My cat, Tom, just got back from the vet's, where he got his spring shots. The vet said he's in perfect health and said it was because I take such good care of him, which is always nice to hear. Tom will be 16 this coming Friday. Personally, I think Tom's genes get more credit than me, since I really don't do anything special. He eats dry kibbles, which are put out for him to nibble on whenever he wants, I give him fresh water every day, and I let him in and out the door at his highness' pleasure. He gets petting and affection when it suits us to snuggle. He gets his shots yearly. He gets dewormed when I see signs of worms. To me, that's basic care, not anything above and beyond. I guess some people neglect their cats, and the vet is used to seeing less than the basic care.
So Tom will be sweet 16. I remember the day he was born on my living room couch. The couch was never the same after that experience. Tom was one of a litter of 6 kittens. His mother belonged to a neighbor, who neglected the cat, Midnight, and she sort of adopted Bill & me rather than her own family. She had started pooping in their closet, so she wasn't allowed inside anymore, and we started letting her in. She never pooped in our place. So one day she was in our apartment and I was sitting working at my desk with my back to the couch, and suddenly, I heard little mews. It was the first kitten, just born, and I crouched and watched with fascination as the others emerged. For a while, since the neighbor hadn't gotten Midnight spayed or her shots, I had been asking if we could adopt Midnight, and the neighbor kept saying no. So after the kittens were born, i put them in a cardboard box with some old rags to cushion the bottom and took them all to the neighbor, who had a sudden change of heart and said the cats were ours if we wanted them. So we adopted 7 cats that day. When the kittens were old enough to be weaned, I advertised free kittens, and people came and took some, but 2 kittens were left, and the adopters seemed to have dried up. We kept the 3 cats (getting Midnight spayed before we had more kittens), and unfortunately, the other kitten came home with an injury so severe, we had to have her put down. The vet thought she had been hit by a car. We had Tom and Midnight for many years, and then Midnight got renal failure, and I had to put her down, so now it's just Tom. Bill & I have said this is our last pet, and when Tom goes, we won't adopt another one, but we said that before, and then Midnight entered our lives, so who knows? Most of the animals I've had have just come knocking on my door, like Midnight did.