Just went through this twice in the last year with a 17, and then a 20+ year old kittie, both well-loved companions. Those last months are the hard ones, but they need us more, not less. To cut them off from us in their waning days is to spare ourselves the pain of impending loss, all at the expense of their dignity and comfort.

Gosh if only a person in his position could appreciate the need for compassion towards the elderly.

[–] ParabolicMotion@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The funny part is, she has been desperately trying to sit in his lap when I’m gone, during the day. I think he would miss her if she was out outside.

[–] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't normally wish ill on people and I have a passion for geriatrics but if your relative broke a knee I think they would be better off for it. A hard lesson in compassion, vulnerability and support for the disabled is a long time coming for them. If they can't recognize their sick pet of 15 years crying out for help and support then they deserve to feel exactly like that poor cat. Alone, afraid, and incapable

[–] ParabolicMotion@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

He recently hurt his back so badly that I had to help him get in and out of bed at night, and in the morning. When I was pregnant with my son, my foot broke because I fell down a ramp at work. I had to be placed in a boot and given a wheelchair because I couldn’t balance on crutches. I spent the night at his house, after that happened, and their hallway was too narrow for my wheelchair to fit. I asked for help and was told to stop complaining. I had to crawl to the toilet, down the hallway, because no one would help me. He brags about he used to intern at a hospital when he was in college. His job? Helping patients when the doctors placed them in traction with broken legs. I refuse to believe this man is my biological father. I swear he had someone else spit in an ancestry dna tube and just registered the tube to his email account.