My precious baby that has been companying me since I was 11 will be euthanized next week. I saw all these beautiful posts here of all of your little devils and also of those that have crossed the rainbow road but everytime I saw these posts I was not only melting away at how beautiful and cute they are, I also knew that mine would be on that road as well.

It seems that time is now coming and I“m having a hard time accepting it. She has gotten cancer at her jaw this year all of a sudden and its now starting to turn real ugly. She still is cuddling with us, eating, purring and sleeping normally but today when visiting the Vet, he opened her mouth and the one side was looking really badly. She was already starting to have less of an apetite this week, which was the initial reason to check up on her again.

The vet basically said that this is already looking real bad and that we should relief her of her pain if we love her. BUT ITS SO HARD to accept that when she is still the way she is.

I want to share some puctures i took of her today and my favorite ones. If you like, u could post yours as well so that she will have some initial friends on the other side ❤️. Her name is Kitty 🫶🏼.

Mikey, birthday April 13. The same as my Uncle Mikey. Cat Mikey was very vocal and made us laugh every day. I swear you could understand what he was saying.

Loved:

- Sleeping in the armchair

- Meal times

- Spring toys

- Eating, EATING!!! actual mice. Decent hunter.

-Sleeping on laps. Must be wearing a blanket. (You could tell he was pleased with where he was about to lay by his meow. He would jump up, shift around a bit, then you wait. If you get a good meow/purr mixture before he even sits down, you have been chosen)

Hated:

- Being picked up

- Late meal times (would often argue by just meowing louder than you were telling him "I'll do it in a second!")

- Having his preferred sleeping spots occupied

- Crinkly paper bags. Big spook.

RIP Mikey. He was very kind, soft, and funny.

This is my first loss like this. Thanks for letting me share him. 🧡

This is my stupid cat. I call him my stupid cat because he has the self-preservation instincts of a rock. He is older than my four children. I have pictures of every one of them grabbing him and squishing him as babies, and he just sits there and puts up with it. I have pictures of every one of them holding him under an arm and dragging his around the house as toddlers, and he puts up with it. He climbs into the shower and looks shocked when he gets rained on. He will chase a laser pointer headfirst into a wall. I got this stupid cat shortly after my wife and I were married. He is 19 years old now. He cuddles with my autistic daughter when she had her inevitable tantrums because no one could understand her. He will sing with my wife (it's hard to describe)

My stupid cat is dying. My kids have been crying all night. My wife has been crying all night. I have been stoic, stable. I'm here to hug them and tell them it's ok and he had a good life. My wife asks why I'm not crying, I say I don't know, or I tell her I'm just compartmentalizing right now. She tells me I need to make the decision of what to do because she can't face it.

I called a veterinarian to get our stupid cat put to sleep. I called, calm and collected, told them I need a time after work to euthanize my cat. The receptionist , tells me she is so sorry, and she knows how hard it is. I tell her, he is almost 20, he has had a good life. And then something weird happens. My voice cracks just a little. She verifies the appointment time and I hang up quickly, abruptly, possibly came off a little rude.

My breath is rattling, tears start pouring out, what is happening?!

I'm sitting behind my building at work right now, crying over this stupid cat. I have to get my act together before I go back inside. I work with a bunch of bearded blue cooler tough guys who would never understand crying over a cat. Heck, I'm one of those bearded blue collar tough guys. I did not think I would cry over this stupid cat.

This stupid cat's name is Jimmy. He is just about the nicest, friendliest cat I have ever met. He was there to greet every one of my children the day they were born. All my children will be there to see him off. I hope I can get my act together before then. Maybe if I cry all my stupid tears for my stupid cat now, I can go back to being the stoic calm one.

It’s been two weeks since I had to let my baby boy go. He was 16. Lymphoma got him. Or, was getting him. We knew we had to help him go, because he was suffering and he was going to soldier on for us if we didn’t let him out of it.

I know it was the right thing for him. I’m not agonizing over the decision. And I’d be mourning him regardless. But what I can’t get over is that I couldn’t do what I’ve done for other pets and what I envisioned for him.

The lymphoma robbed him of his appetite. Even on steroids and even with Mirataz (which helped at first). He got to where he just wouldn’t eat. I had it planned out in my head, too. All his favorite foods that he had been limited on in life, he’d have in abundance on his last day. He was going to have tuna for breakfast, snacks of bologna, some beef jerky, he was going to nibble some raising canes and then get some churu to wash it down, and some “creamies” as we joked he would have called ice cream.

But he couldn’t (or wouldn’t, one) eat anything. He was my best little dude, and he’s been there for me and for my wife for so many years, and the fucking cancer robbed us and him of the last day he deserved.

It eats me alive. He deserved it all.

Edit: probably not going to surprise anyone who sees the number of comments, but I can’t possibly reply to everyone. Thank you all for sharing your kindness, your similar stories, and the pictures of your own little guys. Thanks sincerely.

