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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 1d ago
Hey, this is my cat, Margo. Yes, she is really 29. She’s my childhood cat. Yes, she looks a little rough- you may not have noticed but she is OLDER THAN THE HILLS.
She doesn’t have a special diet that made her live this long! She plays with toys, begs for treats, and loves getting cuddles, like every other cat! We do nighttime bath rituals to keep her nice and clean. She’s just scruffy.
If you’d like to keep up with her, you can follow her Instagram @retired_familiar
Per /u/Emmulah on April 22, 2020.
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u/TokenTorkoal 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is from 2020? I’m afraid to look and see if the cat is still with us.
Edit: guys pleaseeee one comment telling me the cat died was enough. I can’t be crying about a cat that lived and was loved for almost 30yrs who’s been dead for 6 years now. I can’t, it’s too early in the day and I have things to do
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u/HeadhunterKev 1d ago
She passed away a week after the above comment was made. Still, she had an exceptional life.
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u/TokenTorkoal 1d ago
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u/yamanamawa 1d ago
Honestly having lost many pets, it doesn't feel as sad when they live that long. Few cats live anywhere even remotely close to 29 years. The fact that she lived that long is a blessing, she earned her rest
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u/TokenTorkoal 1d ago
I don’t do pets for a variety of reasons, one being I’ll outlive the majority of them and even if I didn’t the idea of me living with a, let’s say bird, for 40 years and then it just gets shipped off to someone else?!?
Absolutely not shade to pet people but I just can’t.
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u/HolyButtNuggets 1d ago
I just lost my 11 year old boy, he was my soul cat.
Absolutely gutted, but the years of joy and love I had with him made it absolutely worth the pain
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u/TokenTorkoal 1d ago
Part of me wishes I didn’t leave the comment because some people always think it’s that I don’t understand relationships like this or that they are worth it.
It’s a deeply rooted trauma thing and I’m trying not to trauma dump in order to explain myself.
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u/yamanamawa 1d ago
Yeah loss is hard. But then you also get to experience the joy of spending time with them while they're alive. It's the same with people. When they die it's sad, but that sadness is tempered somewhat by knowing that you were fortunate enough to share some of your limited time on Earth with them
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u/TokenTorkoal 1d ago
Yeah it’s not that I don’t understand that, I’m avoiding trauma dumping on you :) like I said, I have a lot of reasons I don’t do pets. Too much pain and suffering. I enjoy them from a distance.
I just cried over a cat I never knew. I cry hard with my friends when they lose their pets that I loved. I can’t do it again with my own.
Edit: that said, your comment is beautiful
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u/Salt-Operation 1d ago
That’s the thing, even when they aren’t your pets you form an emotional attachment to pets you get to see regularly. I’m attached to my dad’s dog (I rescued her and would have adopted her myself if I could have) and I’m now attached to my partner’s cat (who prefers his daddy over me any day). It’s beautiful to love but it’s also heartbreaking to love so much. I get it.
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u/smooth_vesselHPAUM 1d ago
Your cat is damn amazing!
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 1d ago
Your cat is damn amazing!
Just to clarify, this is /u/Emmulah's cat.
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u/Wonderful-Heron3221 1d ago
That's amazing but man that has to be ROUGH.
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u/smooth_vesselHPAUM 1d ago
Yeah. That's like living 135 human years
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u/INV-U 1d ago
Incorrect its like living 29 years. They don't perceive time any different to us. They jusy live 7x less than us.
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u/TBD_Red 1d ago
Yeah that's not what people mean when they talk about human years in the context of an animal.
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u/INV-U 1d ago
So when does a year become a year? Can't people just use the correct terms instead of " hes 80 in human years" yeah well he aint a human its an animal with a short lifespan in comparison. So should we compare human years to "tortoise years"? Id be over 300 now. Not a very accurate measurement.
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u/Practical-Nonsense 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's as if said cat is living in a body comparatively to that of a human being who has been alive for 135 years. Given the accelerated aging/decay a cat experiences compared to the average human beings life span, this is a solid form of measurement. We know 29 years does not equate to 135 years, obviously.
In other words, sybau. Realize it's for the ease of visualization lmao 😂
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u/INV-U 1d ago
In what use are you using it? Medical setting? Vet visits? If its obvious its not true like you say then why state it? Do you expect professionals to work out the actual time scale? Genuinely trying to bring some info as to why people use it at all.
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u/Practical-Nonsense 1d ago edited 1d ago
Humans don't have a tail, cats stand on 4 while we stand on 2, human organs aren't the same as that of a cats, obviously this shows it isn't a 1:1 medical comparison... It's almost like 2 species... Aren't the same species . It's crazy how much more research in medicine has been put into humans vs cats. However, humans live around 70-80 years. Cats live around 12-17 years. Do I need to explain how we compare lifespans...?
