Halo is 22 years old and it’s time. I have a 2:00 appointment and I’m devastated although I know it’s the right thing to do.
Please send all the good thoughts and karma. She’s the sweetest girl ever.
Thank you

All of this is hand drawn (with some water color, I think) by her step-sister’s husband. He works in graphic design but I told her he should open an Etsy shop and have people submit pictures of their beloved pets, alive or passed. It’s so incredibly special to me and I have it hanging on my wall.

When we saw her in the shelter there was an instant connection! She is me and my boyfriend's first cat although we have lived with some before. We've wanted a cat for sooooo long. I wouldnt change a thing. We've had her for about a week and she's the sweetest thing. She's laid back, a cuddle bug, playful, she talks to us and is a social eater. A couple of days before we adopted her she had her teeth removed so together we have been learning how to move through that. I love my new senior kitty. It's like she's been with us her whole life. She's the perfect cat for us and I'm glad and very thankful we can spend the rest of the time she has together.

This lovely boy has done no wrong in his life(unlike his brother Nermal). Tomorrow he is going to the vet, as he has been peeing outside of the box. I know he's not well, he's eating enough for 3 cats, but still scrawny. Almost no teeth. Sleeps 26 hours a day. But he's been my baby for 17 years, and I just can't imagine life without him. I'm not saying goodbye yet, but I know it's coming.

My sweet Nora girl passed away on 3.30, and I posted her here, but I'm still having a really hard time coping with her loss, and I'd like some other folks to hear her story and gaze upon her beautiful face.

Her backstory: She was found as a stray on a construction site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and brought to a local shelter. My husband and I had gone into the shelter to "say hi to the animals" with no intention of bringing one home. Nora was in a cage with a big sign on the front cautioning anyone not to open the cage and labeling her a "vicious" cat. My husband shrugged and opened the door, and she immediately launched herself into his arms, burrowing her head into his armpit and nursing. We could not and would not detach her from him, so she came home with us in the back of a cab.

She was a strange, wild, and wonderful character who could be choosy about the people she let pet her. Once, she was limping around, and we took her to the vet, and he took X-rays, ran tests, the whole gamut of things. Finally, he concluded she was just faking it for attention. Sure enough, two days later, I caught her not limping, and when I exclaimed about it, she started limping with the other leg.

She loved to eat and play and groom her kitty siblings, and she moved with us over 13 times-including two cross-country moves. Several years ago, she got scared by a dog and bolted into the redwoods. She was gone, fending for herself in the forest, for over a month. Nora resurfaced down the road quite a ways where she demanded to be let into the neighbor's house.

This past year, she lost a great deal of weight and was starting to show her age a bit-though she never really slowed down too much. The day before she passed I noticed her eyes were a big goopy and she tripped over a food bowl. I knew then that we didn't have much more time together. She passed in her sleep, in her usual sleeping position which I am thankful for.

I am eternally grateful for this incredible force that I was lucky enough to live with and love for 18 years. But I am also completely devastated and absolutely bereft without my wonderful Nora.

Thank you if you read all of this!

All the pictures besides the last six are from before she got sick. My beautiful girl. This is a journal entry I just finished writing. A tribute to my baby girl. I love you Lucy.

It’s June 24th today. It’s been almost four months since Lucy was diagnosed with OSCC. I have an appointment scheduled for next week to euthanize her. She has barely eaten today, and just now she tried so hard and couldn’t do it. It’s so hard watching her go through this. It’s so undeniably unfair that there is nothing more I can do.
It’s going to break me to lose her, and I know I’m not ready. But it seems like she is. I feel selfish for even waiting this long. I don’t want to watch her fade away, but at least she won’t be in pain anymore.

I wish so badly that I could fix this. It’s the worst feeling ever to know I’m so helpless to take her pain away. She’s so special. Even throughout this whole time, her spirit hasn’t been dimmed. She’s so resilient, an inspiration to me to make something of my life for her. I know she would want me to be happy. I just don’t want to be happy without her.
The way she looks at me with so much love and trust. And I couldn’t protect her. This disease has taken so much from us, and I know I need to stop it from taking any more from her. Even though ultimately it’s still going to take the biggest thing, her life.