We’re saying goodbye to our sweet baby tomorrow. We’ve spent the past week with her, letting her eat whatever she wants, hugging her, and crying. She had her 24th birthday on the 3rd, and things went downhill so fast after that. Personality wise, she’s her amazing self. But her arthritis is so bad. I know this is the right thing for her, but my heart is so broken. I’ve had her for over half my life. She’s been my best friend for so long. I just don’t know how to say goodbye. *I just wanted to add the junk food is from this morning. She has always had a very healthy diet.
Edited to add her name is Foosa ❤️ Thank you so much to everyone for your love and support. I’m reading all your comments and crying.
I know I didn’t go into a whole lot of detail, but her arthritis is so bad that she can’t hold herself steady to eat anymore. She falls over when walking sometimes, or gives up all together and just lays down. We tried laser treatments last month, and it helped a little bit. But she took a sudden turn right after her birthday. Since it got so bad, I have been pushing her around the house in her stroller so she can always be with us. Making this decision is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Seeing her like this, when she’s always been so active and happy, broke my heart for her. Shes so tired all the time now, and I can see how much pain she’s in.

*Second Edit I really wanted to express my gratitude to everyone that’s reached out. I’ve been reading everything, and hopefully I can slowly start responding. When I first posted, I was so sad and scared that I could hardly get my thoughts in order. Now I’m so sad that I can hardly do much of anything. But I would like to share a little bit more about my Foosy baby.
I got her when I was a teenager. I’ve had her for most of my life. Every difficult thing I’ve been through, she’s been there. When I met my husband, she instantly fell in love with him. The three of us have been a family ever since. She was always with us. She followed us around everywhere, and hated to be left out. She was so vocal, she was always meowing and purring. We talked to her like she was people, and I would always sing and dance with her. She loved attention just as much as she loved food. She always had a healthy appetite, but never had any interest in human food until she turned 20. Then it was a battle to keep her away from our plates, or to keep her from knocking food out of our hands. Even durning her last few weeks, it’s like she would get super hero strength to try and get to our food. She would get big black cartoon eyes, and we always had to give her a little bite… how could anyone resist that face??
3 years ago, she was diagnosed with stage one kidney disease. I was devastated, I had no idea what that would mean for her. Thankfully, we were able to treat it with diet and subcutaneous fluids once a week. We took her in for a senior pet check up every six months, and her kidney disease never progressed. They were actually times where her values improved. She always hovered between late stage one, and early stage two.
Earlier this year, we noticed she was losing weight, even though she was eating so much. At her senior pet check up in March, they couldn’t find any reason for it. Her labs actually came back pretty much perfect, and her kidney values had improved again at that point. Her vet joked that she should be studied for science. I was so happy, all I wanted was for her to be comfortable, happy, and healthy.
Since March, things started changing rapidly. Her weight kept dropping, and her arthritis was getting so bad. She had arthritis for about the last two years, and we had tried Solensia to see if that would help. It made her super nauseous, so we agreed to not go further with the injections. I started carrying her around the house more, to ease her joins a little. She never stopped following us around the house, even in the end. But it was harder and harder for her. So I would just carry her with me wherever I was going to be.
In July we decided to try laser therapy to see if that helped her pain. It really did help a little, but I also think it was too far progressed by then. It was all happening so fast. About two and a half weeks ago, I brought her in for her senior pet check up to get another look at labs since things had changed so much. For the first time in her life, they found quite a few concerning things. (Ironically, her kidney values were still stable) I was devastated and scared. I always swore I wouldn’t allow her to suffer. We didn’t want to put her through any further testing. And to be honest, if it was just those underlying issues, I would’ve kept her as comfortable as possible and supported her as long as it seemed right. But with her arthritis, being as bad as it was, she had no strength or energy to fight. By that weekend she mostly stopped eating. She would try, but she had such a hard time holding herself up. I did everything I could to assist her. I would hold her dish up, let her eat out of my hand, prop her dishes up with towels, sit with her while she ate…everything worked just a little bit. But it wasn’t enough. She was still really excited about food. I actually have the cutest picture of her from last weekend when I was cooking her ground beef, and she’s sitting in her stroller next to me while I was cooking, reaching up, trying to get to it. But she only had a bite or two. She was just in too much pain to eat. By Monday morning, when it was her 3rd day of not really eating, my husband and I made the decision that we would have to say goodbye Friday. We both took the week off work and spent every second with her. I also spent a lot of time cooking for her, trying to get her to eat anything. She was excited about it all, but would sway or her legs would give out if she was on her feet took long. It was so hard for her to get around, so I would bring her to her dishes and try to get her to eat. All she wanted to do was be held, and she would climb into my lap instead.
I stayed up with her all night on her last night. I held her, talked to her, cried, and we watched arrested Development. Being on the couch with us watching TV was her favorite. She was quiet and calm. We noticed on Tuesday that she had quit meowing for the most part. This was a kitty that even two weeks ago, never ran out of things to say. But she was still staring up at me, purring, and occasionally reaching up and touching my face with her little paw. I was hoping something would happen that night. That maybe she would somehow miraculously recover, and we could call everything off. I took her to her litter box and food dishes every few hours that night. She never ate or drank, and went to the bathroom once.
I knew would could probably put it off. Have a few more days with her. But she was getting too weak and skinny. You would never know, because she was so fluffy, but on her last morning she weighed 3.6. She had lost a few ounces since her blood draw two weeks ago, and at that point I was already concerned about her weight loss. We just couldn’t let her keep getting smaller.
She was so happy with us, content, felt safe….but she was also so tired. She fought as hard as she could. My husband and I also gave it our everything to make sure she was always happy and healthy.
I know 24 years is incredible. But it’s also all I’ve ever known. We were always a team, she was the thing I was most proud of. I really don’t even know what to do without her. I keep expecting her to come around the corner. I keep hearing her.
We’ve spent the last few days crying and talking about all the memories and what ifs. I’m hoping there might be some comfort in having her back with us. We ordered most of the memorial pieces they offered, along with some things we’re going to do ourselves.
Having this little kitty in my life was the best thing that ever happened to me. She was so funny, self assured, loving, and happy. If I would sing in the shower, she would be right there with me howling. She could be sleeping so heavy in her room, and if I sat down somewhere in the house, she always knew. She would be wide awake and in my lap within 30 seconds.
She definitely took a huge piece of us with her. She will always be missed.

