[Iggypuss]

The "elderly question"? email dated today. 17th April 2023.​

Hi, I'm a newbie to this section so I'm a junior . At 61.5 y.o. I have no issues with age definition and for some years now I've not asked anyone (unless they're confused) "how young are you?". Often they're visually "huh". "What's your age? I really have no idea these days at the age of almost anyone as thanks to many things, kids (I never had) and cosmetic injections, surgical gawd knows what interventions (bet there's a few surprises at birth of a child from some individual parents re the looks of their child as it grows) and each persons DNA is so different.

When I was young, I had a naturally baby faced look. At 4 I thought 20 was old. At high school baby face plagued me as others were more developed than me (started school at 4 and no kinder). BUT cough cough, revenge is sweet in a way that I had to prove (couldn't) that I was 21 for my 21st party at a venue.

The last time I got asked for proof of age I was 25. Not having had children and spent many years partying and holding down a full time job in corporate, 3 part time jobs and eventually jumping fence to work in rock'n'roll (dumb move but fun to a degree) I've to me remained feeling like I'm still 26 in my head BUT body has made me feel differently. No one can ever guess my age and I take good care of myself as the face is the mirror of what you're feeling, inside and out.

I've certainly not had an easy life but always remained positive and happy as best as possible. Takes less muscles to smile than frown or be angry let alone the stress (plenty of that). So body got diagnosed age 40 (took 7-8 years to diagnose) with Fibromyalgia. Now 3 kinds of arthritis, lifelong Neutropenia, Dupytrens disease, recently diagnosed with Celiac, ace, uhhhhh there's more that's enough but I still soldier on and flap my wings of mercy to help others usually at my expense physically and mentally but I love giving more than receiving.

So age? A figment of our imagination? Expectations of others? or who gives a stuff? As long as you can do your best to be happy, that's all that's needed. Now off to my vino.

Oh, and seniors meals are the best once I got my Seniors card. Was a cracker. And to those of you in your 70's (I'm not that faraway, 62 in August), 80's wow, 90's excellent behaviour and may you hit the 100+ mark.

Bumma (sorry if you're a royal) but I'd prefer a letter from the Queen than that guy.

 

[Jarred Santos]

The "elderly question"? email dated today. 17th April 2023.​

Hi, I'm a newbie to this section so I'm a junior . At 61.5 y.o. I have no issues with age definition and for some years now I've not asked anyone (unless they're confused) "how young are you?". Often they're visually "huh". "What's your age? I really have no idea these days at the age of almost anyone as thanks to many things, kids (I never had) and cosmetic injections, surgical gawd knows what interventions (bet there's a few surprises at birth of a child from some individual parents re the looks of their child as it grows) and each persons DNA is so different. When I was young, I had a naturally baby faced look. At 4 I thought 20 was old. At high school baby face plagued me as others were more developed than me (started school at 4 and no kinder). BUT cough cough, revenge is sweet in a way that I had to prove (couldn't) that I was 21 for my 21st party at a venue. The last time I got asked for proof of age I was 25. Not having had children and spent many years partying and holding down a full time job in corporate, 3 part time jobs and eventually jumping fence to work in rock'n'roll (dumb move but fun to a degree) I've to me remained feeling like I'm still 26 in my head BUT body has made me feel differently. No one can ever guess my age and I take good care of myself as the face is the mirror of what you're feeling, inside and out. I've certainly not had an easy life but always remained positive and happy as best as possible. Takes less muscles to smile than frown or be angry let alone the stress (plenty of that). So body got diagnosed age 40 (took 7-8 years to diagnose) with Fibromyalgia. Now 3 kinds of arthritis, lifelong Neutropenia, Dupytrens disease, recently diagnosed with Celiac, ace, uhhhhh there's more that's enough but I still soldier on and flap my wings of mercy to help others usually at my expense physically and mentally but I love giving more than receiving. So age? A figment of our imagination? Expectations of others? or who gives a stuff? As long as you can do your best to be happy, taht's all that's needed. Now off to my vino. Oh, and seniors meals are the best once I got my Seniors card. Was a cracker. And to those of you 70's (I'm not that faraway), 80's wow, 90's excellent behaviour and may you hit the 100+ mark. Bumma (sorry if you're a royal) but I'd prefer a lwtter from the Queen than that guy.