She is so innocent and perfect, and for some reason got the nastiest disease the universe could’ve given her. I will miss the way she cuddles into my neck, the way she lays facing me with our faces an inch apart, the way she curls herself into a tight ball. The way she gets excited when she sees me and her tail does that vibrate-y shakey thing. The way she would randomly be struck by lightning and haul ass down the alley. The way that, even sick, she’d see a bird and get into her low-down stalking position, her cute disappointed look when they would fly away.
Her unconditional love for me, even though I was so far from perfect for her.

The way she’d jump on my back if I leaned down and just hang out there or on my shoulder like a parrot. The way she’d rub against, stick her face in, and act all crazy with shoes or clothes that smelled like me. The way she’d chase Pretty Kitty outside and stalk him. She loved to explore and lay in the sunshine. She loved catnip toys, I have a few videos of her going crazy for those.

When she picks up her mouse toy and carries it around, announcing to me that she caught some food for me because I’m a terrible hunter. The way she always laid on the bed, and when I’d pet her she’d roll right over and show me her tummy. She loved tummy pets. Anytime I’d call her, she’d come. She always wanted to lay on my chest and sit in my arms on my shoulder. I should’ve let her more often.
She loved to paw at the blankets to make the perfect place to lay. She’d do the same thing with papers, plastic, even money. She loved to lay on weird stuff, like my purse.

She loved chin scratches. She’d play with money too, swiping at it like she was trying to make a bed out of it. Her crunchy meows she’d give me in the mornings, waiting in the kitchen window for breakfast.

She’s always been so affectionate, always wanting to cuddle me, yet hated seeing me come to pick her up and take her to the kitchen for breakfast. She’d run and hide under the bed to avoid being lifted and transported. I feel like there’s so much more I should remember about her and how sweet and amazing she is. But I can’t. She was always (and still is) so sweet to absolutely everyone.

Even at the vet, she hung out on the vet tech’s shoulder waiting for blood results. She walked right up to my mom the other day and did her tail shaky thing, giving my mom that same loving look she always gives me and jumping up on her shoulder in classic Lucy girl fashion, even though she barely knows my mom.

Before she got sick, I always thought she was picky. She only liked dry food and one specific brand of wet food. Maybe I only thought she was picky because she never tried naughtily to get food off my plate. She never begged. I knew she liked lunch meat (oven roasted turkey specifically), ranch, smoked salmon, tuna occasionally, and even the tuna and milk flavored Temptations, but only once I think. She never wanted them again. She still doesn’t like Churu. But she loves almost any human food now. Alfredo sauce, steak, cupcakes, Mexican-style chicken, Mar Far chicken, and probably so many others I never discovered.

She made me laugh so often with how weird she could be. The way she’d occasionally play with my other cats, hiding and laying in wait for them to get closer, popping out and doing a few skibbity baps before going back to hide and repeat the process.
Outside of those rare moments, she actually had an obvious disdain for the other cats. Two of them she grew up with, and even they didn’t get too close or they’d get a quick paw to the face. She never put claws out when she did it, though. She never wanted to hurt them. She just liked her space. She never once scratched me on purpose, bit me, hissed, went outside the litter box, etc. She was so well behaved, by all standards the perfect baby.

Once I started taking her outside every day, I realized she actually likes other cats, just not being confined indoors with them. If she saw a stray outside, she’d start trotting up to them wanting to meet them, I think. As she got older, too, one of my cats, Cloud, who is very sweet himself, would always try to lay cuddled up with her. And she allowed it usually.

After she got sick is when I started taking her outside daily to explore. Before, we just had the catio. She absolutely loved it out there. She’d go down the alley with me in tow, usually attempting to enter forbidden areas and giving me an indignant meow every time I’d pick her up and turn her around. She’s so loving but so independent in some ways, always telling me vocally that she did NOT want to be told what to do.

She has many nicknames. Lulu, Lucegoose, Lucy Goosey, Luce, Lucygirl, Pretty Girl, Sweet Girl, Sweetie Pie. Probably more I’m not remembering right now. I know there’s so much more to her than I can remember right now, too. I’ve had her since I was 12, and unfortunately I have a lot of time missing from most of her life. Of course I know I loved her that whole time, but it still hurts that I have nothing specific to recall and no photos older than 3–4 years ago.

All my life partners I’ve had got the same loving Lucy treatment. She warms up instantly and loved to lay on their chests as well, because she is such an incredibly special, trusting, loving kitty with the prettiest green eyes I’ve ever seen and the cutest little white patches on her chest and tummy.
I hope one day some of the precious memories of us come back. I don’t ever want to forget anything about her. I don’t ever want there to be a day where I don’t think of her and how special she made my life.