First and last photos of me and Folti plus some more because she was the most beautiful. I got Folti when I had just turned 7, still in first grade. I am now 24, she was 17, I don’t know life without her. Her health started declining a year ago, vet appointments became frequent.

I was fortunate enough to spend basically all of summer at home with her, my life became taking care of her. I started preparing myself for her passing a while ago. I was incredibly grateful for each day we got to spend together.

I cried lying next to her the whole day yesterday because when I looked in her eyes I knew our time was coming to an end. But no amount of preparing helped, her death hurts so much and even after all the anticipatory grief, it still felt so sudden. I just keep wishing for more time.

The house feels empty without her and I don’t know what to do with all this emptiness. I have no idea what to do or how to get through this. She was my greatest love. I don’t know how to live without her. Does it ever get easier????

Hello,

My sweet 2 year so boy Benjamin will be crossing the rainbow bridge this weekend. It’s heart breaking because he got sick unexpectedly, but I need him to make friends so show me your babies:)

He is a very sweet boy, who is social and loves to jump.

Katsu was 7 months old. Full of energy, healthy and happy. He was recovering from surgery well and about an hour after we got the text that he was doing well we got a call. His heart had stopped and he didn’t have a great chance.
I rushed this morning trying to take him before work to the vet for his appointment at 7:30, now I wish I had taken an extra second to tell him good bye.
He played fetch and gave the best snuggles, forever one of my favorite cats.

Edit: thank you all for so much support. I’m so thankful I got to share my baby boy with so many people. I know he can feel the love where he is from so so many people around the world. Love you strangers
For the few weirdos, I’m happily married and hitting on a women from a post like this is so strange even if I was single, you would be ghosted all the same.

About 2 weeks ago I lost one of my girls. It was so sudden and very hard to comprehend. Those 3 days of watching her rapidly decline broke me. One of the hardest things I've ever done was taking her to be put down. I was by her side till the end. When I brought her home I let her sister see her, I was told that this was the right thing to do. She approached her, smelled her and licked around her head/neck. I buried her underneath an old Chinese maple in my backyard. 10 days after, waffle shut down. It was immediate. Unlike Oreo, she hid underneath my living room recliner. I brought her food and water and tried to get her to have some but she refused. I laid with her on the floor talking to her while petting her softly. She refused to come out. She was gone the following morning. I laid her to rest next to her sister son after. My girls were almost 17 years old and it's been hard getting used to life without them. I'm constantly thinking I've done something wrong or didn't give them the best life I could and the thoughts are hard to shake. I'm fortunate to have my dog so the house doesn't feel entirely empty. She still watches the door when I give her a snack to make sure the cats aren't coming as if they were gonna take her treat. Their names were Oreo and Waffle. Like any members of the family, their names morphed over the years. I'll miss you both, Gorbo and Waff.

Edit: Just wanted to thank you all for the support and condolences I have gotten. I didn't realize this would reach so many people and its a bit overwhelming but in a good way. It makes me happy knowing a part of the world has gotten to see my 2 gals. I made this post earlier in the day after I went out to the garden to check some plants and found myself staring at their resting place below the tree. I was feeling sad and just wanted to share my experience and thoughts. Finishing my day and logging onto Reddit to this has be very welcomed. Thank you all.

I am so, so, so scared. I’m scared that it’s too early and that I should reconsider his euthanasia appointment later today. Maybe I should reschedule it. I don’t want him to be gone.

Cinnamon was diagnosed with left-sided congestive heart failure about a month ago. Since then, he has had fluid drained from his lungs twice. His health has deteriorated so quickly. He stopped eating and started losing a lot of weight. He is so skinny now that I can feel his spine when I pet his back.

