I live alone with a cat..
I’m also going through chemotherapy and have a load of chronic conditions that keep me feeling awful most days of my life… most days I can barely get out of bed to go to work,shower,prepare food,cleaning the apartment,doing my laundry,etc. etc.
When I have one of those days,like today…instead of thinking about maybe going to emergency/urgent care to maybe help me with my weakness,blurred vision,increased neuropathy of my legs and arms….the only thing that comes to mind is..”What about my cat?”.
Other than my co-workers I basically have no social interaction…The 2 people that took care of my cat while I was in a nursing home for 4 months in 2022 have been let go by the new ownership of the company I’ve working for for 46 years….So instead of being able to take care of myself or have urgent treatment…I think I can’t leave my cat alone for days to be in a hospital…I don’t even have the energy to put my cat in a boarding place;specially when even driving to the place would be dangerous…Plus I’m not “friends” with my co-workers enough to ask them for help outside of working hours if they are not co-workers anymore.
Same for vacations(I haven’t taken a real vacation since 1986)…My cat is always on my mind. Also,the everyday aspects of living alone with a pet are becoming more and more difficult…My cat does not use the litterbox..She craps/pees in the kitchen sink;so every day ,twice a day I have to pick up the poop and wrap it in a baggie and dump in the trash…Sometimes she craps on my bed…then it’s a situation of forced laundry of bed sheets,mattress protector,when I can’t even keep my balance to remove the bed coverings..
Though I didn’t experience this;there’s the financial aspect of being a renter with a pet..the extra deposits for having one..the fact that my apartment smells of pet because I can’t clean the apartment like I used to….maybe even a situation of causing conflict with the landlady.
So yes,it looks like living alone with a pet has become a luxury and a danger for me…so that’s another addition to my daily struggle to exist….