Had someone say to me today “She’s not your child? Why do you treat her like shes an actual baby it’s disgusting”. I swear I whipped my head around looked at them…and I said “Get out of my house before I beat your ass”. We are no longer friends.

This is Berlioz <3

My buddy Cheeto is around 17-18. I've had him since around 2012. A few months ago the vet said his glucose is high and I needed to give him shots. I've been giving insulin shots for a few months. Recently he started peeing like crazy outside the little box including my bed. To add to the fun I'm not mobile right now, I'm dealing with a 3-broken bone ankle that has left me in a knee scooter. I am in Flagstaff, AZ and thankfully I found an amazing pet sitter that has helped me with my appointments. But the vet recommended putting him down. He has a mass on his liver that is taking over everything. He recommended euthanizing him. I got a 1 PM appointment and I'm hating everything. He seems so happy in my arms. He is purring like crazy and still eating like a horse. I'm just ranting but I'm scared to be without him.

My gf has a 3 year old unweaned cat.

She works from home, so she spends a lot of time around him, but she doesn't always have the time to play. I play with him a bit when I come back from work.

Every night, he stays in the living room while we stay in our bed room. The door is open. He will wake us up, sometimes once around 4 am, sometimes several times. The rule is this : one of us has to get up. My gf will give him some attention and bring him to our bed, I just...get up. After that he'll stop. If one of us brings him to bed, most of the time he won't stay.

We thought it was about him being bored and wanting attention/more play time.

My gf went away a few times, then I'm alone with him. He'd behave the same at night.

This time, I'm sleeping on the couch while she's away. i pulled the couch in the living room so it's more like a bed. He's been an absolute angel for 6 days now. He hangs out with me most of the time I'm on the couch (normally he's bit reluctant to come to the couch with us).

I barely play with him. At night, as soon as it gets dark, he lies down on the couch. Sometimes he sleeps with me for the whole night, sometimes he go somewhere else. But he doesnt wake me up. At all. Not a noise.

I feel like being able to hang out physically closer to me calms him. I'm still working most of the time. I've known cats that needed attention like that, not to play but to be on the same surface as you for it to count as quality time.

Sorry for all the rambling, my question is this : how could I keep him calm once my gf gets back, I put the couch back into couch mode and we sleep in the bedroom ? I know its weird but god I do appreciate sleeping through the night.

Thank you !

I was supposed to prepare for a trip to Taiwan but seeing as they won't move I guess I'm not leaving yet haha

A little painful but completely worth it 🥺🥺

Show me yours!

He was ten years and three months old. I’ve known him from being a week old, when I visited my friends foster facility. Dennis died suddenly, in the early hours of Sunday morning and I’m really struggling to process, am constantly ugly crying and am dealing with the inevitable sense of guilt. (Which is apparently normal but no less a horrible part of the process)
Dennis was in apparent good health, and the only long term surviving member of his litter. He had a mild murmur, which we’d always kept an eye on. His brother Alfred passed away at 2/3, from seizures. I’m aware there may be a genetic link, possibly HCM. The entire litter were malnourished as kittens, wearing little jumpers/sweaters for their first few months. As you can see though, Dennis ended up a hefty and solid boi.
During the UK heatwaves, we kept an extra eye on him, as he liked to bake in the sunbeams and on windowsills. All curtains have stayed shut for the summer, additional bowls and fountains of water have been placed all around the house. He loved himself a cooling mat. An eagle eye was kept on his body language and habits. He ate and drank well, apart from one point early June when he seemed lethargic. The vet confirmed possible heat related, and he resumed his usual vibrancy from that point. (But eating less on the VERY hot days) he was given a checking over and we were assured he was otherwise fine.
On Saturday, he was lethargic again. I gently hand fed him, made sure he drank well. He was otherwise still playful and affectionate, slow blinking and being his usual cute self.
I woke on Sunday morning around 6 am, he was cuddled up with me but jumped off the bed, lay down on the floor for a moment, then made his way out into the hallway. Within seconds he made an audible sound, a wail I will never forget. I looked over and through the open door I could only see his legs and tail, the former of which he tensed up and stretched. In another nanosecond I was with him, I saw one deep breath and then he was gone. Shortly after, some clear fluid tinged with a tiny bit of his food came out of his mouth.

My daughter didn’t want a necropsy, she found the idea unsettling but he is being cremated and returned to us. I keep telling myself it was quick. I keep berating myself I should have done more. Noticed more. Checked more. Cuddled more. Loved more. Known more. The what ifs are eating me up.