He was given an appetite stimulant, but unfortunately it didn’t help much. His fluid came back again last week, and i made the call to let him go. But now that the day is actually here, i feel so conflicted.

The hardest part is that he still sometimes seems like himself. He’s been eating his Churu treats, still using his litter box, still walking around, and still likes going outside. Last night, he even started eating a little bit of his food again. He even has a little energy left to wiggle his way out of my arms.

I’m so scared that maybe it’s still too early to let him go. What if I reschedule the appointment? What if I have another chest tap today to drain the fluid and prolong his life another week or two? I know that would probably just delay the inevitable, but I’m not ready to part with him. I’m terrified that I’m making the wrong decision and that's it's still too early and that I’ll regret it.

What would you do if you're in my situation...? I'm so devasted and scared and upset... I'm not ready for him to leave my life yet...

UPDATE: Thank you so much to everyone for your kind words, comfort, and for sharing your experiences with me. ❤️ Reading all of your comments helped me feel more at peace with my decision. I was able to find another vet who offers at-home euthanasia, and she will be coming tomorrow to help Cinnamon pass peacefully at home. In a way, I feel a sense of relief knowing that my baby won’t have to suffer or be in pain anymore...Today, I’m going to spoil him with lots of treats, snuggles, kisses, and all the love I can possibly give him 💞

Last Update: October 2nd 2:30pm, Cinnamon passed away peacefully in my arms. It was the hardest decision of my life. He had only just turned 9 and was taken away far too soon. He was such a sweet, cheeky, and smart baby. I love him so, so, so, so much. 🥀❤️

I'm absolutely heartbroken, distressed, and miserable knowing that he's not here with me anymore. I don't know what to do now that he's gone. He was my everything. I just want my baby back. I'm so scared that I didn't spoil him enough or love him enough, or that he hates me for doing this to him. I haven't been able to stop shaking and sobbing since yesterday, and I'm just completely filled with grief. I cried until I fell asleep and woke up today without hearing any of his meows and absolutely broke down. I miss him so, so, so much. 💔

I had him since he was a little kitten. He loved eating treats, getting chin scratches, and playing outside. He was such a smart baby who knew how to open doors to get what he wanted. He would scratch the furniture whenever he needed something, knowing that it would get my attention. It feels so weird now that he's not around anymore to cause trouble.

I miss him desperately. If there is an afterlife, I hope he's eating all the treats in the world, chasing all the birds, and starting the apocalypse.

I love you so, so, so much, Cinnamon. 💞

Hi. This morning I woke up to find the kitten I had recued a week ago had passed away in his sleep. He was about 45 days old and we assumed he'd been abandoned by his mom maybe. He was full of fleas and had an eye infection (he was blind from one eye), we took him to the vet every single day since we found him so they could keep track of him. He had started eating a lot, was playful and no longer had any fleas as we bathed him and took them out. The vet told us to start deworming him. Yesterday we gave him the last dose of the deworming medicine, and he was dead this morning. Could I have done something differently? Maybe I should've waited before deworming him, he was still too weak.

Edit: After reading some comments I feel the need to clarify that no, he isn't dead in this picture. I took this pic when we first rescued him and he was meowing, that's why he looks like that, plus he was dirty and his eyes were in bad condition.

We raised him after his mother left him in a bucket outside before a rainstorm.

He wasn't even 3. They helped him to rest about an hour ago after a blocked urethra became a worse internal complication that'd affect his quality of life even if they could have fixed it.

My sweet, gentle boy. I love you. I'm sorry that we couldn't do anything. I hope that you know you take a piece of me with you into the hereafter.

May the stars guide you home, wherever you are. May the next life that finds you be a kinder one than this.

Let it be known he lived. Let it be known he was.

I am lesser with his passing.

EDIT: I forgot to mention his name. Duke Clawde Hissybritches I.

Out for a grocery run two Saturdays ago, we drove past a "Free Kittens". My wife informed me that this sign has been up for a year.. so we investigated.

We end up discovering an animal hording situation coupled with neglect. We called the police and reported to the ASPCA. Apparently the cops couldn't do anything but that's a whole different story.

We walk into the single wide trailer. Absolutely horrific conditions. There were at least 2 dozen cats plus two 6 week litters of kittens.

My wife spots this little guy, asks if we can take him because we could tell he would die extremely soon. The old guy goes "Well actually I want to keep that one" So I distract him and my wife steals the cat under her sweatshirt.

We rush him to the emergency animal hospital. He had fleas, severe upper respiratory infection, constipation, eye infection, worms etc. We get the medication and take the sweet little boy home.

I'll tell you, this guy was a FIGHTER. He was the sweetest kitten we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. We took him to the vets for the constipation. He got an X-ray... It wasn't good..

