All Things Must Pass

Yes, All Things Must Pass, my friends. That is the name of a wonderful George Harrison album. It is also the title of this post.

George loved his garden. And his gnomes. 

The thing that is passing in this particular instance appears to be what was left of my continence.

I'm just going to talk straight here. You probably know the story, but folks never seem to tire of hearing it. Basically, I fell out of an 80' palm tree when I was just one year old, right after I was adopted from the shelter. Don't ask me what I was doing up there, because I really don't remember at this point. It was almost seventeen years ago, after all.

Not the tree I fell out of. These are the trees
where I live now. But it looked just like this.

Anyway, I did, and I hurt my back, but the vet didn't find anything in particular to treat, and said I'd probably walk a little funny and get arthritis early. Well, I do walk a little bit funny, especially for the last several years, but all in all I've done pretty well.

Four and a half years ago something gave out and I was paralyzed for a little while - something to do with that original accident. I got better, but I never got the feeling back in my tail, so it just follows me around like a pony tail. I've also been more or less, lately more, incontinent, ever since.

Mom tried everything and eventually we settled on a system of using Simple Solution 'washable diapers' that are made for girl dogs in heat. I take a medium. Just sayin'. They're really pants and I prefer to call them that, if you don't mind.

That dog is NOT a Medium. 

Mom puts on my pants every morning and changes the Poise pad in them a couple times during the day, then takes them off so I can sleep naked in my bathroom at night.

It's worked fine and at night I've made it to the litter box about 50% of the time - sometimes more. I always knew approximately when I needed to go, but sometimes it would happen just as I was heading toward, or walking away from the litter box. This is not an exact science, people. Hopefully, you'll never experience this yourself. Those pads are made for humans, you know...

So this past week, Mom noticed that she hasn't had to clean the litter box at all. It's been clean every morning, which sounds like a good thing, but it really means I just can't tell when I have to go at all anymore. Well, I can, but not in time to actually make it to the box.  My warning time has gotten much shorter that it used to be.

Hello? Simple Solutions? Your cat model is waiting for your call...

Which is good news and bad news, really. Good news in that no one needs to clean a litter box anymore, or buy cat litter for that matter. Bad news in that Mom has to put towels and training pads down on the floor of the bathroom every night. It's not that big a deal, though. She just picks up the towels and the pads and does whatever it is that she does with them, cleans the floor with Lysol wipes, puts on my pants and we're off to the balcony to check the weather and eat some kitty grass.

It is a little sad, admitting that I am almost, pretty much - OK, completely incontinent, but hey! I'm here, I'm loud and I'm proud. I'm eating and drinking and taking my meds. I'm peeing and pooping, not necessarily where most cats do, but it's better than not peeing or pooping at all!

I'm almost always in a good mood and I have two people who love me as much as they love each other and a beautiful young Bengal in England who adores me, and an old man cat like me really can't ask for more than that.

=^..^=