Health Anxiety: Pet Edition

[aWorriedOne]

I have less anxiety about my own health and all of it about my cat's.

I am about to go on vacation, which I am lucky to be able to do because my partner's finances. Him and I are in Canada and the US, so we drive halfway every few months for a week. Every time I travel, I get this extremely daunting paranoia about my cat's health. She is going on 13, she had a bad hip, asthma and allergies, and she is an extremely picky eater. She won't eat something she loves times and if I am not here, I fear she won't eat all day and risk fatty liver. I start to get ultra scared of her coughing from her asthma. I start to over analyze her breathing. Her vet says she's healthy, aside from the listed things, and there isn't much they can do for any of those things. They say coughing and over scratching are just symptoms that are going to happen, and I have to deal with it, but every time I see these things, I get so scared. Not only that, but I deal with instrusive thoughts, such as if she gets outside. She is senior and only known indoors, except leash walks I used to give her in Canada. Here, theres too many strays and if she got in a fight, she'd be at such a huge disadvantage and she would likely run away, and my block is surrounded by busy streets. I can't stop obsessing over all of these things prior to every vacation.

I know I have to just suck it up and deal with it, I can't let these things ruin the few times I get to see my husband during the year. It will take away from my happiness in the long run. I know I can't control her ailments and I can't control if she gets outside. But dang, it's overwhelming.

Thanks for listening to my vent.

[aWorriedOne]

Thank you! My parents are watching her and I trust them. I like the idea of the board, that would be very helpful. My parents use the same vet I use so that's not so much of a worry. I have definitely thought about putting up a camera, I just try not to feed too much into my stress so I haven't actually purchased one yet.

[TangledUpIn in reply to aWorriedOne]

I think purchasing a camera is a great idea for a number of reasons, including you"ll have memories when she's gone 🐱