Yea, they can live pretty long. It’s mostly the dangers out there (cars, people, poison, other animals) that shorten the lifespan drastically.

That’s why indoor cats have a longer lifespan on average.

Also, the kidneys… keep an eye on them and your cat should do pretty well for a long time

Totally not a dumb question tbh - the answer probably also highly depends on where you’re from.

In Germany (also highly depends on county/city) yes, they do normally fare pretty well and shelters often operate multiple feeding stations where there are a lot of strays. So they get to know the „local strays“ and can keep an eye on them via volunteers and cams.

When a cat is visibly sick, they catch them at this station, treat them and if the cat is alright, oftentimes release them again - shelters are notoriously full and money ist scarce for these organisations unfortunately…

However, if there are conditions that make life for this cat (or others - e.g. FIV) dangerous, they are normally kept in the shelter and then opened for adoption as a „only indoors cat“.

Also, older cats often end up in shelters because they often belonged to older people - and when they can’t care for the cats anymore, have to move or die one day, the cats have to go somewhere too.

Brave girl! And good on you to neuter them! Give her a lot of cuddles and treats :)

For the pills: A stupidly good tip I’ve read on Lemmy a while back is butter! Cats love that stuff and it masks the bitterness of the medicine. Wash your hands after initial handling of the pill, rub them in a bit of butter between your fingers and optionally put them into a snack your cat likes. That way, I can give my one very picky cat its meds daily.

When our cat had this surgery, the vet told us that she should not jump and climb if possible. So, maybe set everything she likes up the way so she won’t have to climb/jump? Ours especially liked to crawl into our bedsheets afterwards, so I set up the bed on the ground for some nights.

And, if you have another cat: separate them if you can’t watch them. Cats can’t really recognise their fellows after a surgery (meds, wounds and the vet mask their normal smell) and might go a bit berserk on them.

Yes, I think that’s the consensus on how to pronounce it.

In case anyone has never heard the acronym: it stands for what you see is what you get. As opposed to what you see is what you mean (e. g. TeX)

Fun fact: in Germany, the 70s series „The Persuaders“ has cult status because of this. Everywhere else it kinda flopped, but the German dub is soo hilariously nonsensical that everybody loved it.

The people that were in charge of the dub are the same as for all the Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill Movies.