His ENTIRE colon was filled with material. And I say material because at the vet when they gave the enema... His stool smelled like asphalt and chemicals. Little grains.. we took him multiple times for enemas. The past two days, he became more energetic, was pooping mostly regularly.. he was really on the upswing.. Noah passed away from a ruptured colon in his sleep.

The first 3/4 of his life, he didn't know what love was. How it felt to be cared for. The final two weeks of his short but beautiful life, he was able to experience what it meant to be loved, cared for, and to be part of a family

Noah Dream.. my wife had a dream a couple months ago where she rescued an orange kitten from immediate death, this was him.

I'll never forget how he would sit on my wife's shoulder, and look out the window when we would take him to the vet. Everyone in the practice rooted for him. He didn't have a mean bone in his body.

We brought an old mattress into his quarantine room and my wife would sleep with him every single night.

He would climb up into the crevice of your shoulder, curl up and fall asleep.

Everytime we would enter his room, he'd sprint to us for love and cuddles.

I'd play steamdeck, and hed come up behind it, put his paws on top and pop his head up to say hello.

He's watch TV shows with us. Whenever we weren't in the room, we'd play cigarettes after sex on a jukebox for him. He loved it.

His favorite toy were my fingers.

He was our entire heart for such a short period of time. We gave him the love he deserved. He didn't die alone.

My wife and I want to eventually open a cat rescue and name it "Noah's Dream". He walked so they can run.

He showed no signs of anything being wrong before he passed, even the night before.

I just want everyone to know Noah, and that he existed, and that he was a very very good sweet boy.

UPDATE: https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1wx0tmx/update_kitten_rescue_mission/

Yesterday it was Arthurs final day. I had to make the hardest decision of my life but lets start from the beginning.

I moved out at 18 and never had pets but my ex-girlfriend wanted cats so we decided to look around for a race that could live in an appartment. We found out that Bombay is the perfect fit and contacted a breeder.

She had no kittens left but took back two 2-year old brothers from an abusive family, who had been locking them away in a tiny room and hitting them. She said chances are slim that they will regain their will to live and she would normally put them to sleep.

So we took Arthur and Aramis (we kept their names) in and after a few months of living side by side they gained back their trust to humans and they've been the cuddliest boys ever since. They conquered my heart and I took an oath to never let them suffer again.

They still feared new smells and new people especially man with deep voices and we tried letting them out but they got so overwhelmed that we decided to keep them inside.

Everyone that came to visit us loved them and while Aramis was outgoing and made sure everyone gets to pet him, Arthur was shy and conservative when it came to new people. But he was very focused on me, and over the years Arthur and I bonded in a special way. And while I love them both to no end Arthur became my soulcat

They've been with me ever since and supported me through every major and minor decisions in my adult life.

They've been with me through every big change in my life from the heartbreak of my ex-girlfriend breaking up with me, to finding new love and marrying her, to losing my dad to brain cancer, buying a house and also the birth of my son.

This summer we took him to the vet since he had, what we believed to be, a sinus infection but It turned out that his lungs had a tumor and were failing and also his heart got arythmic. The doctor prescribed meds and gave us a few months maybe a year, sadly it got worse by the day after only a few weeks.

So I had to make the hardest decision of my life and put Arthur to sleep. I think he knew that his time had come and we spent the last days close together saying goodbye to each other.

I know it's the right decision to let him go at the age of 16(several different vets assured me), he could pass away peacefully at home with us and everyone especially Aramis got to say their goodbyes.

But it tears me apart on the inside. I am writing this while lying in bed, crying, Aramis curled up against me, another night without sleep fearing the morning without my best friend.

Goodbye Arthur , Arthi Barti or Count Arthula you will be missed dearly. I don't know how life will be without you but I hope you had a wonderful life with me, I sure enjoyed our 14 years together. There will never be another one like you my special boy.

Please tell me everything will be alright because right now it feels like my world is falling apart and my heart is shredded to pieces. I would give everything for another day with you

UPDATE: Wow just wow I am blown away by all your kind words. Thanks everyone for reading our story and taking the time to get to know my awesome little Arthur. His brother Aramis has not been leaving my side ever since and is taking good care of me. Just as if Arthur told him to take good care of his favorite human. I of course have also been taking good care of Aramis: lots of playtime with new toys, tons of pets and cuddle time and daily smoked salmon - his favorite. I still break down in tears several times a day and miss him so much but your stories about the rainbow bridge and all the awesome cats waiting for him over there gave me hope that he is doing fine and I will see him again one day. My heart goes out to each and every one of you

I live alone in a camper and I found this grey little tabby years ago. She was the most affectionate cat I’d ever seen. She wanted a warm home with food and love, she was grateful and never looked back. For the past 10 years its just been me and her. We ate and went to bed at the same time every single day.

