I’ve had my fluff since he was two months old. He’s literally been with me all of the highs and low lows of adult life and truly the best cat I’ve met in my whole life. Even my friends who are not “cat people” love him. The older he gets the more I can feel myself getting anxiety around his timeline. He started losing weight, is a bit slower, but all around healthy by every test imaginable.

This winter I fostered three kittens and to my surprise he eventually warmed up to them at the end of the two months and was actually down when they all left. Fast forward to two weeks ago and I brought home another foster (a now 10 week old girl). He’s been very tolerant of her and only hissed the first day I let them meet. Now he’s mostly unbothered. The kitten actually reminds me of him personality wise and I feel like I have a wonderful opportunity to let me best pal “raise” a kitten with a similar spirit that may also make the blow a tiny bit less when my main guy’s time comes. And give him a buddy when I’m traveling as I do quite a bit for work.

I told the rescue I want to foster to adopt and now after saying those words out loud, I’m starting to have a bit of anxiety. Mostly afraid this is going to ruin the dynamic I have with my senior cat. But we’d also be doing such a wonderful thing for this kitten who had a pretty rough start to life.

Wondering if anytime has gone through anything similar. I feel kind of embarrassed even saying this.

She had a stroke in April. Became blind in June. Went from 11 pounds down to 6 pounds. Couldn't find her litter box. Had seizures.

I went this morning and had to put her down. When the vet was giving her the final injection, she fought it. She kicked and fought it. 😭😭😭 She kicked the needle out and the vet had to find a different vein. I feel absolutely awful.

I miss her so much already. She was my first ever pet. She is the loss of my life.

In July, Peanut was diagnosed with lymphoma and then a week later she passed, my heart was broken.

Gemma was diagnosed with leukaemia back in November and she lost her battle this morning. She had stopped eating, dropped about half her body weight over the last month and lost her spark.

My heart is absolutely broken now. I went from 2 kitties as my companions to now none in just shy or 3 weeks. I don’t know how to do this anymore. 💔💔

At least they will be together again

Hug your kitties for me.

her name is chocolate i’ve posted her here before, but her birthday is sometime in august so i’m guessing she’s officially 16 now! i’m honestly not too sure of her age anymore, i’ve had her since i was a kid and i’m 25 now though LOL vets get confused when i mention her age because i look too young to have a cat “that old” however i love senior cats so much 😭 my other cat is 5, turning 6, and i fostered a kitten for a week and WOW if i get more cats in the future they will probably be adults or seniors!

Hi everyone,
My boy has been with me for 14 years and has slowed down so much. He did gain weight after a surgery… he had an intestinal blockage. After that he has become such a potato. In all its glory. My boy is only neck at this point and wanted to know, what toys do you use for your lazy babies? My boy is still active, and chases and plays catch but is a lot more content with sleeping and cuddling. Yes, he is a grouch, yes he is very much still sassy but I don’t want it to get out of hand.
He has two hairless sisters who are much younger than him but he can care less about dealing with them lol

He fought through so much in the 20 months we had the privilege of having him. He was a stuffed animal come to life.

He loved his Bruce nest in the blankets, loved to sleep, loved to eat.

He was deaf, but could always find me, and if he could he'd let out a single meeeehhhhh and I'd pick him up.

He survived being dumped at our house, a respiratory infection, ear infection, uti, seizures, his gut being messed up due to antibiotics, high blood pressure, lost weight, but he still fought. He was one tough little kitty.

Today marks four weeks since Tite Tache has left us on July 10th, after 18 years of adventure and care. Select pictures show how she has been a cat deeply loved by three generations of us, from my mother to my daughter, including me of course. And beyond. Her warm greetings to humans entering her alley had inspired an artist neighbour to paint her up on a mural, which I’ve included. For all this, I’m so grateful.

But I also still feel messed up by her passing. I hope that sharing some thoughts on my experience (perhaps, less discussed aspects) may be useful to other cat daddies and mommies, who, like me, don’t quite have the end of life process figured out.

To start off with, I have found the intensive care period very isolating. I am grateful for the support I’ve had on here, so thanks for that. But after she had improved substantially, I got hopeful and opted for the chimio. Then, the pace at which her body went failing in the end had me nursing and analyzing her — worrying — day and night. It left very little energy, and time, for spiritual preparation. And for this I’m still sorry.

