I’ve had Holly since I was in the fourth grade and she was just a tiny kitty. I’ve always read that when it’s their time they decline fast, but I never expected it to be so fast. She had always been perfectly healthy with just arthritis and hyperthyroidism, so I wasn’t worried about her yet. At her last annuals check up her thyroid levels were really high so we doubled her meds and rechecked in 2 weeks. At her recheck they were still a little high so we doubled them again with the plan to recheck in a month. All her other levels were normal. Her appetite decreased over the weekend so I took her in ASAP on Monday thinking she just had a URI, but her body temp was only 97, she only weighed 4lbs and her blood work wasn’t great. I took her home with some gabapentin, appetite stimulants, and antibiotics knowing this would maybe buy me a week at most because I wasn’t ready to let her go. 3 hours later I called the vet to bring her in and help her cross the bridge because I finally admitted it was time and I didn’t want to come home and find that she had died alone. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’m still emotionally wrecked. She made it just a month past her 22nd birthday, and I’ll always be grateful for how much more time with her I got than most people do. Goodbye my sweet Hollitha, you are my souls cat and I’ll miss you forever.

Last week, I had to say goodbye to my sweet old lady cat, Kit. She was 16 years old, and had been with me since I adopted her from my local shelter 14 years ago.

Way back in 2012, my childhood cat passed away. It was the first (and so far only) time I've had no pets. About 9 months later, I decided I was ready to adopt another cat. I had just gotten my first real job, so I now had the income to take care of a cat, and so the very first thing I spent money on was adopting Kit.

On October 9th, I actually went to the shelter hoping to leave with a boy cat, as I had never had one, and I heard they were generally more affectionate than girls. However, as I walked the hall, from the very last cage on the end, a pair of white legs were flailing around, reaching for me. After visiting with her for a little while, it was very clear she was choosing me, so she came home with me.

In her first few years, she was an only cat, and was so very spoiled. She would constantly beg for food from any person who she saw, which led to her getting over-fed and becoming quite fat. I eventually curbed that by making a rule that only I was allowed to feed her, and she did drop back down to a normal weight, but honestly, she was still so spoiled. She slept right by my head in bed for years, although after we got her an electric heating pad, she started to prefer that. Gotta warm up those old bones, after all!

When I first rented a house with some friends, she was very unhappy that she now had to share a house with other cats. It took several years for her to finally become tolerant of the other cats, but seeing as she ended up being the oldest of the bunch, she turned into basically the grumpy matriarch of the cat family.

For many years, Kit saw my fiancee as her rival for my attention. Kit was such a clingy baby, constantly trying to insert herself between me and my fiancee if we ever so much as hugged. As a couple of the picture show, though, she eventually decided that my fiancee is actually a friend.

Kit had been diagnosed with feline herpes at about 5 years old, which meant that she pretty regularly was snotty and congested. Our vet was always amazing, setting us up with anything we needed to treat Kit's symptoms, from oral decongestants to inhalers and steroid injections. This kept her going strong for a very long time.

Unfortunately, in early October of this year, her symptoms started to get really bad. We tried everything we could, but it seemed like her little old body just couldnt keep up the fight. She had nasty coughing fits that left her open-mouth breathing for minutes as she tried to catch her breath, and I was terrified that she might have one while I wasn't home, and it would be so severe that it would take her. As I've seen said, better a week too soon than a day too late.

So, last week on October 21st, we took her to see her vet, and I laid on the floor and locked eyes with Kit as the vet did their thing, and we said goodbye.

Since then, I keep looking at her spot on the table every time I walk by, as if I expect her to be there, and I've even thought I heard her sniffly breathing a couple of times. Her ashes were returned to me today, and I'm going to set them up in a lovely shadow box, just like I did with my other senior cat who passed a few years back.

Kit was sassy, sweet, and clingy as can be. I dont know that I'll ever encounter anyone who will love me quite like her. As my constant companion for effectively my entire adult life, I am forever changed by her loss. Still, I hope she'll watch over me as I continue to care for the 4 other cats who still make up my cat family, and I hope we'll meet again one day.

I love you, Kit. Rest easy, until we meet again.

I was hoping dearly that I would not make this post. We tried everything under the sun to try and make our boy healthy. He got hyperthyroidism and we did radioactive iodine treatment for that. He was okay for 6 months after that and then he developed anemia. We ran many different bloodwork panels and had him on steroids. We desperately wanted the cause of anemia to be blood parasites rather than FIV or bone marrow suppression. Lo and behold the bloodwork discovered that he had three different types of mycoplasma. The doctor recommended a vigorous application of pradofloxacin extending 21 days to handle the mycoplasma.