I cut my guitar playing short last night because she was meowing to lay down in bed.
I thought, “How many more times will we have this?”
She slept peacefully all night only to have a severe stoke led by suffering for close to 30 mins. She gave up her struggle and passed at 9:37am. I still cant believe shes in the ground and I feel alone now. I just had to vent to someone, anyone. Beezy kept me company and I was content with just her.
I’m going to miss her terribly

Back when I was a sophomore in college, a gray kitten was found trapped in a skunk trap under my friend's porch. His tail was badly injured in the trap. He ended up at my fraternity house while we tried to find him a home, and I started looking after him. Within a few days it was clear his tail needed urgent care, and the vet recommended amputation.

At the time, I didn't have the money, so I made a Reddit account for the first time and asked for help. Here's the original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/izrqo/help_save_paul_and_his_tail/ . Strangers on this sub covered his surgery, plus extra to cover his first few weeks of food and supplies. I decided to name him Paul.

Here's what you made possible:

He spent his first two years growing up in our frat house, after I convinced the house to let us keep a long-term pet (our house father was not convinced we were responsible enough, and honestly, fair). After college he came with me everywhere. He was there through some hard times in my life, and he was there when I met my wife, who, it turned out, had a gray cat that looked just like him. They never quite became friends, but they'd sometimes nap near each other, and we took that as a good sign for us.

Paul was a solitary guy. He wasn't much for cuddling, but he spent his later years napping on our bar stools and kept me company at lunch every day after I pivoted to WFH. Over time, he warmed up to my wife and developed a habit of greeting her after work by sneaking up and loafing in her lap. I was a little salty about that (ahem, who reared you?), but ultimately respect his better judgment. He loved chin scratches and would rub his face on a little spiky brush over and over. In his more active years, he loved playing fetch with a little mouse toy or even a rolled up piece of aluminum foil. He's the only cat I've known to repeatedly bring back a toy over and over like a dog would.

He was diagnosed with diabetes about eight years ago and did well on insulin and wet food for a long time. This year he developed a bladder tumor and kidney disease, and yesterday we made the extremely difficult decision to let him go after things progressed very quickly. He was about 15 and a half.

To everyone who donated to a random college kid's kitten all those years ago: thank you. You gave him a whole life, and you gave me my one constant for 15 years. I wanted you to know how the story ended.

Here are some photos I'd like to share of him: https://imgur.com/a/MPzbMsf / https://ibb.co/album/Kzm347

I'm in a much different place now in my life, and I plan to pay forward the kindness that reddit showed to Paul. I'll be donating all of his remaining unopened food and medical supplies, and making a contribution to the organization that helped with his low cost neutering.

His name was Oscar, he was 10 years old but I had him for 6, since I was 13. He was feral after being abused and dumped on my family farm. I was planning on taking him to college with me in September.

Edit: My comment explaining didnt show up but he had a urinary blockage that I didn't catch. Vet bill was estimated 2k-4k for overnight treatment with a low chance of surviving the anesthetic due to high potassium levels, as well as high rates of it happening again. I was under the impression he was constipated or something because he was straining in the litterbox and yelled when you touched his stomach. I took him first thing in the morning after I noticed cuz it happened at night. I didnt have the money for treatment nor did I want him to die without me there so I made the decision to euthanize.

Edit 2: Originally didnt post the reason because I was scared it would get downvoted and people saying it was my fault for not going sooner or doing more, but you guys have helped me feel much better knowing there wasn't much else I could do. Thank you. I think I'm dissociated because my whole body feels numb and I don't really feel like he's gone, or crushing sadness. But when I had to feed my other cat and there was no wailing for food or fighting him to get off the counter, it hit me and I cried on the floor for like 20 minutes.

yesterday morning when i left my house everything was fine. tommy woke us up yelling for food as he usually does and sat with my boyfriend while he drank his coffee. i returned 2 hours later and he was laying on the floor & i knew something wasn’t right. my boyfriend’s work wouldn’t let him leave so i just held him and cried for hours by myself. i can’t wrap my head around any of this. he was the sweetest cuddlebug and im so upset and guilt ridden that he was alone when he passed. my other cat pawed at him and laid next to us until someone was able to come and help me decide what to do. i’m absolutely devastated and have no idea what to do. it was traumatizing and now coming home i’m so scared i’ll find my other kitty the same way. rest in peace my sweet boy

edit for confusion: my cat had already passed away by the time i got home.

this is saul. saul is the best cat i could have dreamed of and has been the niftiest companion for the last 7 years. cat distribution system had an interesting case on their hands: he showed up in my yard and refused to leave, despite his actual owners at the time living caddy-corner behind me. saul was so stubborn that when his previous owners moved, they asked if i would keep him since he wanted to be here. i was beyond happy to do so and it’s been one of the best things to happen for me.

he has a cancerous ulcer on the roof of his mouth that’s progressed to the point it’s time to let him rest tomorrow. tonight is about showering him with as much love and affection as he can get, so i wanted to share in case anyone would like to send him some loving vibes as well. ❤️

edit: i am absolutely blown away by the response, oh my goodness. i imagined maybe a handful of people, 10-20 at best, but this? all i wanted was some extra love for saul and he’s being absolutely inundated with it.