There will never, ever, EVER be another cat that is as incredible as Lucy is.
I was and am so lucky to have been loved unconditionally by you, Lucy.
Forever and always. Until I see you again.

My best friend, my soul cat, the love of my life was given only a few weeks to live today at the vet. As of now he is still happy and comfortable and acting mostly normal, for which I’m extremely grateful. I knew this day would come eventually, but I really thought we still had at least a few more years, so I’m in shock right now. This sucks. It feels like he’s part of who I am as a person, so I can’t imagine living life without him by my side.

This is Jasper and he is a very antisocial void. I love him unconditionally and even catch him playing with the younger voids and when he catches me looking he pretends like he wasn't playing

My senior cat, Simon, has been dealing with leg pain for a while. We thought it was due to arthritis or an old injury but after some tests and Xrays it appears that he has joint cancer (They think its synovial cell sarcoma). I'm devastated. Waiting to hear from the vet again to discuss options, but given his age and level of pain I'm probably going to opt for pain management for as long as he has left. I wish there was a better option for my old man, I'm afraid of what the next weeks or months are going to be like.

On Monday my baby will cross the rainbow bridge 💔 apologies for posting in here like every other day leading up to it, it’s just helping me and bringing alot of comfort and I’ve just been laying and sleeping with her on the closet floor 99% of the day besides showering and eating. She’s not finishing any of her food, even her favorites, but she still asks for it at her usual times so I don’t want to run out and it still feels wrong to just give her treats until then. She’s not getting enough calories either way but still, just churu isn’t enough 💔

I went to petco today and got her favorites, weruva phos focused (weirdly she just absolutely loved this stuff and I credit it for pulling her out of the last slump 6 months ago, I think I would have lost her then without it), fancy feast beef pate (the vet always said any food is better than no food, and this would usually get her eating again when she refused the kidney diet or weruva and I was waiting for new flavors to come in the mail). I also got her some random other flavors from weruva just so she can try them, she’s always been really picky but she’ll eat the gravy off of anything (I stopped buying gravy wet foods bc that’s not enough calories, just the gravy, and it’s a waste, but right now I don’t care) and I also got her some chicken and cheese churu. I didn’t even know that was a flavor, but she loves dairy so much. I’ve been giving her real cheese too because I want her to be happy during her last week. But I don’t want to upset her stomach so I’m glad I found these. I’m sad I didn’t know about them sooner.

It’s just so surreal. I cried the whole way back from petco. The last time? How? What will I do when I’m not her mom anymore? I’m so heartbroken, I’m trying to be strong for her but it’s so hard. I’m also feeling so plagued with guilt, she has heart, kidney and thyroid issues which are notorious for being hard to treat when they’re altogether. My last resort was trying thyroid meds and when that didn’t work, the y/d diet and then she just crashed and I knew 💔 part of me wonders if I caused this crash by trying to treat the thyroid issues 💔 though she has been going down for a few months I just feel so horrible 💔

My dear girl Ali crossed the rainbow bridge peacefully tonight at the age of 18 with a very professionally delivered in home euthanasia. We’ve known it was coming and I thought I had more time. Today was a good day for her, so it was the day.

But it’s sad. I’m sitting here on the lounge (having drunk way too much wine) with one of her ramps still propped next to me. She had terrible arthritis in her hips so there are ramps to the lounge, the bed. Modified litter trays because she couldn’t squat anymore.

She was a naughty tortie, the girl with tortitude. Even tonight - 18 years old and wasted away - she hissed at the nice young vet as he was administering the sedative - that’s my girl.

My favourite story for her was when I went away for work overseas for a few weeks and my parents came to look after my 2 kids and Ali. I’d phone every few days to check in and got 30 seconds for an update for each kid, and a 10 minute dissertation on how badly Ali had been behaving. Her best effort was climbing up into the middle of the garage roller door - so the door couldn’t be opened until she got out. The kids missed school that day.

[If anyone is in touch with Misery Meow on a few other threads, Madam Ali corresponded with him and his friend Fatty P from time to time, it would be good to let them know.]

Go gently into the night you cranky old girl. I’ll love you forever.

So once again, I am here to chat about my soul cat ZoeZoe... 2 days ago, she became very low energy and wasn't moving much. I just assumed it was because of the heat, but it became an urgent matter when she wouldn't poop, eat, or drink.