After his 21 day treatment he began rapidly declining, so it appears as though his anemia was not caused from this. His appetite dropped off the face of this earth and he became anorexic. The in-depth blood panel also showed that he has FeLV as well as already being diagnosed with FIV. When we originally found him, he had FIV. The FeLV diagnosis came as a surprise, he has only been an indoor cat and he had not been diagnosed when tested at the beginning (it was likely a very cheap test). He had been on the streets for \~8-9 months before capture.

Instead of putting him through more pain and suffering, we decided to put his journey to an end. I am crying typing this, but I know it is what we need to do. I asked my partner to marry me just this last weekend and I’m so happy I did. We have mixed emotions from highs to lows because of this, but we know our boy was the first person we told about our engagement and it happened just before he leaves this earth.

The hardest part for us is that he is not completely gone, he still enjoys his time with us. He walks around completely fine. Enjoys his morning sun bathing and seems much better during the day. He still snuggles and stays with us rather than wondering to be alone. We just know keeping him around would be selfish of us. His overall quality of life has degraded. He no longer eats and has rapid breathing when resting. Two days ago he peed blood and this ensured our decision was the right one.

The drawing in the first image was something I drew on procreate. Since his decline, I decided to make something to remember our boy. I was hoping to have it complete by now, but I’m not an artist and getting my boys fur pattern is very tedious. I wanted to share it here. It signifies him looking out the window and only being able to see his bewildering surroundings like us looking out into space.

I didn’t even want nor like a cat before he came into our life, and now he has easily become my best friend with the strongest bond I’ve ever had with a pet. He’s been my right hand man for as long as we’ve had him. Always wanting to be in my lap or on the desk when I’m on the computer. Snuggling with me, when his mom leaves for work in the mornings. He’s the best tempered animal I’ve ever experienced and my first true pet. If you’ve read this far I want to thank you. My boy Porter Rune meant the world to me and my now fiancée. Love and cherish your animals for me and give them extra treats today ❤️

Our little boy passed peacefully at 1:38PM. If you’re in the Maryland area I highly recommend Paws at Rest, Dr. Easter was phenomenal and gave him the best ending. Thank you to everyone for the love and support, it means the world to me ❤️‍🩹 Porter will be remembered until the day I die, even though his story has come to an end today.

This is my 19 year old cat Willow. We got her when she was maybe 6 weeks old and have loved her since. She's been going downhill the last few months and I realized it was time last week. I saw a comment on here that said 'It's better to be a month early than a week late'. I'm going to miss reaching for her on the bed at night sleeping beside me but I know she's whole, healthy, and not in pain anymore.

Exactly a year ago,he was diagnosed with cancer they told me i had to put him to sleep, but i refused i promised him that i would do everything to prolong his life and give him as much warmth as i could for this entire year, i gave him painkillers twice a day to make things easier for him i knew he would never recover, but i wanted to give him the best last year of his life

We traveled together, Berlin, Nice, Milan. I always dreamed that he would pass away at home, surrounded by people who loved him. And that is exactly what happened when i came back from work, he could barely move. But when he heard me, he let out a soft meow and tried to place his paws on my hand. I asked him to lie on my chest. He looked at me, and i looked at him through tears.

He wasn't just a cat. He had lived through all my joys and sorrows,all the good and difficult moments of my life and i am so grateful that he waited for me and fell asleep in my arms.

Rest in peace, i love you and i will miss you so much

This is Papas. For the first maybe 10 years of his life, he ate mainly dry cat food. He loves the friskies brand. The last 4-5 years he’s been eating 95% of the time wet food after I learned that dry food isn’t good for their kidneys. The Friskies brand of any variety. He LOVES that brand for some reason. I’ve tried others like Blue Buffalo, Tiki, and Meow Mix and it was a miss. He is my soul cat. I’ve had him since I was 15, and I’m almost 31 now.

I want to help him live as long as he can. What do you guys do for your senior cats that you’ve seen has made a significant difference in their quality of life?

Said goodbye to our 13yo boy, Biscuit. He most likely had metastatic liver cancer. This was him at his healthiest. So not fair.

This is Gus and he is 15! I recently had to say goodbye to his brother gio who was 17 and some change. They had the same mama but who knows if their father was the same lol. He is a noisy and playful old man and I feel so lucky to have him even tho I miss his brother like crazy. Sending everyone hugs with senior kitties and those who have had to say goodbye as well as I am currently experiencing both.

Gus is in good health aside from hyperhthyroidism so hoping he stays well for a long time.

Pretty much what the title says.. we prepared to put her down tomorrow.

