Igor Has Had a Difficult and Troubled Life but He Is Doing Everything in His Power in Order to Enjoy Each and Every Moment of What Very Well Could Be His Final Summer

Although Old and Ailing, Igor's Love for Summer Remains Undiminished 

"So, here's to every day and hopes of a golden summer, but really hopes aren't worth as much (as) today's joys. Let's enjoy them whilst we can!"

-- Igor

It often has been noted that even if an individual should be fortunate enough to live until he is eighty, he is destined to only see an equal number of summers. Unfortunately for cats, their days and summers are far fewer in number.

With those sobering thoughts in mind, there is a long suffering brownish-gray and white tom named Igor living at an undisclosed location somewhere in, presumably, West Yorkshire, who is trying his level best to enjoy what very well could be his last summer. Hopefully, The Fates will be kind and extend his sojourn upon this earth so that he will be able to see at least one more summer but that momentous decision rests in their hands.

Absolutely nothing is known about his younger days. His story for all intent and purpose therefore began in either late 2020 or early 2021 when he arrived at Yorkshire Cat Rescue (YCR) in Keighley.

Given his advanced years and the fact that he had been picked up on the street, it would seem logical to deduce that his previous owner either had died or moved away and left him behind in order to fend for himself. Other scenarios are, of course, possible.

That which is not in dispute, however, is that to run out on any cat is cruel and heartless. The mere fact that Igor was elderly and in poor health only serves to make his former owner's betrayal all the more abhorrent.

In particular, by the time that he had arrived at YCR he already was suffering from osteoarthritis and kidney trouble. His teeth likewise were in bad shape and that necessitated their prompt removal.

His poor health is another indication that his previous owner had not taken particularly good care of him. It additionally is conceivable that he could have been forced into sleeping rough for an extended period of time after he was abandoned and therefore that a lack of a proper diet and a warm and dry place in which to live could have contributed mightily to his decline. Almost anything is possible once a cat ends up on the street.

YCR accordingly placed him on a special diet for his kidneys, anti-inflammatory drugs for his osteoarthritis, and unspecified medicine for his aching joints. All totaled, his treatment is setting the charity back £100 per month but keeping him alive has been, most assuredly, worth every penny of that amount and a good deal more.

Stabilizing his deteriorating health was, however, only half of the problem. What to then do with him was an even bigger challenge in that only rarely are members of the public willing to adopt old and ailing cats. Quite obviously, the majority of those individuals who profess to be great lovers of the species are primarily liars and blowhards.

Therefore, unless their owners make some provision for their continued care before they themselves become either incapacitated, enter an old folks' home, or embark upon that long ride on the dragon, it is virtually impossible for elderly cats to survive. If they are not doomed by circumstances, shelters and veterinarians waste little time in dispatching them to the devil once they are able to get their murderous hands on them. (See Cat Defender posts of July 13, 2019 and November 22, 2020 entitled, respectively, "Susi Is Knowingly Left All Alone in an Empty Apartment to Slowly Die of Starvation and Untreated Hyperthyroidism after Her Owner Is Confined to an Old Folks' Home" and "Slow Deaths Trapped Inside Apartments, Precarious Existences on the Street, and Swift Executions at the Hands of Veterinarians and the Operators of Shelters Are About All That Elderly Cats Can Expect in Return for Their Years of Love and Devotion to Their Ungrateful Owners.")

Kindhearted and prescient Karin Tietz of Röbel in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a notable exception to that rule in that she took it upon herself to make provisions for Felix's continued care before the inexorable march of time and events caught up with her. (See Cat Defender post of August 31, 2019 entitled "A Devoted Röbelerin Adamantly Refuses to Enter an Altersheim Until She Has Successfully Secured a New Guardian for Her Beloved Felix.")

Sometimes a close relative who was intimately acquainted with just how much that a cat meant to the deceased will jump into the breach an adopt it but such acts of compassion are comparatively rare and, despite the best of intentions, they do not always work out. (See Cat Defender post of January 11, 2012 entitled "A Deadly Intrigue Concocted by a Thief, a Shelter, an a Veterinary Chain Costs Ginger the Continued Enjoyment of His Golden Years.")

A sanctuary would have been another option for Igor but they are few and far between plus they normally charge a pretty penny in order to take in a cat. (See Cat Defender post of May 27, 2016 entitled "Snubbed by an Ignorant, Tasteless, and Uncaring Public for the Past Twenty-One Years, Tilly Has Forged an Alternative Existence of Relative Contentment at a Sanctuary in the Black Country.")