i am going to do my best to meaningfully reply to everyone i can, but please know even if i don’t reply, i’m reading every single reply and hold gratitude for each of you.

to everyone who’s mentioned their pets on the other side, i’m telling saul about each of them so he can look out for them. he’ll make sure to let your babies know you love them. ❤️

thank you, thank you, thank you. endlessly, thank you.

last edit, 5/27/26 5:00 PM EST

saul crossed the rainbow bridge peacefully about an hour ago. he was making biscuits on a super fluffy blanket, comfy as a clam and surrounded by love. no crying on the way to the vet for the first time ever. he knew it was his time. it was still the hardest thing i’ve ever had to do in my life. so much harder than i expected. but he is no longer in pain and he had the best possible passing we could give him.

i cannot thank everyone enough who made his last day so special. my boy was flooded with so much love. i can’t tell you how grateful i am. i just don’t have the words. to every single person who gave my kitty love, thank you. he felt it, i’m still feeling it, and you all have made my heart a little less heavy with all this.

Broke my freaking heart how sweet he was being 😭

Edit to add: Genuinely, thank you all so much for all the kind words, stories and condolences. This was so special because, though they were brothers, little Odie was 10 years older than our big orange Ozzy. So Ozzy was more like the annoying hyper young brother. 😆 Bathing eachother was rare for them. The vet believed Odie got blood clots that made him unable to walk well, so we tried treating him for 3 or 4 days but he just got worse and eventually just laid in the bed like this, under the covers. On this morning, Ozzy jumped up and started sniffing around Odie, so I pulled the blanket back and Ozzy immediately began bathing him. 🥹 Odie was an anxious obsessive bather, so it really seems like Oz knew he was uncomfortable and wanted to take care of him before we had to say goodbye just a short time after this video. My husband and I don't have kids, so our pets are truly our babies. I'm so grateful for all of you who can relate to that and feel the love here. ❤️

she got skinny a month ago an I thought is was worms so I got her deworming and gave to all the other cats. Then 2 days ago she got weak and I was panicking so I brought her to the vet yesterday and found out she had kidney and liver problem, I was shocked and the vet told me there is no reversing for her condition so she suggest I spend the night with my baby, I was ready to sleep on the couch with her by my side. every minute she gets weaker to the point that I was the turning her to the side after 15 minutes or so. This morning at 1am she passed away having me at her side, I'm happy to be the last person she saw before taking her last breath.

I do wish to spend just one more day with her, I actually planned to take her out this afternoon to watch the sun, she likes the sun. I love you Sushi.

If weren't that stupid to see the signs, she would've lived.

please don't leave a negative comment, that's the last thing that I need. Thank You. I just need comfort.

My poor beloved and never forgotten kitten went through the deadly roller coaster of the evil, unethical bullshit veterinary practices in my part of the world...

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May. 9, 2026: She's a rescue that I adopted on day 1 of her rescue front he kind folks that found her abandoned on the streets

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June. 21, 2026: it's been about a month and she's persistently vomiting during and after eating. But her appetite is fierce and her paws are quick at defending her food bowl.

So, I decided to get her dewormed at a veterinary pharmacy that was crowdly recommended to me by a local cats community group.

The pharmacist decided to inject her with at least 2 injections and give her at least 2 different types of pills. -$30

I go home and within 2 hours my wife informs me she's semi-paralyzedx eyes dry and wide open unresponsive to light, bone dry to the spine.

I rushed her to a reputable hospital where she was diagnosed with medicine overdose intoxication, giardia and megaesophagus. So she get admitted for 2 days to the hospital. -$452 (-$482 total)

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June. 23, 2026: I went and checked my kitten out the hospital and go home (2 hours process inside the hospital).

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June. 26, 2026: my kitten was losing weight by this date (informed the hospital about this but got no response). I see bloodied stool on my carpet and I send it to the hospital. The doctor says my kitten should be brought to the chicken immediately and I promptly comply and rush her back to the hospital.

She's now diagnosed with panleukopenia on top of the medicine overdose intoxication, giardia and megaesophagus. And the doctor literally says she must've attracted the virus from the very hospital she's at from the last time she was admitted to it. Especially seeing how the virus pathogen was very small and it barely tested positive for the virus.

So she's admitted for another 3 days to get the proper care for the virus. -$462 (-$944 total)

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Today Jun. 29, 2026: I get a message from the hospital that she passed away.

Upon asking for the reason of death and time of death. They responded that it's somewhere between 12pm and 10am. Which by logic and in any math book means she was neglected for at least 22 confirmed hours on the record.

This is extremely infuriating, frustrating, heart breaking and both financially and mentally burdensome.

... And I just got the fu** you on top as I'm writing this. That, admitted pets only get checked on at the beginning and end of the shift of the doctor in charge and there is also a 10 hours when the hospital is closed - presumably meaning don't expect us to check on her when we're closed, dumbass!

She should be here. I gave her love and was with her when she was euthanized but it doesn’t help. She should be here. Alive. In a warm house with all the treats in the world.

