Aging

While I was traveling, my pets stayed with friends, each with a different family. This works out well for everyone, because one family likes cats, one family likes dogs, and the cat and dog don't really like each other. (Although Ada is perfectly trained to hide this fact, of course.)

Coincidentally, each family mentioned upon my return how much that pet had aged since their last visit. It's hard to see those changes when you interact with someone every day. Molly the cat is deaf and can't jump on laps anymore. She is not completely reliable about using her litter box, and sometimes she wobbles a bit when she walks. Until recently I thought she was twelve years old, which is probably upper-middle age for a cat, but a conversation with my mother reminded me that Molly is sixteen, which is definitely on the elderly side. If I had to guess, I'd say that Molly won't be around much longer.

Ada the dog is most likely about nine years old. She's a mixed breed, aka a mutt, so it's harder to predict the length of her life, but it could be anywhere from ten to sixteen years. She is also nearly deaf, and now she cannot sniff or see quite as well as she used to. She has never been one for playing, but her frisky days occur less and less often.

Both pets appreciate a warm, cozy bed even more than they used to, and I'm trying to spend even more time appreciating them, for as long as I can.