Lf Elderly Pets' names and story for a hoard

[averys]

So ive always had a soft spot for elderly pets. right now, my two eldest animals are:


Mitzy, my ten-year-old tortie cat who I've had since she was a kitten


and Grace- my fourteen-year-old black lab that we received from my aunt when she was around six or seven because she felt she couldn't take care of her anymore.

So, I have a hoard of entirely unnamed dogs right now, which I call the "Retirement Home Hoard". It consists of BBS dogs- which are the opposite of PPS (aka- they are elderly). See the hoard here: accounts/viewgroup.php?userid=800168&groupid=6196604&pageStart=0

I feel like elderly pets don't get enough appreciation, so I'd like you guys to share pictures and the name of your elderly pet so I can name one of the hoard pets after your animal. It doesn't have to be a dog- it can be anything!

You can also use this as an excuse to talk about any of your other pets if you'd like hehe.

Here are some of my other pets:

Frankie (Frankenstein), our 6-year-old cat as well as Maxi's brother who we've had since he was a kitten.


Maxi, our other 6-year-old cat as well as Frankie's brother who we've had since he was a kitten.


And Layla- our nine-year-old pitbull mix who we've only had since she was about 5 years old. What she's laying on in the picture is the cat bed, lol.

[{smug lemon}]

my sweet old boy charlie, he's 14 (we think?) as of this year! hes sleeping next to me rn. he is such a silly sweetheart

we've had him since he was one and we rescued him from a bad household, and idk how they gave him up because he has been my best friend forever

[Leo & The Moths]

A somewhat stranger pet, this is Sally, an old (now passed) chinese praying mantis!

Was found last fall by someone in my neighborhood, who said she'd been standing on their exterior brick walls for 3 days without moving. Mantises are sedentary most of their lives, but wouldn't usually opt to camp out on a brick wall. Considering it was fall I knew she was old (mantises are seasonal, they're born in spring and die in fall), and was probably on death's doorstep, but I offered to take her in. Set her up, the next morning I found her laying on her back, she was still alive but generally that's a sign that time's up. I took her out and spent some time trying to see if she'd drink water, which was difficult bc she mostly wouldn't respond to anything. Eventually I tried taking a small bottlecap with water and putting it up to her mouth, and she drank the whole damn thing in under a minute. She really perked up after that, I even got her to take a meal a few days later, and she stuck around two weeks longer! Her personality really showed after she got that bit of energy back, she's a grumpy old lady with an attitude but still super curious, she'd deliberately walk over to my hand and sit on my shoulder while preening herself. Brought her to school a few times, and she was like a little celebrity, people loooved loved her. Was sad when she passed but I'm happy to know I extended her life just a little bit longer.

[Catsplat18]

This is Kitty (creative name, I know). I rescued him when I was in second grade, and he was about five months old. I have now graduated high school, so he's getting old. He almost died from a urinary tract infection and we spent $6k to save him. Now his only health problem, that we know of, is arthritis. He can't run and jump like he used to, but he's happy. He is the most beautiful cat to ever have been found lost in the cold, beneath a car, starving and covered in fleas next to his siblings, if I do say so myself. But you'd never guess he was born wild; he's the most polite cat I have ever known. Kitty never scratches or wakes us up in the middle of the night. All he does is follow us around sweetly, snuggle in our beds, and demand belly rubs, plopping down on our feet and holding us captive for half an hour, until our arms are aching from petting him for so long. Perhaps not so polite after all.


Haha, I rescued an old female Chinese mantis too. She had tattered wings and couldn't fly, and was being swarmed by ants. I kept her in a small Exo-Terra and fed her houseflies, moths, and mealworms. She hated me and usually struck me like I was prey. Once she bit off and ate some of my skin. It was extremely hard to remove my finger from her forelegs without injuring her. She was insanely strong. A remarkably intelligent and beautiful insect, for sure. She died soon after laying a couple of oothecae, which were, unfortunately, unfertilized. I would love to keep more mantids in the future, this time captive-bred ones.

[Leo & The Moths]

Haha, I rescued an old female Chinese mantis too. She had tattered wings and couldn't fly, and was being swarmed by ants. I kept her in a small Exo-Terra and fed her houseflies, moths, and mealworms. She hated me and usually struck me like I was prey. Once she bit off and ate some of my skin. It was extremely hard to remove my finger from her forelegs without injuring her. She was insanely strong. A remarkably intelligent and beautiful insect, for sure. She died soon after laying a couple of oothecae, which were, unfortunately, unfertilized. I would love to keep more mantids in the future, this time captive-bred ones.

That's awesome!! And yeah, mantises are notorious for their attitude, I had Sally grapple my finger on a few occasions. Luckily she didn't bite me, so I could just wait for her to let go haha. Sometimes she'd be happy to come hang out on my hand, sometimes she'd be in a mood. I have some cb baby mantises right now actually, last night one of them attacked and tried to eat her stick when i moved it a little, but they're allegedly a "shy species" lol. They haven't attacked me yet though, so theres a plus! Despite all the rage mantises are super personable and so fun though, I hope you get the chance to keep cb ones soon!!

[Catsplat18]

Haha, I rescued an old female Chinese mantis too. She had tattered wings and couldn't fly, and was being swarmed by ants. I kept her in a small Exo-Terra and fed her houseflies, moths, and mealworms. She hated me and usually struck me like I was prey. Once she bit off and ate some of my skin. It was extremely hard to remove my finger from her forelegs without injuring her. She was insanely strong. A remarkably intelligent and beautiful insect, for sure. She died soon after laying a couple of oothecae, which were, unfortunately, unfertilized. I would love to keep more mantids in the future, this time captive-bred ones.