Every once in a while a shelter will magnanimously provide an elderly cat with a permanent home on its premises but such arrangements are exceedingly rare. They also are far from ideal unless such facilities are not too crowded and are able to provide such cats with access to a garden. (See Cat Defender post of June 15, 2018 entitled "Jeany Finally Finds a Lasting Home and the Compassionate Care Denied Her by Her Irresponsible and Grossly Negligent Owner at -- of All Places -- a Shelter in Hemmingen.")

Some rescue group have achieved a measure of success by placing elderly cats with senior citizens. (See Cat Defender post of March 26, 2018 entitled "A Dedicated and Compassionate Kilianstädterin Has Found at Least a Partial Solution to the Tragic Plight of alte und obdachlos Katzen.")

The obvious drawback with such arrangements is that elderly owners get sick and die just as do old cats. Even more heartbreaking, occasionally reports surface of extremely unlucky felines who have outlived two or more guardians.

Even those precious few that land on their feet in order to live another day are put through hell during the interim. (See Cat Defender post of July 27, 2013 entitled "Instead of Killing Her Off with a Jab of Sodium Pentobarbital and Then Burning Her Corpse, Ian Remains Steadfast at His Guardian's Side Long after Her Death.") 

Realizing not only that but, much more importantly, recognizing a difference between operating a shelter as opposed to a slaughterhouse, YCR has elected to provide hospice care for elderly cats who have become homeless. "Some of the cats that come through our doors are sadly those that have a very limited lifespan because they have a terminal condition, or are very old," the charity acknowledged on its web site in May of 2021. (See "Yorkshire Cat Rescue's Hospice Cats: Please Support Our Fospice Cats in the Autumn of Their Lives.") "As we don't want these cats to spend any more of the precious time they have left in our cattery we put them into 'fospice,' that is hospice care with one of our foster carers."

That is far from being the only thing that the charity does, however, in that it additionally picks up the tab for their veterinary care and, sometimes, even their food. All that the fosterers have to do in return is to provide them with a safe and caring place in which to reside and to watch over them.

In addition to the added costs associated with caring for an elderly cat, some of them, like many elderly men and women, have already begun setting their ways and therefore find it all but impossible to adapt to a new living arrangement. This is especially the case with those cats that have spent their entire lives with one owner and under circumstances where they were the only animal in the house. Placing them in new homes with children, dogs, multiple adults and, sometimes, even other felines is therefore out of the question.

Besides his multitude of serious health issues, YCR has cited Igor's alleged aloofness as the reason for its having placed him in permanent hospice care as opposed to a more conventional home. More than likely, however, his wariness is the byproduct of his past travails coupled with the insecurities and uncertainties occasioned by his current predicament.

An Orphan Herself, Prudence Has Befriended Igor in Hospice Care

If a proper home and the right guardian could have been secured for him, he likely would have been able in time to have overcome his trepidations. In that regard, only YCR knows if it did the very best that it was capable of doing for him.

So far at least, his time in hospice care appears to have been a mixed bag. "I'm getting through this fresh spring, possibly the best ever, as (the) food tastes so good and the sun feels amazing on my old bones," the charity said for him in an article entitled "Igor Loves Spring" that appeared on its web site in early 2021. "My lust for life continues undiminished, and my appetites (sic) are strong. Long after the kids have finished breakfast I'm still roaming, finishing off their leftovers. Spoiled you see...but old Igor knows if you don't  have it quick either someone else will or it'll mysteriously disappear."

In that same article he also revealed that he was finding it increasingly difficult in order to get around and, especially, through the cat flap. He additionally is no longer able to properly groom himself and as a consequence his fur looks to be somewhat matted and it tends to come out in clumps.

His fosterer has attempted to brush him but he is not having any of that. "Oh how 'mum' would love to give me a good comb...but not on my watch, madam!" he wrote in the same article. "I say, allow an old gentleman a little scruffy comfort."

Far from being unsociable, he does permit his head to be scratched and he sometimes even ventures upstairs in order to be with his fosterer and to play with his catnip mouse. The major drawback with his current living arrangement is that it is far too crowded for his liking. 

"A little time spent butting and rubbing my old joints on one quite makes me forget why I was feeling a bit our of sorts, or cross, with any of the slightly too many to be counted or properly remembered cats that pussyfoot around me, although I always know Prudence," YCR wrote on his behalf in an article entitled "Igor Loves Summer" that appeared about a year ago on its web site.

