Used in a sentence: "Slowly but surely, the apartment is turning into a Feline Hospice for Mauler, the oldest cat (I found her in 1995 as a tiny kitten in the woods of Mt. Gretna)."
I've really just become much more familiar with the concept of hospice due to my bio-dad's illness. [And I should probably stop and thank each of you (particularly those of you in PA) as he's been put on a hospice program for which the federal and state governments are paying. As partisan as you may want to be in the abstract when it comes to the current debates over health care, I now understand hospice to be a wonderful service to provide in someone's final days when he or she has no other resources. So thanks to each of you taxpayers who is helping to fund my bio-dad's death with dignity.]
Even more close to home ... Mauler continues to slowly fade. But she is exceedingly stubborn and still eats quite well and still seems to be fully functioning and is lovable and strongly purrs when she wants to, so it's about slowly adjusting. For instance, there's now a "set of stairs" made of pillows next to the bed since she can no longer jump up on it. [And as proof that laziness is a cat's default setting, the other two now use it (even though they can clearly make the jump).] And she's always been very vocal (it's the Mau in her that is known to vocalize as a breed), so she now makes it known when she wants to be lifted to the coolness of the bathroom sink for water or just to rest. The next adjustment looks to be putting pee pads in front of the litter box as she now no longer wants to climb in (and apologizing in advance to the neighbors for any increase in smells).
This picture is from this past spring cleaning when the mattresses were being flipped and she wanted to climb to the top like she used to in her younger days. And, true to recent form, she made it known that she wanted to be placed up there, where she "posed" for a photo. I just hope that she finds some way to also communicate that "it's time" ... because I'll probably continue to adjust and adapt along with her up until the end.
MEDICARE HOSPICE RULES AND REGULATIONS:
http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/02154.pdf
YEP, SHE'S A SENIOR CAT:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/catgeneralinfo/a/geriatriccats.htm
IT's TIME TO PREPARE:
http://www.pet-loss.net/
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