May 25, 2021 by Maggie McNeill
Aeryn was born in March, 2002, which makes her now the cat equivalent of roughly 107 years old. She's remarkably spry for that advanced age, but as you can see she's greyed considerably. We suspect she's also arthritic, because though she was always a very talkative cat, she now complains frequently (it's difficult to describe the vocalizations as anything but "complaining", as you may have heard yourself if you've seen me on Zoom). So a couple of years ago, Grace started sharing the cannabis tincture she uses for her arthritis with our little old lady; because Aeryn's tummy has become pretty delicate, Grace makes her a "stew" of warm water and pate-style cat food, adding a few drops to the mixture. After eating a bit of that, she's content for hours, generally sleeping on the sofa or sitting in someone's lap to be petted while purring a bit raggedly. Then after about 24 hours she declares whatever's left too old, and complains until Grace makes her a new bowl (the remains of the previous bowl go to my dog Annie, who gets to enjoy a buzz for a few hours). We need to keep her bowl up on the counter because the dogs think any food on the floor is theirs; as you can see, her water fountain (which Grace made her sometime in the Oughts) is also there. But because she's no longer strong enough to jump all the way up, Grace made her a little staircase (you can barely see the top of it at lower left) so she can reach the dining area. Yes, we spoil her a bit, but we know that she probably only has a little time left in this world, and she's been a (mostly) good kitty for two decades now. So I think it's the least we can do for a beloved friend to make the last part of her life as comfortable as possible.