We’ve only had her for about 4 ½ - 5 years now, since 2022. We got her when she was already an adult cat. Her original owners gave her to my sister & said she was close to death, but my sister took her in & said she was perfectly fine. My sister couldn’t keep her because she had a cat herself & the two didn’t get along. After me & my boyfriend spent some time at my sister’s place, Penny latched on to us almost immediately. She was the sweetest, kindest, most loving girl. I couldn’t believe it. 🥹 We took her in immediately & the rest was history. 💕 Everyone loved her, and she was the most sweetest thing. I always wanted a kitten, but something about Penny just.. called to me. It’s like she was meant FOR ME in some sort of way. My boyfriend has never had a pet before, and it was beautiful watching his relationship with her develop and him love her just as deeply as me. We were the perfect family of 3. Until last month.

We came home from work as usual, and Penny was limping. Could barely move her back legs, it was terrifying. We immediately took her to MedVet. They didn’t do much of anything at all ( and still charged us a HUGE amount 🙄 ) but the Vet stated because she was circling to one side, and the sudden limp, she believed it was neurological. Like a stroke. We took her home & the next day we took her to another pet hospital, a local one that a few people vouched for, and they were amazing. I’m so grateful for them throughout this entire ordeal. The Vets there also agreed it was neurological. Especially because of the circling to the right and/or one side, sudden limpness & disorientation. They also stated she was in the beginning stages of Chronic Kidney Disease. We went home with a renal senior cat diet, Gabapentin, and support. Within the next 48 hours it was a complete difference. She was getting better, moving more, still a slight limp, but barely noticeable. She was just.. better. We thought she was going to continue improving.. last week we came home from work and the limp came back again. But, she was still very alert and acting like her normal self, she was just wobbly. We didn’t mind a wobbly girl as long as she was ok and her quality of life hasn’t declined.

She slowly declined since then. By Sunday, she couldn’t walk at all. Even her front paws were weak and she kept falling to the side. She destroyed the area we gated off for her because she kept putting her paws in her food and water, and tipping over. She couldn’t stand. It’s just awful to witness when just a few days ago she was okay. The vet today believes it’s either a brain tumor or lesion, along with progression of kidney disease. As much as we wanted to & as much as we tried to scrape money together, things are already tight.. and we just couldn’t afford the MRI nor the entire hospital stay of 24-48hrs. They gave us support and some things to help her and they wanted to see how she does in the next 24hrs but if there was no improvement they believe euthanasia would be best. She can’t walk or eat anymore without tipping over. We syringe fed her pâté and water. But all she does is lie on her side.. when she does get up she keeps going in corners and putting her head in corners, or trying to hide. She declined so RAPIDLY and I’m just numb. I don’t know how to feel or what to do. I just love my girl. And getting an adult cat we knew this day would come.. we knew we’d have to take on that honor of being with her as she crosses the rainbow bridge but I truly thought I had more time… sorry for the long post, I just knew if it was anyone who would know how I’m feeling right now, it’s everyone in this thread. I’ll miss you forever Penny.. 🕊️ God bless 💕

I feel helpless but doing all I can.

Just wanted to share extra photos of my old man that I sadly lost today and posted on Reddit about. I was blessed with an insane amount of reassurance and love i genuinely appreciate it, made my first day of training and a day of grieving much more relaxing to say the least. Majority of these pics are within the last 2 years 🫂

I wouldn’t ask for any other cat in the world

This is his current state, he is 14. I have had him since I was 6.

Over the last 2-3 weeks his health has progressively got worse each day it seems. Noticed his spine being boney but figured it was just him not eating enough, now last week started to develop a little eye infection it seems, but now everyday the right eye seems to get shut cuz of it and I have to clean it out so he can see again. Now it seems he has lost most power in his back legs + balance and now he’s really just skin and bones vs how he used to be :(

With that being said I think it’s time for him to go cause I can’t stand seeing him like this cause it really hurts me more than anything to see my first son go

(Update as of 1:50pm, he’s going to the vet at 2:30 within the next hour so we will have a verdict soon)

2:55, he is no longer with us. Took him to the vet and It was to late to even attempt to save him, he was actively dying. He had a BPM of 40. wish I saw sooner I feel so fucking bad that I didn’t notice it sooner. Hes gums were also pale so he was anemic. I feel so bad I didn’t do anything sooner . I appreciate all the comments and advice.

