Walter Goes to the Vet

Today I learned something new and surprising about my cat, Walter.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I got Walter as a pet for Biddy. I’ve had Biddy since he was a kitten–he was born in February 2007. In January 2012 I decided that Biddy might be happier if he had a cat friend to hang out with when I was at work, so I picked Walter out of a local shelter.

At the time, I was under the impression that Walter was around 1 or 2, making him significantly younger than Biddy. So it was much to my surprise today when I took a closer look at Walter’s adoption papers and saw that his birthday was listed as November 9, 2006!

Riveting, I know. The plot thickens, though. I took Walter to the vet today, and they listed his birthday in October 2011. I’m not sure where they got that–how do you tell a cat’s age? Is it polite to ask?–but now his age is officially listed as almost 3 and/or almost 8. Very odd.

I also learned that it’s totally fine for me to get Walter professionally groomed. Walter’s a long-hair cat, so he sheds all over the place. If you have any requests for how he should be groomed (i.e., like a lion), feel free to post suggestions below. Most likely I’ll just have them take off a few inches–I want to leave him with his dignity intact.

Walter at the vet.
Walter at the vet.

10 thoughts on “Walter Goes to the Vet”

  1. So many questions and so many possibilities!

    1. Is he Benjamin Buttoning?

    2. Were the adoption people using an unorthodox method of determining his age? Perhaps they were accounting for some of his past cat lives or something? If so, which life is he on (out of the nine)?

    3. Are cat years the same as dog years?

    4. Has Walter recently had some cosmetic surgery done that would give him a more youthful appearance, thus fooling the vet’s office? Maybe a whisker lift?

    5. Is he in the feline witness protection program? I feel like that could explain why his records seem inconsistent.

    6. Or perhaps he is a secret agent, using you as his cover?

    7. Does he have old, soulful eyes? The kind of eyes that have seen friends lost to war and love lost to mistakes that will haunt him the rest of his life?

    One thing is certain, Jamey: you need to watch your back. His carefully built facade is crumbling and he will look to take you down if you continue to expose him for what he really is. This cat has secrets. Secrets that no mortal man should uncover.

    Reply
    • Katie: So many good questions!

      1. I wish! If each of my cats could reach, say, 10 years old and then age backwards after that, I would be a truly happy man. I never got to experience Walter as a kitten, and Biddy was absolutely adorable as a kitten.

      2. That makes the most sense to me. Walter used to be an outside cat, so my guess is that he’s used up several lives.

      3. They’re a little different. I think cats age on a curve. Walter is either 28 or 48 depending on if he’s 3 or 8: https://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/calculate-cat-age-in-cat-years

      4. Not that I know of, but Walter often disappears for hours at a time, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

      5. You have a lot of theories! This one seems like the most viable one, though. He has changed his name several times to protect his identity.

      6. I could see that.

      7. As you noted in your other comment, he absolutely does.

      Reply

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