Over in ASM, I was asked about my finances as a Chapter 13 Debtor in regard to the question of the costs of caring for senior cats, especially chronic vet bills. A good question, and here is my current answer.

Actually, it all started in February of 2002, when I was still in the process of coming to terms with my castration. An AA lady died, leaving behind 7 cats. Volunteers were asked for, and at the advice of my therapist at that time, who felt I was ready for this kind of responsibility, I took the two oldest. At the time, nobody realized that all 7 cats were still basically feral.

Alas, Tyler died shortly afterwards. The nice people of PACT (People And Cats Together) gave me a small cage and instructions on how to try and socialize Pearly, with the warning that she might be too old for the technique to work.

http://www.peopleandcats.com/

I list their URL, since I will mention them again later on, and there might be a quiz at the end of this posting. Anyhow, it worked, and after 3 months Pearly was socialized to me, although to no other human.

Now about paying for this. My Chapter 13 budget allows $40/month for pet care and grooming. To be honest about it, my overtime money is what I use for the care of the cats. My basic 40 hours a week is for me. It is barely adequate, but this morning I sent off my 17th monthly payment, of 36 required, to the Chapter 13 Trustee. So far, so good.

I moved in September 2002 to my current apartment. After Pearly settled down, it was time to get another cat to keep her company. That was Conway, 18 years old. The people of MUCH LOVE ANIMAL RESCUE understood my financial situation, and the result is that I pay for Conway’s food, litter, toys, heated beds, and so on. MUCH LOVE is paying the vet bills, including the pills I give Conway twice a day.

By May of 2003 (this year), Conway and Pearly had bonded, sometimes sleeping together, sometimes grooming each other. But a visit to the Vet in early June showed that Pearly’s kidney disease had gotten much worse, in spite of the expensive K/D diet the two cats were on, and she had liver cancer. I held her in my arms as she was put to sleep.

Conway was upset, so I decided on more cats. 14 year old Czarina came via CRITTER COMPANIONS. She also had weak kidneys, and now requires fluids once a week. As with Conway, I pay for everything except the bills for her weekly injection of fluids. (You should hear her hiss as the needle goes in and out.) 10 year old Max came from the Maine Coon Rescue League, and 7 year old Molly from TLC Adoptions. Both cats are reasonably healthy (although Molly needs to lose a lot of weight), and the annual check-up vet bills should be no problem on my current budget.

But what if they do develop some chronic problem that requires repeated vet visits? In that case, I will have to ask for financial help from the adoption agencies, or return the cats to them. I am hoping neither case will be needed, but who can tell the future?

Ah yes, the future. Back to PACT. If you went to their web site, you may have noted that they are starting a Senior Program. This involves pairing senior cats with senior humans, with PACT footing any long term chronic vet bills. An idea whose time has come, in my opinion.

I have no intention of adopting another cat at the moment. Four seems OK, and I am not sure what the limits are in Los Angeles County and/or City of Torrance about the number of cats allowed in a single dwelling. But if and when one of the cats dies, the replacement may well come from the PACT Senior Adoption Program. Time will tell.

So here it is, 3 PM on Monday Afternoon. Conway is in his heated bed in the living room window. Czarina is on the heated pad next to my computer monitor, “helping” me with this posting. I pet her between sentences. Max is on the heated cat bed placed near my pillow on “my” bed. Molly is on the heated pad on the stair leading up to the first level of the big cat tree. All seem to be awake, just relaxing. They relax a lot whilst I slave away. <G>

Sundays and Mondays are still my days off. No overtime this week, due to my change from day shift to swing shift. But we do have December coming up, with lots of overtime to deal with the Christmas traffic.

Thursday Afternoon:

I received the following e-mail concerning Conway’s age from the lady of MUCH LOVE ANIMAL RESCUE

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Hi Harry,

It was an estimate from the vet based on his teeth etc. He was at a

collector's house when we got him. He could be anywhere from 15-19 at

this point. Poor health can make the teeth worse and make the estimate

off.

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Anyhow, I have a two month supply of pills for Conway, which brings us to January 2004, which will mean I have had him for one full year and it is time for another annual checkup at the vet. As far as I can tell, he is not in pain or feeling uncomfortable. When not resting in the several heated beds, he wanders around with alert interest. Old but dignified.

Czarina received her weekly fluids this morning, with her usual hisses and yowls, and is now resting besides my computer helping me type this. Max is resting in his Condo, since he cannot nap on my bed at the moment. I am doing my weekly washing of bedding, both my own and the cats. Molly is resting on her heated pad on the living room cat tree.

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Things look to be OK on Tour 3. My supervisor wants me to train on the AFCS, which stands for Automatic Facing and Canceling System. I am assigned to learn as much as I can as on-the-job-training. Eventually I will be sent to Norman, Oklahoma for a formal six week school on the machine. I do not look forward to a six week separation from the cats, but it has to be done.

Until then, no more overtime. I will be getting some “night differential” pay, which will hardly make up for the lost overtime. On the other hand, I could use two days off per week instead of one, and I foresee no more big buys of cat furniture for some time. I have more then enough infrastructure now to keep four old cats comfortable and contented.

I have sent off payment #17 of 36 monthly payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee, and will now try to put together $400 for a visit to the dentist (teeth cleaning, x-rays, etc.) next week after paying rent. Things are looking up, and my stress levels are way down. Sleeping a full eight hours is much easier on the swing shift then on the day shift.

As an occasional bird watcher, I don't usually have much enthusiasm for cats. However, your charges sound like they wouldn't even pose a threat to a mouse with a broken leg. They do sound like rather interesting personalities. I recall that you once had a pic of Pearly on a post. It might be interesting if you put up photos of your current group.