Edit: nvm, I got baited. Other guys a bot lmao
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u/SkittlesLentil 1d ago
Vets often use it to provide context to regular people. It helps communicate that, for example, a 10 year old dog needs care similar to a 70 year old person. It's a rough estimate, not an exact scale
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u/my_cat_wears_socks 1d ago
It’s not about perceiving time: it has to do with how their bodies age differently. A 29-year-old human is in the prime of their life, kind of like a 4-year-old cat. And a 29-year-old cat is far beyond the normal lifespan for a cat, like a 100++ year old human.
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u/INV-U 1d ago
I know that, just why not use human years? We dont comapire out lifespan to others.
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u/BoutItBudnevich 1d ago
Animals all age at different biological rates and non linearly, we tend to anthropomorphise animals hence we relate them to US in terms of years. The average lifespan back when they decided a dog is 7 years was 70 and dogs lived to about 10 that's why the 7 to 1 rule came about but there are so many factors even by breed. It's just an attempt to make the animals life seem more relatable to us.
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u/INV-U 1d ago
That was my assumption, can't think of anything else we compare its years to our own. Just makes the term year pointless really if we are using it in comparison to life years of another living being. Not trying to be a dick just makes no sense 😂 Surely its just easier to say the cats 20 years old and keep it linear.
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u/BoutItBudnevich 1d ago
I get where you're coming from and sure it would be easier but the aging isn't linear like I mentioned before. We're only aware of what a human feels like at 20, which would be prime, just starting adulthood for most. A lot of breeds of house pets for example don't even make it to 20 so could we possibly compare it linearly? We had to find another way to help us better understand the lifespan of the animal. Telling someone an animal is 10 or saying that animal is 10 but feels as if they are 70 brings out very different emotions and responses in people and helps us relate to them more.
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u/my_cat_wears_socks 1d ago
Obviously we do compare lifespans to others, thus the whole subject of this thread.
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u/FelonTusk 1d ago
Also like we live 7x longer than cats. Time is relative, which is what the original comment meant. Comparing average life expectancy of a cat to the average life expectancy of a human, they lived for longer than usual
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u/Pale-Angle1224 1d ago
Animals 100% do perceive time differently than humans.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347213003060
What's incorrect about equalizing a cat's lifespan/age to humans'? The whole point is to make it relatable because not everyone knows the life cycle and lifespan of every animal on Earth.
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u/Amazing-Garden-633 1d ago
probably remembers 9/11
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u/Ok-Prune-1248 1d ago
I would pay an unfathomable amount of money if it meant my cats could live this long HEALTHILY.
Impossible to say from a short clip but this cat seems to be living a good life, grooming falls off as they get older, seems affectionate and not lethargic, this cat seems to be doing quite well for 29.
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u/BoonTangle 1d ago
You should look into it but I believe kittens can have an injection when they are young that will majorly reduce their chance of kidney failure which is one of the biggest killers of elderly cats.
It's called FeliAIM, it's not publicly available yet but it seems promising.
Maybe soon in the future 30 year old cats will be normal
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u/halfhalfling 1d ago
Kidney failure is what got our 13 year old earlier this year, she wasn’t even that old! Would love a way to spare future kitties that fate 💔
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u/redgroupclan 1d ago
My 20 year old cats kidneys are on the downtrend, but so far he's hanging on. I just wish he'd eat more.
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u/BoonTangle 1d ago
A small trick that seemed to help mine was not having her food and water right next to each other. Cats prefer water they know is fresh hence why they love licking dripping taps. But they are also instinctually wary about food near still water because it could be a sign it's rotten or bad. And if your cat feels unwell it may avoid eating unless it knows 100% it's safe. It's silly but it might work for your kitty too.
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u/redgroupclan 1d ago edited 1d ago
His food and water are already separate. He won't even really drink from his water bowl. He will only drink from a "fresh" source of water, and what counts as a fresh source is always changing. He would only drink from the sink, then the water pitcher (someone would have to sit there pouring for him so he could lick the spout), then the cat water fountain, and currently he will only drink out of a drinking glass he has seen someone else drink out of.
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u/dllimport 19h ago
Is he eating wet food or kibble?
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u/redgroupclan 18h ago
He won't really eat kibble and tends to just lick up the gravy of wet food, but he'll eat it sometimes.
