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Witnessing my 18-year old cat aging (at like 6x human rate) from 2004 kittenhood to what is now definitely mildly senile and very infirm old man (~100 human years) has been like a very slow Christmas Carol. He went from ghost of past to present to future. Overtook me ~2013 or so.
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Something genuinely memento mori about pets with faster lifecycles, but not too much faster. 6x-7x is the dog/cat range and I suspect this has something to do with why they make good pets. They live long enough we can identify with them, short enough to be mortality mirrors.
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Rule of thumb is cat year 1 = human 1-15, year 2= human 15-25, and subsequent years are about 4 human years. So I guess since he was born early 2004 (guess, a rescue), when I was 30, he actually overtook me in 2008-09 when we were both about 35 in human years. Tracks.
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So every year since 2009+n he’s been a time machine of my future years 2009+4n. So his 2022 is my ~87. Feels like it. If he survives, he’ll be “100” in 3 years.
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Replying to
Brother Dusk is heading to Brother Night stage with dignity but it’s tough to witness
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The Cleons clones plot has really turned into a sort of mind worm for me Btw “clones” is an anagram of “cleons” I really like the brother dawn/brother day/brother dusk scene. Started calling my 17 year old cat ‘brother dusk.’ Nice way to grapple with mortality.
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In some ways witnessing pet lives/deaths is even harder than human family members since full human lives can mostly only partly overlap. You can witness a whole pet life in a fraction of your own. It’s like being one of those eternal Watcher trope characters in comics.
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Thoughts brought on by watching him increasingly struggle to sit, stand, cross small gaps… needs stairs or ramp to get up anywhere. Used to jump around like crazy just 10 hy (40 cy) ago.
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I sincerely hope you enjoy his sunset years, as I hope you will eventually enjoy yours too. Aging is a lesson in powerlessness in the face of impermanence. My little sweetheart senior kitty girl taught me that, our bond was deep. Something wonderful remains when you let go. ❤️🙏
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