Hello @Iggypuss, and welcome to the forum! What a spirited introduction you have over here 'As long as you can do your best to be happy, that's all that's needed,' is such a wonderful thing to read!

 

[Iggypuss]

Hello @Iggypuss, and welcome to the forum! What a spirited introduction you have over here 'As long as you can do your best to be happy, that's all that's needed,' is such a wonderful thing to read!

Hello @jarred, thank you for that response. Glad you liked it. Yeah I'm chatty, talk to anyone and don't act my age, just can't do but as mentioned, I have limitations these days and always a happy face and love to make people smile and laugh. Those things too keep you young at heart.

Thought my name besides Iggypuss would show up. It's Julie. Iggy was my 9th rescue cat who lived till 21. I told myself no more. Hurts too much but 'ello, 4 more rescues and all from my vet. I'm the Cat Whisperer, and the vet knows it and that I'm a sucker.

Adore all critters. Adore nature full stop. It's my religion. Was handling a preying mantis earlier, awesome little insects. Love the way their heads move to watch you. I don't think (until I see a dangerous snake) I'm scared of much. Got a happy black house spider in the kitchen, usually used by a Daddy Long Legs. Missed Summer this year cos there wasn't one!! Barely any Cicadas, a few crickets, the Correlas came twice a day for 4 weeks and shredded our court of Manchurian Pear trees. They in last 4-5 years came once by a couple of hundred and did it in an afternoon. Think Hitcock Birds movie and went on their way. And now we have èl nino almost if not here. Extremely unusual. 3 La Nìnas super rare and the Èl Nino agin, nature not happy but not climate change. Just nature albeit plants a little confused. Creatures loved our lockdowns. Had all sorts of changes including a visit from Black Cocakatoos! On North Rd GArdenvale/Brighton Melbourne.

Whatever happens to us down the track, nature will prevail. The end of rant #2.

 

[Jarred Santos]

Hello @jarred, thank you for that response. Glad you liked it. Yeah I'm chatty, talk to anyone and don't act my age, just can't do but as mentioned, I have limitations these days and always a happy face and love to make people smile and laugh. Those things too keep you young at heart.

Thought my name besides Iggypuss would show up. It's Julie. Iggy was my 9th rescue cat who lived till 21. I told myself no more. Hurts too much but 'ello, 4 more rescues and all from my vet. I'm the Cat Whisperer, and the vet knows it and that I'm a sucker.

Adore all critters. Adore nature full stop. It's my religion. Was handling a preying mantis earlier, awesome little insects. Love the way their heads move to watch you. I don't think (until I see a dangerous snake) I'm scared of much. Got a happy black house spider in the kitchen, usually used by a Daddy Long Legs. Missed Summer this year cos there wasn't one!! Barely any Cicadas, a few crickets, the Correlas came twice a day for 4 weeks and shredded our court of Manchurian Pear trees. They in last 4-5 years came once by a couple of hundred and did it in an afternoon. Think Hitcock Birds movie and went on their way. And now we have èl nino almost if not here. Extremely unusual. 3 La Nìnas super rare and the Èl Nino agin, nature not happy but not climate change. Just nature albeit plants a little confused. Creatures loved our lockdowns. Had all sorts of changes including a visit from Black Cocakatoos! On North Rd GArdenvale/Brighton Melbourne.

Whatever happens to us down the track, nature will prevail. The end of rant #2.

Well, Julie @Iggypuss, I'll have you know you put more than one smile on my face while reading this!

I can certainly relate to your sentiments for dearest Iggy. I'm certainly still hurting over my dog Enya (named after a singer --- ask my sister why that, of all names! But I would've adored her even if her name was Begonia or Teacup), who crossed the rainbow bridge over five years ago. I'm still at my 'no more' phase, and I think I will be for at least a couple of years more. I guess I'm afraid if take on another pet, I'll eventually forget about Enya. I don't know.