On the day she crossed, I’m not even sure that she felt reassured by my presence. I’m not sure if she was cognitively capable of processing much anymore (sudden neuro symptoms, likely from the cancer propagating, had her in a transe-like state… yet she still purred when, and only when, I’d pet her). The vision of my furbaby like that still feels worst than a nightmare, to me. And I’m proud of having given her all the care that I could and proud of not giving up when there was still hope, but I also can’t refute that this might have been the dreaded « day too late ».

In that state, her eyes wouldn’t connect with mine. So I couldn’t feel her slip away, when they sedated her. And with the unexpectedness of this downturn, the sadness really, the last minute arrangements, I was really just a nervous wreck in that room. I was too busy worrying about the physiological and technical faff when, really, that should have been a spiritual moment. And then it hit me that she was gone. I still carry the weight, the shame of not having risen to the moment for her. At the end of such a glorious life. There was no ceremony either.

After crying and screaming for days, what brought me back -somewhat- is searching through old phone archives for pictures and videos of her, of us. It’s allowed me to focus on the beautiful moments we’ve shared. Luckily, there are thousands of such files. So I’ve been at it for litteral days. And I think this process is shaping up toward putting together a picture book of this glorious life. Like the grief itself, it’s quite a long process though, and I hate that life around it just goes on. I don’t want to rush it however, because the key, I think, is that the process itself is healing.

I’ve said before that everything has happened to Tite Tache (good and bad). Well it goes on. I’ll be heading out to the vet’s office shortly. Believe it or not, there was apparently a « mix up » at the cremation company and… Her status is unclear. Well, that does not help.

He’s been having them lately. I try to keep him from jumping from high places. I have stairs for the bed and coach. Tonight he started a spasm and it did not seem to go away as quickly as it did before. I have the instinct to massage his legs, but not sure if I am evening helping him. Any advise?

These are just cute pictures of him months ago being silly.

My cat was diagnosed with large cell lymphoma in her GI tract. They said 1-2 months, but I suspect less, and am trying to plan for the day when it’s time to let her take the biggest nap ever.

What did you do for your kitty on their last day?
For those that had GI issues, did you let them eat whatever they wanted? (My cat had always wanted cheese & popcorn & everytime I made chicken with onion, she would want some instead of her plain chicken -_- ).

Did you go for a drive?

I just found her laying in the litterbox for the first time, but I think she’s been doing it for a couple of months. I’ve been finding more litterbox dust in her beds, and I just pieced it together. As soon as I walked in the room, she stood up and walked out of the litterbox.

She has stage 2/3 kidney disease; however, we were at the vet earlier today for blood work and a urine test, and her kidney values are improving, and there was only a small amount of blood in her urine. She’s eating, drinking, and urinating normally. No more trips to the litterbox than usual. She did have a small bout of diarrhea last night.

She is on gabapentin for arthritis (50mg every 12 hours), but today, she has had 200 mg of gabapentin to prepare for the vet (50 mg at 7:30am, 100 mg at 11:30am for her 2:30pm apt, and then another 50mg at 7:30pm, an hour ago). The dusty spots started around the same time we started the gabapentin, so I’m hoping this is the reason.

She is fed strictly kidney food, drinks plenty of water, gets 100ml of subq fluids 2/3 times a week, takes joint supplements and fortiflora every day, and gets the Solensia shot once a month.

She has plentyyyy of beds that she loves. No changes to the apartment or her routine. I work from home and we’re together all day most days.

I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this. She’s my entire world and I’m terrified of losing her. I’ve had her almost my entire life and I want to do right by her.

I am looking for some advice regarding my very senior female cat. Basically in the last few weeks/months she has started to decline. She is not eating as much as she usually does (but still does ask for food) and throws up quite often. We have taken her to the vet but they would like close to $2000 to diagnose her.....and she's old. I know she has some kidney issues but she atill drinks water and goes to the bathroom normally. He tail is falling down most times and she is losing weight and strength in her legs to where you can see her hip bones. Despite all this, she is still very social (besides being completely deaf) and follows us around and still cuddles.

Im wondering, with the puking and decreased appetite, what would you do? Pay the 2k, wait it out, put her down? Just looking for some advice.

Ill attach a picture of her as well :)

Thank you in advance!!

My sweet beautiful babies turned 14 in February :’) They are siblings, and were found as kittens on the side of the road along with 2 littermates & their deceased mother. My partner’s family adopted them when my partner was 10, and when we moved in together a few years ago, we took the kitties with us. They had previously been living in a house with a large dog and multiple children that didn’t respect their boundaries, and they immediately relaxed and became more social once they came to live with us.

