ice water and ocicats

I took Nala to the vet yesterday for her annual checkup, where the vet said this was the oldest cat she'd ever seen. They checked her out pretty thoroughly and basically told me she's old. Arthritis in the back knees maybe, so we're going to try pain medication for a week to see whether it seems to help her get around. And she's lost some weight.

I have been thinking lately about what a load the cats really are. Most mornings there's at least one mess on the floor; it's hard to feed Nala, the other two fight at night, the litterbox is a daily thing and of course they track fur and litter everywhere. I love them, and they make me laugh and give us both something to take pictures of. And also, when I get stressed sometimes I think about friends' houses I have been over to, rather clean ones usually, where they can leave a game in progress on a table (whaaaat?) and eat their damn food in peace.

Yesterday I put these thoughts in one place with coronavirus-related thoughts for the first time. One day, maybe in a couple of years or maybe a bit longer, but one day, we'll probably be able to travel again. I've missed out on several semi-important trips lately because of staying home with Nala, and now there are even bigger reasons not to travel. When we can again, I'd like it to be easier.

So, basically, maybe we should simply not replace this cat population as it goes. Nala is 22.5 (!) and unlikely to outlast the pandemic, Threat Level is probably 8-9 and Hypercube is 6. We're not used to thinking of the younger two as being old at all because they're so much younger than Nala, but Threat Level will be considered senior in a couple of years and he did some time outdoors before he came to us. Anyway, two is easier than three, and one is easier than two (as long as he/she is sedate enough to be content as the only feline), and zero...? I've never had zero as an adult. Maybe I should at least try it sometime for a year or two? I floated the idea with heisenbug and he agreed it's at least a worthy hypothetical, to be discussed again at times when the cat population changes.

Has anyone here ever gone from pets to no pets? What was it like?

I took a fast, fast trip to California. I didn't like it, but it turns out that traveling with just a backpack and purse is rather marvelous, and upgrading one's red-eye to business class means one actually sleeps. The difference between four hours of solid sleep and a couple hours of partial sleep is huge. I've never flown business class before, so that's a first for me... I'd say "too bad I missed most of it" but no, that's a good thing.

Nala is still doing better, which is to say: comfortable, for now. She's getting nightly fluids, and eating again (a diet of 100% tuna, which is bad for her kidneys except that her kidneys are already a lost cause), and her breath has stopped being awful, and she's stopped drooling. The vets say we're out of options, but this temporary bounce is giving us some extra snuggle time.

Work is a pretty emotional landscape right now -- well, maybe just for L7s. But still. I cried this week, my manager cried, one of our peers cried. I had some insights. And then I got an enormous raise, along with the news that I might be expanding my empire soon instead of shrinking it (yes yes, I suppose this is a secret, but it's vague and I'm not worried about saying it here). Some of my personal plans for emotional absolution are being thwarted by this, but my director is probably right that it's a better solution for the person I was trying to help. Soooooo, that was all fine-ish but I very much needed a drink after work on Friday.

I'm actually not trashed from all this, possibly because I have no more travel plans. heisenbug said I didn't have to go to the usual NYE gathering and I took him up on it, and I said no to a January thing in Chicago; I'll get to stay here with Nala now, until she doesn't need me anymore. Thank goodness.