But as for cats, did you know I used to despise them? But in my uni years, I came across a few strays, and I learned to love them, especially an orange cat that I never got around to naming. I love that you call yourself the 'Cat Whisperer'! Perhaps you are the key to unlocking why they seem to stare at one spot far off in the distance sometimes, which scares me because they could be looking at an entity unseen to human eyes (that's my scaredy cat brain talking, haha!) for all I know.

It's a shame about the insects, too. I've also noticed that there seem to be quite a lot fewer these days compared to years past, and I can't help but worry if it's a sign of things getting worse? Like it's nature pulling back little by little. I agree that these things, paired with odd weather, is something extremely unusual!

 

[Iggypuss]

Well, Julie @Iggypuss, I'll have you know you put more than one smile on my face while reading this!

I can certainly relate to your sentiments for dearest Iggy. I'm certainly still hurting over my dog Enya (named after a singer --- ask my sister why that, of all names! But I would've adored her even if her name was Begonia or Teacup), who crossed the rainbow bridge over five years ago. I'm still at my 'no more' phase, and I think I will be for at least a couple of years more. I guess I'm afraid if take on another pet, I'll eventually forget about Enya. I don't know.

But as for cats, did you know I used to despise them? But in my uni years, I came across a few strays, and I learned to love them, especially an orange cat that I never got around to naming. I love that you call yourself the 'Cat Whisperer'! Perhaps you are the key to unlocking why they seem to stare at one spot far off in the distance sometimes, which scares me because they could be looking at an entity unseen to human eyes (that's my scaredy cat brain talking, haha!) for all I know.

It's a shame about the insects, too. I've also noticed that there seem to be quite a lot fewer these days compared to years past, and I can't help but worry if it's a sign of things getting worse? Like it's nature pulling back little by little. I agree that these things, paired with odd weather, is something extremely unusual!

Hi Jarred, glad to hear you fell in love with cats too. Like dogs, they can always be amusing with their quirky antics. My 4 are all different in nature. And for the 1st time, none of them wake me up to feed them! None sit on my lap, weird. I have matching pairs, 2 tabbies and two, what I call, white~ies, white with tabby patches. As for staring of into the distance.... bet they see a bird, insect or? they'd like to catch. I have a classic photo of Sliksta, my tabby, transfixed and staring above my bedhead at the wall where a moth is sitting. He didn't move for about an hour.

As for other oddities, do you know about tortoiseshell cats? You can not have a male one, only a female. Ginger cats usually are nut jobs and trouble, Ginger and white have personality disorders (as do tortoiseshell cats) and then you have the pure breeds. Different game altogether.

As for the "not again" getting another cat or in your case a dog, Iggy lives on in a way like my name is Iggypuss here. I got the current 4 because eventually I needed a cat fix. It was kitten season so I rang my vet and asked if I could take them home on weekends as otherwise they'd be stuck in a basically bare room with no stimulation. Well they all got stimulated and as did I and housemate. Cats will always be kittens at play. I named most of them and of course I named them something along the lines of Iggy, Ziggy (Stardust) etc. Not all kept their names but the Ziggy Stardust people who adopted him did. Sliksta and Mr T, 2 tabbies, were and still in love with each other. They are boomerang cats. In short, went to a friend, I borrowed them for a weekend and they were in terrible condition with abscesses and fleas. Vet Monday and sliced and de-pussed and never went back to their owner, my now ex friend.

Anyhoo Pia came to me thru Stonnington Council Save A Dog Scheme who obviously saved cats too. Vet rang me and asked if I would take on the only surviving kitten of 4 as mother had left them for dead. Nature knows when things are not right with their babies and that's what they do but Pia hung on for 2 days and long story short arrived into my care day 2 of her existence. Never had kids right, so wow, bottle feeding, getting it (didn't know sex yet) to pee and poo etc etc. Posted photos of her over time on my FB and all fell in love with her. She has congenital issues and her eyes are like Marty Feldmans', not crosseyed, the opposite and pupiles different shapes. She was the size of a walnut in the palm of my hand. I still had Mr T and Sliksta at 6 months old and it was amazing! Both of them turned into mums.