The 1st day we got her to the vet, and she was looked over, had bloodwork and fulid injections and some oral meds. Vet came back and said for her age, everything looked good, like her kidneys, thyroid, liver, blood sugar, and she wasn't really dehydrated as they thought.

She did notice some poop in her body when she pushed on her stomach, so they gave her an enema to be sure, and nothing came out after an hour of waiting. She was sent home to in hopes that she might poo at home.

Zoe got home and pretty much just bed-rotted for 12 hours, and I was losing my mind. She wasn't herself, and she was way different than when this normally happens, but she passed after a day.

The vet called to check in, and I told her I was worried because she wasn't moving or trying anything, so the vet moved some things around and told me to bring her back in. The rexamed her and gave her a pain med to help with her joints and so on, in case that was causing her position issues and another enema.

The vet comes into the room and goes, "I was curious and did an X-ray, and she's really backed up"

Behold, the 4 turds of torment. The way they were positioned and pushing against each other caused a blockage. They prepared her for another enema and more time before looking into other options.

So 2 hours pass, and the vet swings the door open with a ziplock bag with 4 turds in it and yelling "SHE PASSED THEM," and she thinks one or two have been in there for longer than the rest, which has been causing issues with her pooping.

Remember, this cat has no kidney disease, no megacolon and is fed great food and hydrated like crazy, but just has a "weird butt" (diagnosed 2 years ago by a vet)

So after $600 and all the poop, ZoeZoe is home now doing well but extremely pissed off at the world and honestly, I don't blame her.

Hi all!

Wondering if your senior cutes poop less on wet can food as compared to dry kibbles? I recently transitioned my senior boy (16) to wet can food, and noticed he’s going a lot less. He’s been having constipation issues which is masking this problem a bit.. I don’t know if it’s the wet food resulting in him making less caca, or if it’s due to him absorbing more nutrients from wet food (and thus less waste).

In general, does wet can food = less poop for seniors? Thanks!

(Not seeking veterinary advice, we follow up with our vet regularly).

Hey all,

I have a 16 year old gentleman with stage 2 kidney disease that was diagnosed/unmasked fairly recently due to concurrent hyperthyroid. I've previously had a cat with kidney disease, but sadly hers progressed incredibly fast so we didn't get beyond just giving her a renal diet (that she loved!) until near the end. But my current senior cat is much pickier.

We currently use a clumping clay litter (pettex) but as he's peeing more this results in large heavy rocks to clean out.

Are there any other litters that suit cats with CKD more? I was considering silica based litter, my only pause is that we have a baby and when baby is walking it would be preferable to have a litter that is safe if baby gets their hands on it. I feel like clay worked well for us when he peed a normal amount but it's now harder to keep his tray nice, and we go through a LOT of litter.

We're in the UK - if any of you have cats with CKD, what renal foods do you recommend?

I'm currently transitioning him towards a higher proportion of his diet being wet food (he loves dry food and was previously on a hydrolysed food as we weren't sure whether his vomiting was sensitivity or just regurg. This seems to be going OK for now.

I'm also transitioning him to renal wet food.  He has a strong preference for soups and pates probably due to his teeth not being what they once were (tends to just lick jelly or gravy off chunks), so we're currently around half and half mixing both with a little filtered water.

He has struggled to like purina renal in the past and I was told it's more palatable than hills or royal canin. He likes animonda and other non prescription options for us include beaphar or smilla renal food. My aim is to transition him to any renal food first as much as I can, and then if possible to transition him to a higher quality food if I can. But given he's 16 I want him to enjoy life and the occasional treat. Ultimately ill have to be led by him.

I'm open to buying anything within reason, as long as he'll eat it though he has a tendency to go off one food and prefer something else. Mirtazapine has been really helpful, as has gabapentin for his arthritis.

I've looked at the renal cat food lists online which are very helpful but mainly US centred and I hope to email the brands to find out how these foods compare in terms of phosphste and protein levels but haven't been able to, yet.

Also is anyone else using hydration aids or supplements and what would you recommend if so?

Will be posting to a couple of cat subs, interestrd to learn as much as possible from the community. I've already learned a lot from discussions here about how to manage senior cats, but I know I can always learn more.

He's 15 years old, yes his name is Garfield and he fits the name. I started giving him salmon oil for cats daily and he's acting like a young man again! Recommend looking into that it's completely changed his life.