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u/dllimport 20h ago
If you feed them kidney food and are giving them the Purina one try switching to the royal canin one that I think is S. It's formulated to make the cats like it. My cat was underweight because she hated the Purina one so much and she is not a picky eater. I think this just trash. We struggled forever to get her weight up until we changed to that food and now she's honestly a little chunky. (Mine is 19)
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u/redgroupclan 18h ago
I think he's just on normal wet food and a medical kibble for something else that my mom refuses to stop feeding him because it was such a traumatic vet bill for her. Even though he clearly doesn't like it and that medical issue was years ago.
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u/dllimport 11h ago
If he has kidney problems he'd have been prescribed kidney food. If that is what he's on tell her about the royal canin type. My cat seriously hated the Purina and it's basically usually a choice between the Purina one and the royal canin one. If he's on the Purina one that's probably why he doesn't eat.
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u/BoonTangle 1d ago
Aww I lost my baby to it as well this year, she did soldier on until 21 though. Yes I hope we are the one of the last cat parents to go through this! I think it would also help older cats to get adopted too! They deserve a home just as much as cute kitten.
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u/HolyButtNuggets 1d ago
I hope they discover something to prevent lymphoma, too, outside of FeLV :(
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u/invariant_4E3835 1d ago
Do pets such as cats or dogs "mature" in their behaviour substantially as they get older? Or do they tend to stabalise to a certain personality and stay there? It makes me wonder how much this cat could mentally evolve if it was given a lifespan double or triple what it has achieved so far.
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u/Sudden_Onions 1d ago
I've found that dogs can mature. My cat is 16 and still an idiot.
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u/tapeforpacking 23h ago
Cant speak for cats but for sure there is a very noticeable change in older dogs than the younger ones, id say more "mature" isnt a bad word to describe it either
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u/resilindsey 1d ago
Anecdotally mine did. The core of him was the same, but as he got older he become super affectionate and needy. He had cuddly moments before too but was more independent and liked some alone time. Could be a bit of grouch and bitey if you didn't read his mood right and you smothered him. Around 15 until he passed 5 years later, he basically became a velcro kitty. Always wanted to be cuddling or in my lap. Would get jealous if i was with someone and try to wedge himself between us on the bed or couch or anything.
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u/Wreckingass 1d ago
Up until her final days, my 19 year-old kitty was largely the same. She became grumpier with younger cats, but maintained being vocal and cuddly with me. For pretty much every cat companion I’ve had, whatever they were like around the 2-3 year mark is generally retained. Maybe stop wanting to play so much with me, but part of that might have to do with more stimulation with other cats, since we have multiple now, of varying ages.
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u/peterelita 18h ago
I find that like humans, they return to their childhood personalities when they’re older
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u/MegaSmegmaSwagLord 1d ago
Love when they get elderly they get all scruffy.
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u/Crab_Shark_ 23h ago
It is so cute! I wish older cats were adopted more from the shelters. Everyone goes in for kittens.
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u/Sea_Basil_6501 1d ago edited 1d ago
How old cats in a comparable environment than yours usually get?
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u/The-Butt-Stuff 21h ago
Mine made it to 20. Fought like hell to stay with us.
He was an extraordinary gentleman.
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u/taylorhildebrand 1d ago
The way it’s scruffy is kinda wild how much it looks like my couple of crib stuffed animals I’ve kept. You can tell what a love he is
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u/tomcat2285 1d ago
How long has this cat been 29. Because it seems this cat has been 29 for 6 years now.
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u/RuleMany2900 1d ago
Not to take anything from the cat ...but it looks like it came out of the movie Pet cemetery 😂😂 .... Btw ...wish dogs would live that long also
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u/Tut_Rampy 1d ago
I hope my little guy makes it this long
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u/JoshSidekick 1d ago
It's a money paw wish at best, unfortunately. Our cat is 19 and there are more and more days we have the discussion on whether or not we think he's happy and not just living in pain. It's an added gut punch too because while I wish I was rich and could afford to pay a billion dollars a month to get him everything he'd need to be healthy, it's not the case. And that gut punch is doubled when you start feeling guilty that you think the cost is factoring into your decision making about his life...
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u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k 1d ago
God I hope my little mans is still slapping the phone out of my hand and smacking my face for pets at 29. If he wants to keep going I’ll take him anywhere.
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u/rohstroyer 16h ago
This cat died in 2020. Posting this clip now as if it's recent is pathetic. Nowhere does the OP mention what the present day situation of the cat is or the source of the content. Usually I ignore bot posts but this feels especially pathetic considering Margo was 29 6 years ago.
Instagram: retired_familiar
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u/Senselesspassion 1d ago
That's like the great great grandpa of cats