Seriously. Mr T was determined to sleep with her in the pet carrier I had her in by my pillow and the 2 of them adored her and licked and cleaned her etc etc. 6-month-old boys! The walnut turned out to be a long haired silky furry girl with a tail so long she can't hold it up. She also lives up to her name (likes to pee on bath mats if left on floor) and I am mum and she like to jump on my head and try n clean my fur, hair, which is long. I had to keep her.

Then 6 years ago, another phone call from vet. Could I try and de-feralise a kitten for adoption or it'll be put down. Well gee, really. Day 2 he was hanging from my forefinger with his fangs going through my fingernail through and through. All I said was ouch.

Well he's sitting outside my window now, Ping is his name, in a hanging pot plant filled with shredded coconut skin. Timid but not dead. So there you have a lot of it. I'll see if I can attach photo's. Better get on with stuff that bores me. Have a good day.

 

[Iggypuss]

Ok, some didn't load but Ping and I 1st, Sliksta at bottom and cuddling Mr T at top, and a Cicada closeup.

 

[Iggypuss]

Ok, Pia in bath, they all like bath tap water, Pia in all her glory and Pia trying to clean my hair.

 

[Iggypuss]

Oh phooey, won't load Pia as a walnut but below she's at her first attempt of drinking milk on her own on the right and Mr T in the carrier caring for Pia.

 

[Jarred Santos]

Hi Jarred, glad to hear you fell in love with cats too. Like dogs, they can always be amusing with their quirky antics. My 4 are all different in nature. And for the 1st time, none of them wake me up to feed them! None sit on my lap, weird. I have matching pairs, 2 tabbies and two, what I call, white~ies, white with tabby patches. As for staring of into the distance.... bet they see a bird, insect or? they'd like to catch. I have a classic photo of Sliksta, my tabby, transfixed and staring above my bedhead at the wall where a moth is sitting. He didn't move for about an hour.

As for other oddities, do you know about tortoiseshell cats? You can not have a male one, only a female. Ginger cats usually are nut jobs and trouble, Ginger and white have personality disorders (as do tortoiseshell cats) and then you have the pure breeds. Different game altogether.

As for the "not again" getting another cat or in your case a dog, Iggy lives on in a way like my name is Iggypuss here. I got the current 4 because eventually I needed a cat fix. It was kitten season so I rang my vet and asked if I could take them home on weekends as otherwise they'd be stuck in a basically bare room with no stimulation. Well they all got stimulated and as did I and housemate. Cats will always be kittens at play. I named most of them and of course I named them something along the lines of Iggy, Ziggy (Stardust) etc. Not all kept their names but the Ziggy Stardust people who adopted him did. Sliksta and Mr T, 2 tabbies, were and still in love with each other. They are boomerang cats. In short, went to a friend, I borrowed them for a weekend and they were in terrible condition with abscesses and fleas. Vet Monday and sliced and de-pussed and never went back to their owner, my now ex friend.

Anyhoo Pia came to me thru Stonnington Council Save A Dog Scheme who obviously saved cats too. Vet rang me and asked if I would take on the only surviving kitten of 4 as mother had left them for dead. Nature knows when things are not right with their babies and that's what they do but Pia hung on for 2 days and long story short arrived into my care day 2 of her existence. Never had kids right, so wow, bottle feeding, getting it (didn't know sex yet) to pee and poo etc etc. Posted photos of her over time on my FB and all fell in love with her. She has congenital issues and her eyes are like Marty Feldmans', not crosseyed, the opposite and pupiles different shapes. She was the size of a walnut in the palm of my hand. I still had Mr T and Sliksta at 6 months old and it was amazing! Both of them turned into mums.

Seriously. Mr T was determined to sleep with her in the pet carrier I had her in by my pillow and the 2 of them adored her and licked and cleaned her etc etc. 6-month-old boys! The walnut turned out to be a long haired silky furry girl with a tail so long she can't hold it up. She also lives up to her name (likes to pee on bath mats if left on floor) and I am mum and she like to jump on my head and try n clean my fur, hair, which is long. I had to keep her.