She is 14.5 and has cancer with two masses in her intestines and lymph nodes. Her weight has declined to 4.5 pounds. She is still somewhat active and can jump on the counter but she is incontinent and drips poop everywhere and is not able to keep herself clean. She does purr and enjoys a good lap cuddle. I have been a cat person my whole life but we have 3 young kids including a toddler and I am at my wits’ end. All our furniture is covered in plastic wrap because she started soiling it repeatedly earlier in the summer. I am losing my mind but my husband feels like he owes it to her to give her chemotherapy.

We had to put our black Turkish angora Jet to sleep 6 weeks ago.
With hectic work and life for last few weeks I haven’t been thinking about him much, but yesterday I checked the mail and the vet hospital sent us a nice card with Jet’s paw prints. Well, I was in tears all over again. We adopted him in Spain and he was with us through our life in different countries.
He was a good little traveller. (Car and plane). We had 18 great years with him and he was a very social and friendly cat. As sad as I am we knew it was time for him to go, kidney failure is terrible and there is no cure. I think he hid his pain from us for as long as he could.



This is Winston, my 18.5 exotic shorthair I got when I was 23 years old. I’m now 41.
His appetite is off and on the last few weeks, but he has lost a lot of weight and has stage 3 kidney disease. He still wants to play though if I bring out his favourite toy.
He has been going bathroom outside of his litter box for over a year, and I’ve managed with puppy pads for the most part. He seems in great spirits most days.

His balance is really declining, and he always “backs into” me or a pillow to hold himself up while sitting. He has been cuddled up to me more than he ever has, and now sits on me (he was never a lap cat). Which I love and think is so sweet. I think he knows, too.

When he drinks water, his face gets abnormally soaked and now he is losing his hair under his chin and neck area because of it :(

Every morning I usually find him facing the sun, which for some reason just makes me really sad knowing we are entering winter and the days are getting shorter and less sunny. And that’s one thing I think he really loves.

In a perfect world I wish when it’s his time he passes quietly in the night. I’m just not ready.

I’ve had a pretty dysfunctional home life and relationships for most of my 20s and 30s and Winston has been the only consistent thing in my life.

I’ve had this old baby since 2006 and I have never EVER stopped loving him, and the best part is he’s perfectly healthy too

16 year old cat.

I have an old girl, she was my childhood cat so she still lives with my parents. 8 months ago she stopped eating for a day or two and my parents took her to the vets. They found a tumor in her stomach and said it was probably cancer. Gave her pain meds and something to slow the growth. At the time they had said shed probably last 3 months at best and since she was so old it would harm her more to treat it. Shes now about half the weight she was when she was first diagnosed and its so heart breaking to see her so small. She cant eat without throwing some of it back up later and she doesn't try to make it to the litter box to poop anymore. Aswell as she wont groom herself. My parents havent said it directly but they have heavily implied theyre going to euthanize her in the next month before we go on a trip to attend a funeral(not optional, its for my aunt) becuase they dont think she will survive or will be too stressed out alone(especially with their younger cat who doesnt care that shes old and will still bully her if hes not told off). But from my visits home, I dont think shes ready to go. She responds to her name, walks around often, recognizes her favorite treats. She asks to go outside to sun bathe on the patio. Shell still walk up to you to ask for attention and purrs so so much about it when she gets pets or a treat. Shes slow but shes still so mobile and aware of things. Maybe my parents have seen a different side of the story, Im not home often so she might just be excited to see me. I can see she is still enjoying being alive. At what point is it time? How do you know? I cant wrap my head around it, if it werent for the tumor she'd have lived another three or four years I'm sure. I dont think I ultimately have a choice, since I'm not the one caring for her, but I dont know if Im just trying to hang on too hard or if my feeling that my parents are cutting her life off too early are right.

Our family has had Ziggy since he was a kitten. He's now either 16 or 17, and in my care along with Bubs the tabby. Hes on BP meds and 2.5mg steroids for a year now but bloodwork came back perfect even before that regimen! I suspect he either has IBS or IBD because his palate changes daily and he's very picky unless its human food, and has some real humdingers in the pan. 2 years ago I knew something was up when he wouldn't even eat boiled chicken after trying every kind of food imaginable. I thought that was the end, as he dropped to 9 lbs. I thought it was a tooth problem but the back ones got absorbed back into his jaw (its what the doc told me) and he had no pain or evidence of swelling. Switched him to wet food instead of just supplementing with minimal improvement and no appetite stimulants or anti nausea pills helped. Since then I've gotten him up to 13ish lbs and he's back to his normal self... ish. lol. Sure, my social life has suffered since he can't go more than 10 hours without feeding but I'm blessed to have my brother to watch him when I'm out of town. His and my stubbornness are whats keeping him healthy at this point. lots of wasted food to get a meal in him. My guess is I have about a year left with the old guy maybe more, maybe less.