Life long friends, Sam and Lilli.

A week ago this past Monday I had an appointment to take both Sam and crazy cat, Lilli, to the vet for their geriatric exams. Since the vet’s office is out in the country and it takes almost twenty-five minutes to get there, I often try to schedule appointments for at least two of the pets at once. Lilli is eleven years old and as scrappy as ever. Last Saturday, I found her gnawing on the body of a dead chipmunk. I’ve vowed no more cats when she’s gone because they like to control the population of birds and small mammals in the neighborhood. I’m no longer willing to put up with that. But I still love her and I’ll take good care of her to the end. Fortunately her hunting prowess isn’t what it used to be, but she still manages a catch once in a while.

Sam is in his 14th year. He’s mostly deaf, though when I jingle the car keys he’s up from his day long nap and ready to go for a ride in the car in an instant. He has a heart murmur and his energy is on the low side, although on cold mornings when he comes back in from our morning walk around the block, he runs around in circles, acting as though he’s only one or two years old. He’s been a regular visitor at the vet’s for months now having his heart and vitamin B12 levels checked. At times he’s very hard to wake up and Bill and I are praying that when Sam is ready to cross the rainbow bridge, it won’t be too painful for him. It most definitely will be for us and also for six year old Max, who also came along with us on the trip to the vet. He doesn’t like to be away from Sam or Lilli for long. Bill also came with us as the one-armed dog and cat wrangler and helped get Lilli’s crate into the building while I took Sam for a quick pee before his exam. That left Max in the car by himself, screeching and whining because he’d been left behind. When I hollered over to him to stop being a baby, his consternation grew even louder.

But even before that, within the first five minutes of the trip, yowling Lilli had vomited and pooped all over the inside of her crate. She does it every time we take her to the vet. And because we need to do the rest of the trip with window wide open so that we can breathe and not get sick ourselves, it’s not a good idea to do these trips during the winter months. I need to remember these times the next time I see an adorable kitten that needs a good home. I’m such a sucker and it’s difficult to say “NO” when it comes to creatures who need love, despite my promise to myself, “No More!”

Once at the vet, we all crammed into the tiny examination room. There was little room for the vet or her assistant so both Sam and Lilli were taken to another room where their exams were done. I’m sure the staff wonders why we need to make our visits a family event with two adults instead of one and a dog that doesn’t need to be there at all, but we hate to leave Max home alone and I needed Bill, even with only one working arm to help me manage the other two. I imagine we looked like the harried parents of  two year-old, out of control triplets, taking them to the pediatrician for their yearly shots. I must admit it kinda felt that way. None of us really wanted to be there, especially Sam, Lillie, and Max.

Happily, when we left, everyone had been declared healthy, at least for the moment. Sam has an appointment with a heart specialist later today to check that heart murmur and let us know if he can undergo anesthesia so that his teeth can be cleaned and a few rotten ones pulled.

These creatures that we’ve brought into our lives are precious to us. We feel the same way about them as we do our children and grandchildren. They are also my therapists! Unfortunately their lives are shorter than our own and we deeply mourn their loss when they’re gone. When their exams are called geriatric exams instead of yearly checkups, I begin getting a bit sad about the future and try to make their remaining time with us even more special than it was before.

Do you have a pet or pets? What role do they play in your life?