As best it could be determined, the Prudence referred to is a lovely young longhaired tuxedo who wound up at YCR after her mother was savagely killed by a dog. It has not been explained why she was placed in foster care as opposed to a home of her own but her presence appears to have been a godsend for Igor.

"The only one (of the other cats) with a bit of sense is young Prudence, who is most respectful, comes and sits near, but not crowding, and actually wants to hear about the golden days of my youth," he wrote last year in an article entitled "Introducing Igor." "Mind you, she still wouldn't let me have the frog she caught." 

Although frog legs may be in short supply, the cat food is plentiful and, best of all, Igor still has a hearty appetite which is always an encouraging sign in both elderly and ailing cats. "Eating is not as easy as it used to be, what with all my teeth out, but I still love food..." he wrote. "I've tried to make sure those other cats don't get too much, and the hoomans (sic) have had to drop it quick or get the old 'Igor slash.' Keep them in line, I can tell you."

Aside from Prudence, however, his fellow feline lodgers tend to get on his nerves. "It's a little overpopulated with weirdo cats here, but they all keep out of my way, so that's okay," he continued in the same article.

All things considered, he had a rather pleasant summer last year. "This summer has been a joy of sunbathing and kipping outdoors on my new garden seat," he summed up. "I've thought of chasing butterflies, but generally (I) leave them for the kids."

Nothing further was heard from him over the course of the long and dreary winter months and so it came as quite a relief to belatedly learn this spring that he was still alive. Even so, the new year has ushered in with it new challenges for this noble and long-suffering senior citizen of the feline world.

First of all, he has lost all sensation in his "floppy, unhealing" tail. Secondly, concerns have been raised about his blood pressure.

Thirdly, his mental faculties would appear to be on the decline in that he sometimes becomes confused and, in his panic, starts yowling. Of course, he is not only a year older but he certainly looks it in the photographs of him that have been posted online.

Even if 2022 did bring with it additional health concerns, it also introduced Solensia® into his life. Manufactured by Zoetis in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, it is the first treatment to be invented for the alleviation of the excruciating pain associated with osteoarthritis in cats.

Although it was approved by the European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam on February 17, 2021, the slackers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Washington did not get around to sanctioning its use until eleven months later on January 13, 2022. It has not proven possible to confirm it, but presumably the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in London followed suit shortly thereafter.

The active ingredient in the drug is frunevetmab, which is itself the first monoclonal antibody (mAb), or protein, to be developed for cats. As such, it has been designed to recognize and to attach to another protein called a nerve growth factor (NGF) that is involved in the regulation of pain. In short, when frunevetmab binds to an NGF it blocks pain signals from reaching the brain.

"Treatment options for cats with osteoarthritis are very limited. Advancements in modern veterinary medicine have been instrumental in extending the lives of many animals, including cats. But with longer lives come chronic diseases, such as osteoarthritis," is how that Steven M. Solomon of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine laid on the governmental propaganda with a trowel in his agency's press release of January 13, 2022. (See "FDA Approves Novel Treatment to Control Pain in Cats with Osteoarthritis, First Monoclonal Antibody Drug for Use in Any Animal Species.") "Today's approval marks the first treatment option to help provide relief to cats that are suffering from this condition and may significantly improve their quality of life."

While he had the wind up, he also hinted that other new drugs might be in the pipeline. "We also hope that today's approval of the first monoclonal antibody by the FDA for any animal species will expand research and development of other monoclonal antibody products to treat animal diseases."

That would indeed be a welcomed development considering that other than vaccinating, sterilizing, microchipping, and occasionally setting a broken limb, the practice of veterinary medicine as it pertains to cats is an outrageous scam that amounts to little more than a cruel money-making racket. (See Cat Defender post of August 14, 2021 entitled "Amazing Little Juicebox Overcomes Not Only a Near Fatal Mauling at the Hands of His Owner's Dog but also Penury and Being Cruelly Abandoned to Shift for Himself Inside the Snake Pit World of Veterinary Medicine.") 

Equally importantly, just what are those advancements in veterinary medicine that Solomon claims are responsible for extending the lives of cats?  First of all,  although Gilead Sciences of Foster City, California, has had considerable success in treating the previously always fatal Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) with remdesiver, it refuses to allow the FDA to sanction it. Consequently, it is only available on the Chinese black market. (See Cat Defender post of July 23, 2022 entitled "Courageous Little Tigger Chases Off a Black Bear in North Vancouver but It Was Irresponsible for His Owners to Have Placed His Life in Such Grave Peril.")

