Novel Eye

My pets are old--one ancient and one a senior citizen. Mephisto (cat, 20 yrs. old) had a stroke and is blind and deaf. The other senses are fine--he can smell us when we come in and will scream to signal. He can feel and purrs loudly when we hold him in our laps--which he always wants to do as it is his only sensation. The stroke though has left him wandering in circles and he bumps into things, so he is not feeling space the way that he should as a cat. Guinness (dog, 13 yrs. old) is deaf in both ears. The ear canal has been removed from one, and the other is so blocked that it too will require removal. He does not wake when we call to him (he never came) but we use hand signals which seem to actually work better, but you must touch him first to get his attention. We have to be careful to touch him gently if coming up on him as he startles. We have always suspected that his vision and smell were not what they should be, as he would often jump upon encountering things outside, b...

When after 11 years, Mephisto let Guinness put his head on Mephisto's butt to sleep. They've slept next to each other over the years, but never quite this. I love how they almost form a yin-yang. I came downstairs and they were on the couch. Guinness was awake and raised his eyes to me as I reached for the camera in a way that seemed to say, "Don't ruin this for me." In the end, it was Guinness who moved away first.