I was on my home from work and in the middle of a busy road, I see an animal that doesn’t seem to be moving. As I get closer, I realized it’s a cat and she was moving her head around looking for someone to help. I couldn’t believe how many people were driving past this sweet girl.

I make a u-turn, stop traffic and go and get her. The way she looked up at me was heartbreaking. It looked like relief and confusion. She was meowing softly the entire time I was driving to the vet and was just being the best girl. I could tell her injuries were really bad but wanted to hold out hope.

The first urgent pet clinic I took her to did an initial work up and told me she was pregnant. She’s not older than 3 yrs old herself but she looked even younger than that. Her two back legs were severely shattered but her pelvis and spine seemed fine and she was alert and respond to oxygen well. This gave me hope she could recover with surgery.

After being transferred to a bigger hospital, they let me know that unfortunately her injures were more serious than the initial doctor worked up. She had signs of a tbi, one leg would definitely have to be amputated and the other would require extensive surgery with possible amputation as well. Her spine has signs of compression and her fetuses weren’t viable and could cause a lot of complications during surgery. Her quality of life even after trying everything she needed, would likely not be good.

We euthanized her. I was with her and gave her pets and the biggest forehead kiss when she passed. It made it a little easier knowing she passed in a comfy bed and not on the road. But how can that feel better when she should be alive?

I don’t know. I hope I made the right choice. I only knew her for a few hours but I loved her deeply. I need people to know she existed. The vet asked for a name but I didn’t have one. I was going to go with Athena. I miss her so much.

I hugged him before leaving for a work trip. Hours later my mom called sobbing, telling my that our Chico wasn't blinking. They took him to a vet asap, he just went limp and lifeless. We kept wondering what happened, did it get bitten, did it ingest something toxic. The vet declared it was cardiac arrest.

And I don't know what to do anymore. I'm a sobbing mess who pretends to be strong on the phone to my family. He was healthy! He ate well. He was so young at 2 years old. He was such a good boy, so obedient, so intelligent and athletic. Why was he taken away from me so suddenly. I can't stop thinking I should've held him today a bit longer, should not have told him he's getting fat, should've annoyed him a littlle less. I would do anything right now to get to talk to him and hearing him one more time. I can't stop wondering what went wrong. It's like my mind is filled with reasons trying to blame myself that I could've avoided this, or prolonged his life and health in some way. I know I'm not rational but I'm hurting.

Edit:

Thank you so much, for all your kind words. It's impossible to reply to each one of you on time but I appreciate it. Chico mattered to so many people today. For now, the pain is unbearable because everything in the house mocks me that he isn't returning. My brain tricks me with his smell, and the sound of the tiny bell on his collar. But I guess it'll be painful till it isn't.

I'll share one happy memory of him that will give me comfort maybe when the pain isn't so raw- Chico never slept until all of us made it home, always sat by the door, waiting. Only relaxed and went to sleep when everyone was home.

Thank you guys again.

And that he was the best boy ever. 17 years ago I found him dying in July heat, I brought him into my house, nursed him back to health, took him to the vet too. Vet said he was around 6 weeks or so. I tried to look for his owners, nobody responded to any of my posters in the neighborhood. I said well I guess I have a cat now, and I was never a cat person. This beautiful boy taught me that I was wrong about cats, and he's been my best friend ever since. He would run and jump at me when I came home from anywhere, he would sleep next to me every night, hell he even helped with groceries when I brought some home (or so he thought). You know when you're carrying lots of bags and they run between your legs and almost trip you to your death? Yeah that.

Came home couple days ago from work and I could see he was breathing very very heavily, I picked him up and literally within seconds he passed away. I don't know how I'm gonna move on from this yet, I'm fucking destroyed. My heart is in absolute pieces.

Sorry for my vent, just wanted to share with people who love cats too. Most people in my life look at pets as just that, pets. He was my boy, my son, and I'm gonna miss him soooo fucking much. I also wish I still had older photos where he was little.

EDIT: Holy, I posted just to vent and hoping to hear from a few people who I know must have gone through this with their own kitties. Went to do laundry and stuff to be distracted, came back and this blew up. Thank you all for the kind words and love. I'm still reading most them, and I'm already in tears. I wish I could reply to all of you individually but that ere hundreds. I will keep coming back to this post and your words when my brain fucks me and makes me feel guilty and questioning myself if I have done enough, and what could I have done more of or better, maybe he would still be around. That guilty that your brain makes you feel is the worst part.

Thank you once more for the kindest of words, and awards. I'm glad to hear you like my boy, he was truly magical. Maybe one day I will start sharing all the shenanigans we've been through together, he was special and always will be. I have other cats, and I can tell they miss him too. I will get more once I'm ready. I have too much love not to share with another feline. Kiss your babies for me, and tell them I say pst pst pst. For those that lost theirs, I'm sorry for your loss as well and I hope they're all hanging out together waiting for all of us. Love you all. Couldn't thank you enough.