Igor Still Loves Life but Time Is Fast Running Out on Him 

Secondly, in addition to FIP, the veterinary community is yet to come up with cures for, inter alia, the Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), kidney disease, Feline Hyperthyroidism, Feline Pancreatitis, heartworm, Feline Panleukopenia, storage disease, Feline Viral Rhinotrachetis (FVR), the Feline Calicivirus, rabies, cancer, heart disease, and strokes. C'est-à-dire, there are not currently available any cures for any of the major diseases that claim the lives of cats.

The practice of veterinary medicine as it pertains to cats therefore consists almost exclusively of exorbitant entrance fees, a slew of worthless diagnostic tests, supportive care, and lies. The only thing that taking a sick cat to a veterinarian accomplishes is to facilitate the transfer of thousands of dollars from the pocketbooks of aggrieved owners into the coffers of the charlatans who practice veterinary medicine.

Eventually the cats die anyway only this way they are put through hell in the process. Clearly, it is therefore long overdue that Solomon and his colleagues stopped telling outrageous lies and got down to work.

Furthermore, it is almost superfluous to point out that before any drugs and treatments that are even remotely beneficial to cats are going to be developed in the United States practitioners first would have to receive at least ten-million dollars in cash, an equal number of busses on their fat, rotten asses, and statues in their honor at City Hall.

Consequently, it is a sure bet that such drugs and treatments are not going to be developed in the land of the dollar bill but rather, like Solensia®, in Belgium and elsewhere. Besides, even if against all odds some miracle cure should become available in this capitalistic dystopia veterinarians surely would demand of cat owners, not one, but rather two arms, two legs, and a testicle in exchange for it. So, to put the matter succinctly, old Solomon is as full of it as a municipal sewerage district.

The situation is not all that much more encouraging in England. For instance, according to VioVet, a veterinary retailer in Luton, Bedfordshire, it sells a pair of one milliliter vials of Solensia® for £88.10. Dosages of the drug depend upon the weight of the cat but generally range between one and 2.8 milliliters per injection. 

Even if an owner were able to get two monthly injections out of such a package, that would only bring down the price of the drug to £44.05 per injection. Complicating matters further, the drug can only be administered by a veterinarian and that likely means that YCR is additionally forced into ponying up for an office visit in addition to the cost of the drug itself. 

That stipulation also means that already beleaguered Igor has to be bundled into a cage and transported back and forth to a veterinarian's office once a month. Although those trips are sans doute not only stressful but time-consuming as well, the benefits of the drug would appear to be outweighing the inconvenience.

"Thanks to this arthritis drug I can get under people's feet like a young'un," he wrote this spring in an article entitled "Igor and His Tail." "Now, let's hope spring hurries up with a little warmth for old bones."

In an unexpected benefit, his grumpiness appears to have subsided somewhat since he was placed on Solensia® and that is readily understandable for anyone who ever has suffered from either osteoarthritis or a debilitating spinal cord malady. After all, being constantly in pain hardly brings out the best in any creature. Side effects of the drug include, inter alia, pain at the injection site, scabbing, vomiting, diarrhea, dermatitis, and pruritus, but it has not been disclosed how that they are impacting Igor's life.

Earlier this spring, his tail was surgically removed as a precautionary measure in order ward off the possibility of any toxins traveling from it to his heart and lungs. Prudence is said to be taking advantage of his senior moments in order to help herself now and again to a spot of his tea but other than those two setbacks he is persevering about a well as could be expected.

"I'm still alarming the younger cats, and amazing my fosters with my zest for food, sunbathing, and drinking pond water," he disclosed in an article entitled "Springtime for Our Old Boy," which appeared earlier this year. "I'm still loving life. The people are kind and the food is lovely."

Regrettably, nothing further has been heard about him since early May. "We just got sent another fabulous little Igor update and it was too lovely not to share," YCR wrote May 4th on Facebook. (See "Look at Our Handsome Igor.") "Doesn't he look fabulous? The warmer weather is doing him a world of good and he is enjoying spending more time outside."