That's awesome!! And yeah, mantises are notorious for their attitude, I had Sally grapple my finger on a few occasions. Luckily she didn't bite me, so I could just wait for her to let go haha. Sometimes she'd be happy to come hang out on my hand, sometimes she'd be in a mood. I have some cb baby mantises right now actually, last night one of them attacked and tried to eat her stick when i moved it a little, but they're allegedly a "shy species" lol. They haven't attacked me yet though, so theres a plus! Despite all the rage mantises are super personable and so fun though, I hope you get the chance to keep cb ones soon!!

I actually did have a CB Hierodula membranacea. I believe I got him as an L3. It was amazing watching him grow -- absolutely insane to wake up to an animal that doubled in size since I went to bed! How on Earth do they fit their next instar underneath their exoskeleton?? I loved this species, vivid green contrasting with lilac-colored legs, and impressive length. Although he and the rescued female I had were different species and sexes, I wonder if being accustomed to humans since hatching influenced his personality -- he had no fear of me and never struck. If so, that would be an amazing example of nature vs. nurture in a rather primitive being (compared to us -- compared to other arthropods, these guys are gods among mortals), or at least conditioning. Jeez, I love insects. You'll have to test this with your brood! But maybe we should take this conversation to 🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷 lol. Not sure if mantids belong with aging dogs and cats .

[Leo & The Moths]

Haha, I rescued an old female Chinese mantis too. She had tattered wings and couldn't fly, and was being swarmed by ants. I kept her in a small Exo-Terra and fed her houseflies, moths, and mealworms. She hated me and usually struck me like I was prey. Once she bit off and ate some of my skin. It was extremely hard to remove my finger from her forelegs without injuring her. She was insanely strong. A remarkably intelligent and beautiful insect, for sure. She died soon after laying a couple of oothecae, which were, unfortunately, unfertilized. I would love to keep more mantids in the future, this time captive-bred ones.

That's awesome!! And yeah, mantises are notorious for their attitude, I had Sally grapple my finger on a few occasions. Luckily she didn't bite me, so I could just wait for her to let go haha. Sometimes she'd be happy to come hang out on my hand, sometimes she'd be in a mood. I have some cb baby mantises right now actually, last night one of them attacked and tried to eat her stick when i moved it a little, but they're allegedly a "shy species" lol. They haven't attacked me yet though, so theres a plus! Despite all the rage mantises are super personable and so fun though, I hope you get the chance to keep cb ones soon!!

I actually did have a CB Hierodula membranacea. I believe I got him as an L3. It was amazing watching him grow -- absolutely insane to wake up to an animal that doubled in size since I went to bed! How on Earth do they fit their next instar underneath their exoskeleton?? I loved this species, vivid green contrasting with lilac-colored legs, and impressive length. Although he and the rescued female I had were different species and sexes, I wonder if being accustomed to humans since hatching influenced his personality -- he had no fear of me and never struck. If so, that would be an amazing example of nature vs. nurture in a rather primitive being (compared to us -- compared to other arthropods, these guys are gods among mortals), or at least conditioning. Jeez, I love insects. You'll have to test this with your brood! But maybe we should take this conversation to 🕷 Invertebrate Enthusiasts 🕷 lol. Not sure if mantids belong with aging dogs and cats .

omg, had no idea there was a invert spot here im omw!!!

[Lemon Bark]

This is such a cute project :pleading:

I would love to offer up my ~14 year old kitten, Minette

She's been with me through the thick and the thin. I really wouldnt be here without her support

[LittleMaple]

dont have any pictures/cant show them because it either has mine or my sister's faces in them lol BUT! id love to offer up my sister's elderly boy, Simon! he's... old. 16?? maybe?? maybe older a bit maybe younger a bit BUT he's still over 13 i know that.

this picture is close enough, but he actually has no tail, couldnt get in that position because of his hip problems/arthritis, and has darker eyes due to his blindness BUT i tried


he's been through a lot, as i mentioned earlier he has hip problems and probably arthritis, he's blind, and he's mostly deaf! he can hear very loud sounds (crashing, screams, yknow) or high pitched things, and is INSANELY smart, he can find us in minutes! i adore him with my entire heart and would die for him

[Ziggy Zag]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oH-v9-9eGUrcjjVC8Qz6KTQ6F9FDrKQsm2koO2byypo/edit?usp=sharing
My elderly man Sancho!!!
Sancho is an eighteen year old chihuahua who is nearly blind (because of cataracts) and deaf. He’s getting into his final years now, which makes me sad, but even after eighteen long years he’s still kicking! His name is Sancho because of my parents. Before my parents were divorced (before I was even born. That’s right, this dog is older than me), they would often talk on the phone. For those who don’t know, “Sancho” is the Mexican word for a cheating man. When my mom would have to go, my dad would say “what, are you with your Sancho?” So after my mom adopted him from my grandmother (on my dad’s side of the family), she named him Sancho. His gray markings used to be a striking black and he was very slim and active, but with age, they’ve faded to a gray, and he’s now more fluffy and huggable. We believe that he has sundowner’s syndrome because he often barks for no reason at 4am. It hasn’t been diagnosed yet.
He has two siblings who have sadly passed. The first one is his brother Max, who we used to own. He unfortunately passed in February of 2020 at the age of 17 due to old age. I miss the little guy to this day. The other was his sister, a little brown chihuahua, who passed away soon after being born.
Needless to say, I love the little man to death. He has the biggest bed even though out of all three dogs he’s the smallest. He’s the king of the house, and as my mom likes to call him, “my older brother” since he’s her “firstborn.” It’s a little weird, but it’s an inside joke. Anyways, that’s Sancho!