When I worked for a vet, I had a coworker who had been married about 5 years. When she married, she had two geriatric cats -- I believe in the area of 17 years old when she married the man. When I knew her, honest-to-gosh, the two cats were still going strong. The point of the marriage thing is that her husband was a cat hater, but said, well, with those cats being so old, I figure I can outlast them if you promise no more cats after they go. They married with that pact. Well the cats lived, and lived, and lived, and .... years and a divorce later, they were still going strong. I lost contact with her, but both cats lived to well over 20 years old. Never say die. As for me, my JR terrier was given a few months to live (2-5 mos) ..... 8 most ago. She's getting onerier (is that a word), but in no pain, and still beats the living daylights out of her daughter once a day just to show who's boss. All my freinds and family keep waiting to hear she's died, and she's like the energizer bunny. In other words, enjoy what you have, don't anticipate (after making appropriate plans) the bad.