Then 6 years ago, another phone call from vet. Could I try and de-feralise a kitten for adoption or it'll be put down. Well gee, really. Day 2 he was hanging from my forefinger with his fangs going through my fingernail through and through. All I said was ouch.

Well he's sitting outside my window now, Ping is his name, in a hanging pot plant filled with shredded coconut skin. Timid but not dead. So there you have a lot of it. I'll see if I can attach photo's. Better get on with stuff that bores me. Have a good day.

Ok, some didn't load but Ping and I 1st, Sliksta at bottom and cuddling Mr T at top, and a Cicada closeup.

Ok, Pia in bath, they all like bath tap water, Pia in all her glory and Pia trying to clean my hair.

Ok, Pia in bath, they all like bath tap water, Pia in all her glory and Pia trying to clean my hair.

I sure wish it's moths or insects cats look at for long periods of time, haha! I'd take cats over ghosts anytime

Oh wow, how lovely Pia looks in these photos (absolutely love the bonus bug too!) You must be a saint to these cats to take them on from such conditions!

What's a piece of advice you could give to anyone who takes on pets? I mean, for certain there are the times when what they do isn't really okay (like accidentally knock over furniture, claw at upholstery, that sort of thing), so how do you cope when the furbabies are getting a bit too uncontrollable?

 

[Iggypuss]

I call them Purries. I guess dogs go under label of fur babies or woofies. lol. Depending on the age of the newbie and dog or cat depends on the damage they'll be capable of. First piece of advice would be, please don't get a kitten or puppy (puppy farms are notoriously bad and usually end up in shops) cos they are easily adopted/bought cos cute. A 2yo+ rescue has been hopefully, basically trained i.e. kitty litter trays etc and are in their teenage years. Plenty of rescues to be rescued. Thousands actually if not more and shelters/vets get inundated with pets after xmas due to unwanted presents. Insert angry face. My housemates mum (mid 80's) n dad insisted on a puppy then his mum started complaining about it's uncontrollable behaviour and that was after I tried very hard to get her to get an older dog in need. Insert angry face emoji.

2) Know from scratch you're most likely going to outlive your pet. Purebreds have shorter life spans too than moggies and mutts. Have a plan for their demise and it's easier when it happens to deal with. Won't stop the pain, just a more fluent way. I'm now up to cat #13 but grew up with many. In the end when sis and I left home, cats were my mums kids as they are to me to this day.Thankfully I didn't marry and have kids. Just purries and have converted many dof people to cats. Much easier to look after, no arguments, no school expenses, no marriage expenses etc etc etc I'd be very happy living on my own with the kids aka purries. I'm not the crazy cat lady, my cats are the crazies. Housemate like a 16yo teen guy, he's a pain. Cats are easy. Having more than 1 is as easy as having 4. The tabbies love to have punch up plays too, fun to watch. Pia has worked out she can intimidate poor Ping thing so Ping is consistently looking out for her in timid mode.

Bottom line, no matter what your pet is i.e. grew up with budgies too, they're a great source of amusement and love. One of my budgies, IckyWick, yup, he could say it too, would wake me up in the mornings for school by flying from mums shoulder to my pillow and very gently nibble/stroking my nose and then come under the covers and snuggle. He had an adventurous life big time. Spent a day in the fridge (yes he flew around the house), escaped at the caravan park at Indented Heads and spent the day crying only to have someone (whole caravan park knew him and that he'd escaped) a man going to shower block came to us and asked "does your budgie say pretty boy?" YES! "well he's in the pine tree couple caravans away and he came to me with a mirror and caught him. I learnt yesterday about a parrot we'd not seen before at my neighbours place (turns out to be common now) that makes for an excellent chatty pet and sociable, a red-rumped parrot known by a couple of other names too. Very pretty the males are, typical of nature world, females less colourful. Looks almost like a budgie. So, pets are your best friends. Boom boom

 

[Iggypuss]

Oh and Guinea Pigs too. Great for mowing your lawn if have.

