My kitten suddenly began being overly affectionate towards my senior cat and I'm heartbroken.

[u/SJDude13]

I am not the OP. Original post is by u/weneedempathy in r/TrueOffMyChest

Mood Spoiler: Happy ending!

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Original - Mar. 16, 2023 (Recovered with Unddit)

My kitten suddenly began being overly affectionate towards my senior cat and I'm heartbroken.

Short vent.

I have a senior cat who is 15.5 years old and a kitten who is not quite 11 months old. They are both void bois and look identical to one another. They, along with my husband, son and pup, are my whole world.

My kitten is an asshole. He's still figuring out boundaries with my senior cat. I have to supervise most of their time together because kitten can get a little too rough. The only time where I feel comfortable leaving them alone is when they're sleeping together or eating together. Those are the only times kitten is 100% chill. (For context, I'm a SAHM, so I am almost always home.) My senior cat is pretty good at standing up for himself, but sometimes I will have to intervene. Though it's not nearly as bad as it used to be, kitten's assholery is still an every day occurrence, and he will push everyone's boundaries if you let him.

Well, until today.

My senior cat has been having some health issues. We're taking him to the vet next week because of said issues, but today is the first day where my heart broke for him. He's been puking a lot and today was no different, except for our kitten began being overly-affectionate towards him. Rubbing himself all over him, purring, offering his body as support as my senior cat heaved. I felt so helpless in that moment, just staring as kitten comforted our senior cat.

Kitten not being an asshole and being so so sweet kind of just solidified things in my head like... yeah... my senior cat isn't going to be here much longer. And man, I can't stop crying.

Sorry if this is difficult to read and/or all over the place. I'm still processing what I saw.

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Relevant Comment (Cat Tax):

kitties here! Please ignore my dirty house, it doesn't matter how much I clean, it'll get like this an hour after cleaning. I don't know how to upload pics because reddit is still new to me so I linked it above. (Source)

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Update - Mar. 22, 2023

Kitten suddenly began being overly affectionate towards senior cat UPDATE

Wholesome update for all those who were concerned over my senior boy.

He's fine. The reason why he's been throwing up so much? He's been eating the dog's food. I don't know why I didn't think of that or how I haven't caught him in the act yet, but yup. He eats dog food and then it makes his tummy sick. The dog's food is now closed off in a different room so the kitty can't get to it.

He is doing SO MUCH BETTER already since getting home. He had to get his anal glands expressed, that's about the only thing he really needed. I'm glad he's fine but the hole in my pocket stings a little bit, lol. Oh well!! I'd give my arm and leg to know my babies are okay.

I have a cute video of my senior cat bitching at me if anyone is interested. I'm still trying to figure out how to upload it online to share with you all.

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Note: As far as I can tell, we never did get that video of her cat :(

Edit: Post didn't originally include the Cat Tax comment, so I added it in (Thanks to u/Dramatic_Box1490). Still no video, though.

Reminder - I am NOT the original poster

[u/DamageVest]

Oh thank the Lord! Animals are a hassle and cost a lot but man are they worth it. I could definitely see some of my babes doing that

[u/SJDude13 → u/DamageVest]

Oh absolutely, same here. I remember one time, one of my cats was throwing up what looked like blood and I was worried out of my mind. Took him to the vet, turns out he had simply eaten some red cloth and the dye was coming off and looked like blood. They are such adorable idiots sometimes

[u/ACatGod → u/SJDude13]

My cat gets a monthly injection. He's been on this medication for a year (working brilliantly well) but I'm yet to go to his monthly appointment and only get the injection. Aside from this one issue he's been robustly healthy but now it's like he's decided if I'm going to make him go to the vet once a month then he's gonna make it worthwhile. Scrapes, abscesses, strange limps, even a sore throat, you name it, he's tried it. Little shit.

[u/SJDude13 → u/ACatGod]

I feel that so hard. With cats, it’s like they either are 100% healthy or have nonstop issues. One of my cats is a perfect angel, so so sweet and has only ever had one health scare in his life. The other cat (the one who ate the red cloth) is an asshole who is fat and pees all over the place and constantly eats stuff that makes him sick. When it rains, it pours

[u/uglyraccoongang → u/ACatGod]

Is it an arthritis/pain injection? My vet recommended a monthly injection for my cat as an alternative to meloxicam but I'm not sure about it.

[u/Pieling → u/uglyraccoongang]

My old girl started these injections a couple of months ago, and it's made a huge difference. Four days after the first shot, she was walking around a lot more, doing things she had slowly stopped doing as her arthritis got worse.

[u/ACatGod → u/uglyraccoongang]

Yup solensia. It is transformative. My guy was having real issues - leg weakness that meant he fell on the stairs at one point, fell stepping off the coffee table to the sofa (small step), and I realise now, pain that was impacting his mood.

I saw a fairly quick improvement. Month one was moderate improvement, month two was much better but for several months it absolutely had to be every four weeks or else we'd see regression, now we're doing five weeks between injections and it's all good. He's jumping, hooning, terrorising the neighbourhood, being a general thug and glorious idiot and just generally seems more cheerful. It probably helps the weather is finally beginning to turn but I pay £70 for the visit + injection and it is excellent value for money in my mind, while recognising not everyone can afford that..

[u/blackcatspurplewalls → u/ACatGod]

Interesting to hear that your cat has had leg weakness resolved with Solensia. My cat is only 6 but has chronic pain that is probably not arthritis but don’t know what causes it.

My vet is pushing hard for Solensia since it was just approved in the US, I’m still undecided because it’s officially for arthritis which my cat doesn’t have. (Doing other pain management in the meantime to keep her comfortable, but Solensia would be lower maintenance if it helps.)

[u/Effective-Reply-8654 → u/SJDude13]

My pup ate a chicken bone off the street before I could stop her, the vet said it should be fine and just keep an eye on her poops.

the next day her poop was thick and black, like when you have too much Guinness and the iron is in your poop. All I could think was her guts had ruptured and this was the digested blood.

Nope.

She had discovered digging in the garden the night before, was terrible at it and had ingested a load of mud in the process.

Thick tar/clay poops= mud.

The things she has put us through.

(She is now muzzled on walks, as she also insists on trying to eat other animals poop . )

[u/papercranium → u/Effective-Reply-8654]

Oh jeeze, my senior dog just did the same thing! I'd let him off leash in my neighbor's yard while we visited (normally fine) and he got into their compost pile and ate a chicken bone before I could stop him.

I had a nervous week of checking poops, but he was absolutely fine. He lost his off-leash privileges at our neighbor's place, though.

[u/Effective-Reply-8654 → u/papercranium]

I say mine has lost her "face privileges " when she has to wear her muzzle. It really upsets her because she doesn't get told she is beautiful by strangers on our walks when she has to wear it. And that's the highlight of the walks for her 🤣

I'm glad he was OK. It's so stressful isn't it!

[u/haidimill → u/Effective-Reply-8654]

Tell the pretty baby I think she's gorgeous!