharp claws climbing up the curtains and inside the furniture. And puppies with their occasional piddles and relentless chewing on your slippers, socks and chair legs. We laugh through our annoyance. We say “oh. that little so and so did it again.” And we are grimacing…but then when they crawl into our laps, all tiny and fuzzy and tired --we melt. All is forgiven. Go buy new shoes.

But what we don’t see in their little bright eyes is their last days –when their eating becomes so finicky they are weak and wobbly. They loose their hair, their eyes weep with mucus, their sight is failing, and their cognizance is questionable. When the accidents happen not out of ignorance but of incontinence. They will vomit, and seize and bleed and not sleep through the night. There are no convalescent homes or visiting nurses. There’s no way to ask questions, no way to know how long it will go on. You just keep trying new food, wiping up the mess, helping them out the door because they forgot they had to ‘go’ and wait. Yes, we wait. We wait for the end, or we wait for a sign or we wait to make a decision or we wait …because there is nothing else to do but wait, and clean and wipe and feed and sweep and wait.
Your puppies and kittens will get old.

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