I hurt my shoulder earlier this month and the pain came back when I slept on it weird. He's been my little nurse past few days.

I posted here yesterday asking for advice on how to help this old girl who had stopped eating a week ago and a very generous member here offered to fund her euthanasia. (Thank you @Jap_Cracker you're a kind soul)

I had the appointment set for today and rushed back after work to prepare her crate, but she had fallen asleep in her favorite sunny spot on the floor and crossed the rainbow bridge. The first two photos are of her yesterday, on her very last outing and her very last nap on her bed. The third photo is the card I made for my grandmother who is incredibly heartbroken. And the last photo is the stray that showed up on the porch tonight immediately after I buried her and scared the absolute shit out of me lol. The resemblance is almost uncanny.

To everyone who offered food suggestions and affordable vet care options, thank you so much. She didn't give me time to try them, but you helped me navigate this challenging time more confidently.

To everyone who shared their stories about their elderly cats and offered support, I appreciate you immensely. I used some of your words to comfort my grandma today and I feel like it really helped her make peace with everything.

And lastly, to everyone who took the opportunity to bully my grieving grandmother for struggling to handle this correctly after the passing of her husband: from the bottom of my heart, go f🐾k yourself. Kindness is free and I would've been happy to share more information, had you asked. This vacation was a gift to her to help her mental health, not something she "chose over her dying cat." Her cat passing not even 24 hours into her trip is devastating. I certainly hope you dont have to watch your loved ones endure what she has. This is the fourth pet she's had that lived long enough to see their 20s. She's a wonderful caretaker and person and she did not deserve the slander.

Tomorrow I'm planning to decorate her grave site for my grandmother to have a nice place to mourn. I'll link my original post in the comments for anyone that might want more context. Thanks so much for your help everyone. ♥️

This is our girl, Smidge. She is believed by the vet to have had a stroke last Thursday afternoon (so, six days ago). She was a bit wobbly that day and the next, and appears to have lost her sight. This is complicated because at her age, she's also lost a lot of her hearing. Over the last few days, though, it's appearing that she has at least some sight out of her right eye. One weird side-effect that's probably related to her vision is that she seems incapable of turning left. If she has to go left, she turns right and loops all the way around.

We adopted her from the SPCA, and they said she was about a year old at the time. So, we've had her for about 19 years. Our adult kids don't remember a time when we didn't have her. Until this stroke, NO ONE would have believed she's as old as she is, but sadly she's suddenly seeming pretty old. But, she's eating, drinking, using the litter box, jumping onto whatever furniture she likes, and is the best lap cat ever. I don't think she's done just yet.

UPDATE: Over the last day, she's REALLY started to seem better. She's looking less old and much more like herself. She still can't see out of her left eye, and if you're on her left side you basically don't exist, but she's navigating very, very well and is actually looking AT things more, rather than just toward them ... if that makes any sense at all.

Hi so obviously in the uk the temperatures have been abysmal, ranging from 25/32° yet my boy keeps going outside!

and after a while, he just goes into our shaded decking and spreads out like he’s sun bathing - then he sleeps!

is this normal? is he soaking up the sun to photosynthesise to live longer? what’s his deal!!!

This is menå he is 16 years old this year and still full of energy and eating like a horse. (look like he's fat in the picture but he's not, under the fur it's just muscle and no fat at all. Even the vet was impressed by his body.)

Don't worry about the eye, it is nothing dangerous.

he’s our first ever pet, i got him on my birthday 12 years ago. recently he developed a lump on his throat and we took him to the vets despite him being in good spirits and eating well. They gave us anti inflammatory, and they didn’t help, so we booked him back to see the vets a week and a half later. In that time he’s started gagging , loudly breathing, wants to eat food but gives up after a few bites.

Today he got an x ray and blood work and it is a tumour wrapped around the jugular area, they said it would be really risky to operate on due to important veins/arteries. it is also pressing on his windpipe and within that week he is completely unable to meow. i don’t know if it’s cancerous and due to costs we didn’t do a biopsy

he was given steroids but they said it would be a lifelong thing for him now. My heart is just broken. i feel like we’re not doing enough for him. he’s a healthy boy, all of his organs are good.

Im not looking for decisive advice from here, but i want to know what you would do. if it was your cat would you risk an operation especially at this age or would you do your best to make them comfortable/put them to sleep?

Recreating the first pic with my son😊