My Ingrid will be 15 on October 19. Very few outward signs of aging so far; we've got her on an arthritis medication I sprinkle on her food, because she's less vigorous about jumping than she used to be, and her first x-rays ever have revealed minimal joint wear.

But her blood count. . .she's anemic (low on red cells), non-regenerative (meaning her bone marrow isn't replenishing those red cells), and her white cell count is low, too. None of the indicators associated with a chronic condition are apparent: liver function, heart function, thyroid & other stuff all just fine.

We're gonna try iron supplements. Does anyone know about those? I'm leery of them in part because human kids can get into adult vitamins and end up with iron poisoning (potentially fatal).

After a couple or three months of iron supplements, we'll have another look at Ingrid's blood, and if it hasn't bounced back the vet will do a marrow aspirant on one of the major bones in one of her legs. This sounds horrible & scary to me, but the vet said it isn't all that bad, and nowhere near as invasive as most marrow procedures you hear about--just some residual soreness.

Is anyone familiar with all of this? It's uncharted territory for me. I wouldn't even consider it except that for the most part Ingrid doesn't seem at all like an older kitty. I will not put her through any agony for my sake.

I don't have much money but I don't really give a damn what it costs as long as it helps Ingrid live a longer & more comfortable life. If the positions were reversed (my view is that it's entirely by chance that she was born a cat and I was born a human--and if that offends anyone, well, I'm sorry, but it's what I feel), she'd do the same for me without any hesitation.