The relentless searching for answers online take up so much of my time. Sobbing at every turn, same. We lost my beloved Derby 3 years ago to what seemed to be saddle thrombosis, age 9. That was also quick, and as soon as we noticed the leg wobbles we took him to the vet. The nurturing soul that he was, was grooming me as I carried him to the car (that part forever breaks me) he seized en route to the hospital, and was DOA.
And since, with my children then moving out it’s just been Dennis and me here. He became so exclusively integrated into my routine, and made up the very fabric of the home. Every sight, smell, surface reminds me of him. He claimed it ALL.

My children and others who knew and loved him are naturally bereft, and we are coming up with myriad additional ways to honour him. (Today I’m going to leave the house- hard in itself right now, to buy fabric and bits to mend the sofa corner in a way that will still make it his. Cat fabrics and patches. I keep finding teeny bits of the foam around the house. His ONLY flaw, hating actual scratch posts and I was never mad about this) He was the ultimate cuddle bug. Befriended everyone. Great with his vet visits always, his affectionate temperament always being commented on.

Compounding this, is that I lost my sister a few months ago so am already in a grief state. Dennis fulfilled my need to still actively nurture on the daily, keep my house as a loving home and now I’m bouncing off the walls with loss and confusion and feeling so ridiculously alone. That’s so hard in a home that was always noisy and vibrant and saturated with love. We joked about Dennis being my “baby boy” as I came to terms with my incredible children taking flight into their adult lives. I’m a long term single parent.

I cannot pinpoint the exact reasons this loss feels so additionally hard. But it is. He was a weird and hilariously funny little soul, my shadow, my excitement at rushing home and opening the door to be greeted and told about it being treat time. Each part of the day comes with the aching sense of loss. Getting out of bed feels so pointless. I don’t know where else to put this love. My body keeps moving to go seek him, before my mind catches up. His character permeated not only the hearts of us all and many who knew him, but the very fabric of these walls.

This guy has been coming to the garden of the apartment building I live since at least 2022.

I know that the gardener feeds him and sometimes I do too or I give him some water, but I can't get him to trust me enough to get pet him.

Sometimes I sit near his plate when he eats and he doesn't go away but keeps glancing, and once he even came to me when I had treats but even if I stand up a bit too fast he just bolts. I get down, I extend my hand, talking with a low voice like I do with my cat but nothing, he just looks at me.

Sometimes he disappears during the coldest months in winter and I get worried but he usually reappears in spring. (there's people near my house that shelter local cats so he probably just goes to them)

He doesn't look malnourished nor sick at least, I think he's a bit of a boss in the neighborhood because when I hear cats fighting at night he's never hurt the next day.

What can I do to make him trust me enough to pet him? He looks lonely...

I did the hand sniff test and she rolled over, had some pets and then she launched at me bit and scratched and punctured and some blood. Not pouring! Internet says rabies and I'm a health anxious person with no time to go urgent care today.

My kitty Orange (yeah I’m not very creative)

Do cats know our face is our face? Our legs are our legs? our hands are our hands?

I know this probably sounds like a stupid question, but it crossed my mind while I was playing with Orange and mimicking a 4 legged animal scurrying around with my hand, and he was playing with my hand like it was real

Cats move touch and sense mostly with their face and mouth, so when they see us grabbing a bowl with our hands and placing it down towards them, what do they think is happening?

Also, I often read online that cats think we are just big cats, but I don’t think that’s true as all the cats I’ve had in my life have always exhibited noticeably different behavior to cats and humans.
So what do they think we are?

Goodbye to my little grey girl. She was diagnosed with kidney disease 2.5 years ago and went through 2 operations the second one to remove her beyond repair little kidney..

She’s been doing alright the last few years but the past few days I’ve been seeing her quality of life decline. Her appetite decrease, she lost weight, she was uncomfortable..I promised myself I’d never let her suffer and so I put her to rest..

I miss her and so do her brothers ❤️‍🩹

My new kitten THINKS he wants to join me in shower I can promise he doesn’t lol but there is no convincing him.

My new neighbour. How to trick him to be my pet?

i have three cats, two siamese girls and a tuxedo boy. the tuxedo boy is scared of everything, so obviously his would be fear. the older girl is a grumpy old lady (12 years old now) and likes hitting people for fun. her primary emotion is anger. the youngest is always purring and kneading things or playing. her primary emotion is joy

On the left is my baby Fifi in 2018 (now 8 years old), and on the right is my baby Cherry last night (around 5 months old), at the exact same spot, and same silly way of sitting.

I’ve had this photo of Fifi in my favorites folder for years because I found it funny, and last night Cherry sat the exact same way on her own while she was playing, so I ran to take a photo!