Onyx Passes Away at 19 Years

With a heavy heart we said goodbye to Onyx on Tuesday – almost exactly 11 years after we accepted him into our Older Cats for Older People Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Onyx was a transfer from the local animal control shelter who knew little about him other than he appeared to be at least 8 years old making him “too old” for their adoption program. 

    

His past was a blank because he was turned in as a homeless stray cat, yet he could equally have been someone’s indoor-outdoor pet.  Unlike most cats, Onyx had zero fear of people and so while playing outdoors, would have approached any stranger passing by -- and that friendliness may have cost him his original home.  All too often people who see cats outdoors assume the worst – that the cat has been abandoned by its guardian and/or gotten lost and will “die on the streets” -- where in reality they have a home and a caregiver nearby.  They needlessly uproot the cats and take them to a shelter where they are as likely killed as re-homed.

    

Moving to our cage-free older cat sanctuary turned out to be a boon for Onyx – as he thoroughly enjoyed the companionship of both people and other cats.  Of the 70+ cats we took in, he was one of only 3 that immediately settled in to group living.  He loved other cats and would spend hours snuggling and grooming them – yet every now and then he’d attack a cat without notice or provocation.  And – if it had not been for a pesky problem he had with nipping people, he could have been adopted out several times over in spite of his advanced age.    Visitors were fascinated by his extroversion and his willingness to jump up on their laps even though he didn't know them.  Caring for Onyx over the last 11 years wasn't always easy -- but it was always fascinating.  His incredible openness and curiosity made him a cat bar none.

Losing a cat is often like losing a family member.  It gives you a sudden feeling of helplessness that you couldn't do something to intervene.    Yet – as we've learned so often in caring for the cats in our Older Cat Program death is unstoppable and – in a strange way – often kind.  Onyx had been dying for a long time – you could almost see him fading away as his weight steadily dropped from 17 pounds 18 months ago to just under 5 pounds on Tuesday.  Over that time he was examined by 5 different veterinarians with no definitive diagnosis as to the cause of the weight loss.   Sure he was old and was hyperthyroid and had chronic kidney disease – but there was no "smoking gun" as to what was going on with him.    Yet as much as we saw him physically erode, mentally he stayed alert up until Monday afternoon when he became very tired and we knew it was time to say goodbye – to let him sleep in peace forever – and hopefully to get to the Rainbow Bridge to reconnect with all his old TLC friends that passed before him.  

Our Acute Veterinary Care for Cats Gets a Makeover

Tripod was born without a rear leg but it didn't cause any

problems until something started to grow at the stub.  The

vet removed the stub and now she's doing fine.

Our feline Acute Veterinary Care Program – initiated last January -- got off to a very slow start.  Partly because we wanted it to -- so we could do some beta testing before we got too deep into it – and partly because the system we set up to handle the applications was cumbersome to the point of scaring caregivers, vet clinics and ourselves away from it. Learning from our early participants, we've fine-tuned the program to strip out most of the red tape and now the program seems to work almost as smoothly as our seasoned spay/neuter program does.

Full Full details on the program are on our website, but here are the key changes:

We no longer require Care Credit applications from all applicants – only those not receiving food stamps.  SNAP recipients simply fax us written confirmation of their account and we accept that as proof of financial need. 

We now include the cost of the initial vet exam to determine what’s wrong with the cat in our eligible expenses.    Most veterinary assistance programs exclude this first visit and we originally followed suit.  Ironically by doing so, those most in need of our financial help were least likely to participate since they couldn't pay for the initial exam. 

 We no longer require the vet clinic provide us with a written quote of the charges before we approve the cat.  We simply limit our vouchers to covering reasonable and customary services and supplies to treat the acute care issue we describe on the voucher – and limit the amount of aid we can provide to a maximum of $300/cat.

And, instead of faxing a voucher to the clinic while the cat is waiting for treatment, we now e-mail the voucher to the Caregiver before the appointment is made.  They simply print out the voucher (at home or at the library) and take it with the cat to any of our participating clinics who accept it as a “coupon” to cover the work described on it up to the $300 limit.

11-Year old Tessa had a growth on her

head that started to grow.  The vet

removed it and found that it was benign.

Our mission is to keep cats in their homes – off the streets and out of shelters.  We’ve always know that sterilization was the key to this.  But – as kittens grow into cats – acute health issues invariably arise and can threaten the cat’s long-term home as much as not being sterilized can.    Worse yet – a simple acute care issue left untreated can result in permanent damage to a cat or even death.  We hope by adding this supplemental service we’ll further our mission of keeping cats in their homes, happy, healthy and living out their lives with those who love them.