 

[Jarred Santos]

I call them Purries. I guess dogs go under label of fur babies or woofies. lol. Depending on the age of the newbie and dog or cat depends on the damage they'll be capable of. First piece of advice would be, please don't get a kitten or puppy (puppy farms are notoriously bad and usually end up in shops) cos they are easily adopted/bought cos cute. A 2yo+ rescue has been hopefully, basically trained i.e. kitty litter trays etc and are in their teenage years. Plenty of rescues to be rescued. Thousands actually if not more and shelters/vets get inundated with pets after xmas due to unwanted presents. Insert angry face. My housemates mum (mid 80's) n dad insisted on a puppy then his mum started complaining about it's uncontrollable behaviour and that was after I tried very hard to get her to get an older dog in need. Insert angry face emoji.

2) Know from scratch you're most likely going to outlive your pet. Purebreds have shorter life spans too than moggies and mutts. Have a plan for their demise and it's easier when it happens to deal with. Won't stop the pain, just a more fluent way. I'm now up to cat #13 but grew up with many. In the end when sis and I left home, cats were my mums kids as they are to me to this day.Thankfully I didn't marry and have kids. Just purries and have converted many dof people to cats. Much easier to look after, no arguments, no school expenses, no marriage expenses etc etc etc I'd be very happy living on my own with the kids aka purries. I'm not the crazy cat lady, my cats are the crazies. Housemate like a 16yo teen guy, he's a pain. Cats are easy. Having more than 1 is as easy as having 4. The tabbies love to have punch up plays too, fun to watch. Pia has worked out she can intimidate poor Ping thing so Ping is consistently looking out for her in timid mode.

Bottom line, no matter what your pet is i.e. grew up with budgies too, they're a great source of amusement and love. One of my budgies, IckyWick, yup, he could say it too, would wake me up in the mornings for school by flying from mums shoulder to my pillow and very gently nibble/stroking my nose and then come under the covers and snuggle. He had an adventurous life big time. Spent a day in the fridge (yes he flew around the house), escaped at the caravan park at Indented Heads and spent the day crying only to have someone (whole caravan park knew him and that he'd escaped) a man going to shower block came to us and asked "does your budgie say pretty boy?" YES! "well he's in the pine tree couple caravans away and he came to me with a mirror and caught him. I learnt yesterday about a parrot we'd not seen before at my neighbours place (turns out to be common now) that makes for an excellent chatty pet and sociable, a red-rumped parrot known by a couple of other names too. Very pretty the males are, typical of nature world, females less colourful. Looks almost like a budgie. So, pets are your best friends. Boom boom

Oh and Guinea Pigs too. Great for mowing your lawn if have.

Lovely response, Julie! Well, I guess I was blindsided when my dog passed so it all felt so sudden. I love how you have all that space in your heart to just take care and nurture of many purries! In my very short experience with cats, they either just plainly don't like you and never will, or will warm up, but verrryyyy eventually You must be the kind of person cats fall head over paws with at first sight!

 

[Iggypuss]

Lovely response, Julie! Well, I guess I was blindsided when my dog passed so it all felt so sudden. I love how you have all that space in your heart to just take care and nurture of many purries! In my very short experience with cats, they either just plainly don't like you and never will, or will warm up, but verrryyyy eventually You must be the kind of person cats fall head over paws with at first sight!

You're right re me with cats. I've surprised many ccat owners what I've done with them i.e. turn them upside down and scratch/run their tummies. Owners are like "wow, I can't do that with it". But it's the element of surprise. None of my cats like a cuddle as may've mentioned except for Pia maybe on my shoulders aka her mummy. Mr T can do anything with but he doesn't purr for me, everyone e;se, yes. Go figure.Cats are very independent which I like as dogs are totally opposite. Need to walk them, wash them etc etc etc and they are kinda needy compared to a cat. My kids understand basic comands too of sorts. Sliksta knows "OFF" when on the kitchen bench. The whities know "treats" cos they're always around and NO. Sit, roll over, na. Cats I find softer/flexible (not always) hence more cuddly. Any pet of any kind is just pure delight and a form of amusement even if being naughty or pain in de ass. Lol.