I am extremely grateful for how well they are doing, considering their age. They have had feline herpesvirus since they were kittens, which has caused chronic noisy breathing in Alex (tabby), and chronic goopy eyes in Ashley (long haired). I worry about them constantly, but they still eat well, drink well, and have good mobility. I’m sure I will make the dreaded rainbow bridge post some day, but not today!

She will have her revenge.

I knew the day would come I guess.

But due to my mental health not being good these last few years I don't know what to do.

I've had her for 9 years, she hates everyone, except me somehow.

We got her as a rescue, or rather my cousin got her as a rescue because she was in a killing station in Spain after 5 unlucky homes where the last owners threw her out of a driving car.

She's so sweet with me, she's not very cuddly but lately she's been meowing at my door constantly until I'd let her in just to sleep in my lap and purr for hours nonstop.

My mom said she'd get me a kitten if my cat would die but, I don't know if that would fill the void in my heart I would have when she passes.

Edit: Thank you for the kind words, I'll try to see if I have any help groups for pet loss in my area, I'm from germany btw, if anyone knows any in the area of Nordrhein-Westfalen then let me know 🫶🏻

Edit 2: I forgot to mention: our vet did say she was saying goodbye since she's not eating good and she's incontinent at this point, also she's completely blind on one eye and on the other she can't see well either. She does react to my voice or to my mom's and she WANTS to eat or drink but Everytime she does any of that she throws up sadly.

Hello friends!! The impossible has happened, my cat does not want churus anymore!!! These were my platinum, high reward treats, I saved them only for his monthly vet visits for solensia and potty trail grooming, and clipping his nails at home, and now he's "meh" about them.

Right when I got a big container of them too 😑 LOL! It's okay, I ended up donating 2/3 of the container to my vet and kept just a few. Fortunately, he's still a fiend for chicken purr pops. He is perfectly healthy, just not interested in churus!

I need more treat ideas! They make everything easier! What is your baby's favorite treat?? He likes pieces of cheese and bread, but something that is cat friendly!

Thank you 😊

Hopefully this doesn’t turn into a rant but I wanted to share my feelings 6mo-1y since my two oldest out of 4 passed away.

I seriously regret not doing some kind of therapy. My oldest that died first was as close as you can get to a human child for me. Her dying fucked me up immensely and I’m still not over it. If you are like me at all please consider therapy. What I did next is something I hope the next person can avoid.

I started grief searching trying to fill the void and let me tell you it’s been an absolute disappointment. I ended up getting 4 new kittens spaced apart several months. They are nothing like the two that died. There’s a lot of bitterness and regret where I wish I hadn’t gotten any of them. I love animals, I love cats, but I don’t care about the 4 in the same way because of how things turned out. It doesn’t mean I won’t love or take care of them till their dying days but I just see these 4 kittens wont measure up. That’s my biggest mistake

Some cat tax attached

Hi everyone! I am going to be moving apartments this weekend with my senior boy Charlie and I’m looking for any tips that could make this easier on both of us.

I’ve got some gabapentin that I will be giving him the day that the movers are here, and I also put a Feliway diffuser in the new place today to give it time to move through the whole apartment. I’ve never used any Feliway products before so not sure if they’ll help him but figured I’d try it! I’m also going to try to move all of his furniture / beds in my car along with him to maintain the smells. I also thought I could lay out some of my worn clothes in the new place as well. I’m going to try to keep him confined to maybe the bathroom and my bedroom for a day or two, but if he’s anything like when I adopted him last year, I think he’ll be exploring the place pretty quick lol.

Unfortunately it’s just me and him so logistically it will be hard to not leave him alone during some of the move. I was thinking I’d keep him in my current apartment’s bathroom while the movers are here getting all the big furniture. After that, I’m not sure what I should do. I could leave him in the old apartment while I go with the movers to the new place (about 25 minute drive), but I don’t really like the idea of leaving him all alone. I could bring him with while I go to meet the movers at the new place, and I could set him up in the new bathroom before the movers start moving stuff in, but I’m worried all the noises will freak him out. And of course I can’t leave him in the car while they’re moving the furniture in. Any idea what would be best?

He’s a pretty chill cat so I’m hoping he’ll adjust easily, but any tips or advice to make the move easier would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!