Our dear fellow is getting on. The vet equates him with a human of about 100 years old. We estimate, based upon the time we have known and experienced him, that he has to be 19 this year. His formal birthday is July 31, which is the day we rescued him. And, our prince is once again giving us a holiday from a tight schedule of insulin shots. His glucose readings while on Lantus, and since, are recorded here.
Hamlet is still in need of a minor dose of phenobarbital to prevent a return of night time seizures that brought about the last regression back to insulin. The previous time we stopped him completely after dropping his insulin but are taking this much more cautiously. We don't want to lose our boy to anything other than very old age. (-;
We can feel Hamlet's spine quite prominently these days, which hurts as it reminds us he could be older than we think, and that our experience with him is not going to go on forever. We still take him for daily walks. Smaller walks happen indoors on rainy days, but those have not had to happen too frequently. In spite of the consistent exercise Hamlet has developed arthritis, so is being given Sasha's Flexibites. He has only been on them for a couple of weeks but I swear they are working as he is standing a little taller on his haunches and starting to venture out onto the deck on sunny days instead of staying in his bed. He is also having constipation issues as his activity level reduces so we need to keep an eye on him and give him a boost of Lactulose once in a while to keep things moving. We haven't found Metamucil to be of much use, although it was recommended to us.
Well, off I go to take Hamlet out to enjoy his garden with the birds, squirrels, and sundry wildlife he likes to sit and enjoy a bit before trudging back the 200 feet to his bed.
We wish all the geriatrics in our family were doing as well as our dear boy.
At right, when DH takes Hamlet for a walk they go way up the street. Hamlet usually takes his walks with Harley, (dog), for safety as we have a healthy population of coyotes, large owls, bobcats, and bears. Hamlet has been through enough lifetimes for two cats, so we don't need the added expenses of preditory attacks.
As the other cats are active enough not to need this extra exercise they stay in safety on the deck where they bellow at us, or indoors with noses pressed to the windows.