It is beyond dispute that elderly cats such as Igor, George, Pops, Papa Mason, and YCR's very own Frank have value and should be allowed to live out their lives to the very end and only then to die natural deaths at a time and place of their own choosing. (See Cat Defender posts of March 23, 2015, August 6, 2015, September 12, 2015, July 24, 2017, and September 5, 2017 entitled, respectively, "Old, Sickly, and on the Street, George Accidentally Wanders into a Pet Store and That, in All Likelihood, Saved His Life," "Elderly, Frail, and on Death Row, Lovely Pops Desperately Needs a New Home Before Time Finally Runs Out on Her," "Pops Finally Secures a Permanent Home but Pressing Concerns about Both Her Continued Care and Right to Live Remain Unaddressed," "A Rescue Group in British Columbia Compassionately Elects to Spare Grandpa Mason's Life and in Return for Doing So It Receives an Unexpected Reward Worth More Than Gold Itself," and "Written Off More Than Once as Being All but Finished, Frank Is Living Proof That Old Cats Not Only Have Value but Considerably More Life Left in Them Than Most People Are Willing to Acknowledge.")

Secondly, to betray their confidence and kill them off is unjust and unconscionable. (See Cat Defender post of September 28, 2011 entitled "Marvin Is Betrayed, Abducted, and Murdered by a Journalist and a Shelter Who Preposterously Maintain That They Were Doing Him a Favor.")

Thirdly, contrary to the blatant lies disseminated so freely by PETA and others, there is absolutely nothing that is kind, compassionate, and painless about lethal injections. Au contraire, they are a sordid and cruel affair from start to finish. (See Cat Defender post of April 8, 2018 entitled "A Rare Behind the Scenes Glimpse at the Ruthless Murders of Two Cats by an Indiana Veterinarian Exposes All Those Who Claim That Lethal Injections Are Humane to Be Barefaced Liars.")

Fourthly, all the palaver about not wanting to see cats suffer is, likewise, pure balderdash. Rather, cats of all ages are killed off simply because their owners, shelters, and veterinarians are too lazy, cheap, and ailurophobic to keep them alive.

While it is undeniable that Igor is old, sans his teeth and tail, suffers from kidney and blood pressure woes, and can sometime be forgetful and loud, none of those maladies, taken either singularly or as a whole, constitute a valid reason for YCR and his fosterer to snuff out his life. Rather, his appetite remains strong and Solensia® has not only alleviated the pain in his joints but increased his level of mobility. Most telling of all, his zest for life remains undiminished.

The overwhelming fear is, however, that his fosterer will soon tire of looking after him and that YCR will begin to begrudge the now more than £144.05 that it spends each month on his care. For example, that is precisely what the charity did when it indefensibly pulled the rug out from underneath another of its hospice cats, Harvey, a few years back and killed him. (See Cat Defender posts of August 31, 2017, March 12, 2018, July 29, 2019, and October 27, 2020 entitled, respectively, "With His Previous Owner Long Dead and Nobody Seemingly Willing to Give Him a Second Chance at Life, Old and Ailing Harvey Has Been Sentenced to Rot at a Shelter in Yorkshire," "Much Like a Nightmare That Stubbornly Refuses to End, Harvey Continues to Be Shuttled from One Home to Another at the Expense of His Health and Well-Being," "Repeatedly Shunned, Maligned, and Bandied About from One Place to Another, Harvey Is Now Engaged in the Most Important Battle of His Life," and "Noble and Courageous Harvey Who So Desperately Wanted to Go on Living Is Instead Unforgivably Betrayed and Killed Off by His Foster Mother and Yorkshire Cat Rescue.")

There accordingly can be little doubt that perfidious minds at YCR are already busily greasing the skids for Igor. Like all individuals and groups who have grown accustomed to wielding the power of life and death in their grubby little hands, YCR never will mend its evil ways and learn to respect the sanctity of all feline life.

"So, here's to every day, and hopes of a golden summer, but really hopes aren't worth as much (as) today's joys," YCR said for him in the 2021 article entitled "Igor Loves Spring" cited supra. "Let's enjoy them whilst we can."

Indeed, Igor's moments spent sunbathing, sleeping outside, and drinking pond water have dwindled down to a precious few. Even so, that only serves to make the remaining long, hot days, the short, sultry nights, the chirping of the crickets, and the nightly spectacles that the fireflies put on for free all the more precious. Besides, who knows what the winter is going to bring?

"For humans, contemplation is a break from living; for cats it is the sensation of life itself," John Gray wrote in his 2020 book, Feline Philosophy. Cats and the Meaning of Life. "Cats show us that seeking after meaning is like the quest for happiness, a distraction."

He thus concludes that "the meaning of life is a touch, a scent, which comes by chance and is gone before you know it." So, too, is it destined to be the case with long suffering and underappreciated Igor.

Photos: Yorkshire Cat Rescue.