It's the mom bean here today. For those who've followed this blog for a long time, you'll know that our Sasha is, for lack of a better term, ancient. We don't know exactly when he was born, but have used May 25 or 27 as his birthday. The date was selected based on his approximate age when he was adopted and coincides with the date we moved into our old house. Accordingly, he has reached an age of 21 years, 5 months this week.
Recently, I've begun seeing some significant changes in Sasha. He is now sleeping nearly 23 hours a day. Rather, I assume he is as I sleep 6-7 hours a day and don't know what he's up to then.
His eating habits have changed too. I feed the cats wet food twice a day, each receiving about a third of a can of Fancy Feast at each meal. There is also dry kibble available at all times. In the last week or so, Sasha has not been eating as much wet food at meal time as he did previously. Instead, he's been eating a small amount, then napping, then waking up asking for more food about an hour or two later. This has carried on throughout the day. Since I am home, I've been catering to his needs. (Saku has been quite confused by this development.)
Sasha is showing signs of physical decline as well. Getting up and down from the bed, or onto the chair next to my son is increasingly becoming more difficult. I have added a shorter stool to the side of the bed, so that he can use both stools to get up. Last night, I woke in the middle of the night to him curled up next to me - he's obviously figured it out. C says he will circle the chair until C lifts him onto or off the chair.
He's been nearly deaf for sometime now - he startles easily if we come up behind him. Now he seems to losing his eyesight. I suspect he has cataracts as his eyes are clouding over. However, he is quite capable for finding his way around the house. He certainly can find his favorite sleeping spots.
I suspect we may not have him with us much longer. But for now, he's still eating, drinking his water, and eliminating. Sasha seems content and he hasn't exhibited any signs of pain. This latter factor isn't necessarily a good thing, as I know cats are pretty stoic. But for now, we'll keep doing what we can to ensure he is comfortable and safe. My hope is that he will fall asleep one day, and simply not wake. But if the day comes, that Sasha is unable to continue, I will make that difficult decision to let him go. My son and I have been talking about it; this post is part of my own coming to terms with the thought of losing Sasha.
