r/seniorkitties

She truly was.

From the day we got her she'd made it abundantly clear that she'd have her say in everything. Choice of food, pets, beds, toys. She wouldn't just go for what you picked, she'd choose and let you know. The $200 orthopedic 3d-printed bed for her arthritis? Nah, I'll take the $10 Ikea beanbag thank you. $3 a pop renal protection monoprotein food? She'd rather have the $1-for-four bag of junk and sawdust.

She always kind of seemed like a mean old lady. Hated every single other cat, did not play much. By the time we got her she was 14. I thought she was way past her prime, preparing myself for having to say goodbye soon. I told myself I wouldn't get close because the passing of my last cat hurt bad. I think I dropped that idea less than a week in, after hearing her soft purr while she climbed up and unceremoniously plopped herself on my stomach, purring gently.

She gave us so many scares. From getting sick and a random enzyme showing values that made the vet think cancer, through random dehydration spells, weight loss, anemia, renal disease, to something the ultrasound tech described as 'inflammation of the cat', because nearly everything showed signs of her age. But then, what else can you expect from a cat that was nearing 21 years?

We've seen her deteriorate slowly. We stopped having to child-lock our cooktop because she could no longer jump up on it. She went blind. Got dangerously thin despite eating well. Her mobility decreased a lot. She used to love jumping up on the chair next to my computer and squeaking softly, demanding attention, but we had to take that chair away because her arthritis made her hurt when jumping down, despite meds and physical therapy.

There were ups too. Those moments that felt like a huge burden was lifted off your heart when she'd finally started putting on weight after a new drug. When PT started working and she was cleaning herself again. When we were laughing with the physiotherapist because she'd once again assert her dominance and nearly slap away the therapeutic laser from her hand. When the vet said she was happy with her bloodwork. I jokingly said she probably got better medical care than most humans in this world. But we knew eventually the downs would overwhelm everything else.

She deteriorated quickly late last year. Felt weak, stopped eating, had trouble pooping. She miraculously pulled through after a long month of frequent visits to the clinic, powerful opioids, anti-emetics, and plain, boiled chicken breast. But it wasn't the same after that. Even though she got better, she was weaker than before, started swaying, losing weight again. She would sometimes stumble and fall, poop outside the litterbox, stayed hydrated well but had trouble drinking properly.

Last thursday we got the talk. That despite her bloodwork looking good, the vet was pretty much giving up on further treatment. She thought dragging her to the clinic and back nearly every week was probably doing more harm than good. That when there was going to be more bad days than good days, we should consider letting her go. I thought about it with every emergency we've had with her so far, but it still hit hard. Every time in the past I kept asking myself if we weren't hurting her by keeping her with us for too long, but she always got better eventually. This time it seemed like there wasn't going to be a comeback. I thought we'd mull it over in our heads and have a talk about it this weekend, how to tell when it's time to let go. But once again, she had to take the decision out of our hands.

Yesterday I came downstairs and she couldn't get up. Her little hind legs were sliding on the floor and she was unable to prop herself up. When she did get up, she'd take two steps and fall again. In the past she'd sometimes get weak after a long sleep, but then walk it off within a few minutes. It did not look like that was gonna get better this time. We brought her a meal, some water, I put her on my stomach one final time. Then we took her to the clinic.

She had to show she still had that last spark of fight in her. With the IV in her leg, she still decided to nearly fall off the table and give a final f*** you hiss to the world. When the first anesthetic started working, she got so dizzy she threw up on the clinic's blanket. Then, she decided that was enough and threw in the towel. She took her last breath just before 10:00 AM.

Only now that she's gone am I noticing how many little things and behaviors I've adapted to care for her. Her daily dose of 8 different meds, the careful placement of her array of different beds, always leaving the bathroom door to her litterbox open despite having a cat flap in the wall that she never quite got the hang of.

In my memory she'll forever be a fighter. Soldiering on through every misfortune, demanding trashy food, tube snacks and face rubs against my chin. There will never be another like her.

Rest in peace Masza. There is no more pain now.

My Chaos.. my baby. The first kitten I ever had (hence the name) died in my arms Saturday night, a few weeks after her 20th birthday. She went quickly. Stopped eating the night before (still lapped up the tube treats though). I was going to take her to the vet Monday. I picked her up to check on her and she made a weird noise and just eventually stopped breathing. I so hope she didn't suffer at the end.

I had her cremated. I am going to miss her so much.

Today Bella crossed over the bridge to a pain free life. We will miss her more than she will know 13 years was not enough

Wycliff has been the sweetest cat I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He is my soul cat and I always knew this day was coming but it doesn't make it any easier.

I love you Wycliff, and thank you for being there on my darkest days. You are so loved and deserved so much better in life. 3 years was not enough time with you sweet boy.

Thank you for the squeaks and the excited tail shakes when I got home from work. For the happy kneading and drooling on my face when I had to sleep during the day. For the snuggles on the toilet (Yes the toilet) when you couldn't stand to be away from me.

Thank you for all the love you gave me in our short despite all you endured in your life. My home and heart will never be the same.

Please hug your precious fur babies tonight for me. 💜

She had been struggling with urinary infections for the past two months, but last the vet checked, she was all clear. Last Tuesday, she went downhill very fast, and I took her to the ER. The vet did some tests and informed me that she was in complete renal failure. I had the choice to go through with a very expensive overnight treatment that might not work or say goodbye to put her out of her pain. I chose to say goodbye because I couldn’t stand seeing her in pain. I was sobbing the whole time.

For the past week, I have dealt with so much guilt over not catching this sooner. Were there warning signs I hadn’t noticed? Should I have brought her to the vet sooner to get checked out? Mira was everything to me and I vowed to always protect her. I feel like I failed her now. She was just so confused when we said goodbye because of the toxins in her system. Thinking about her last few minutes is unbearable. It feels like I’m broken and can never be the person I was when she was alive. I still have my other cat, who is five, but without Mira I feel incomplete 😢

She stopped eating at all yesterday and we made the call to the vet. He is coming to our house this afternoon to help us say goodbye. We are eternally grateful to Dr. N because home euthanasia isn't really a service they offer but he'll have done it three times for us now.

Deborah is survived by her two brothers Monty Don (6) and Eggsy (4). She was preceded in death by Stinky (2000-2018), Simon (2001-2020) and Karl (2006-2023).

Deborah has been a loving companion for over twenty two years. She was my lifeline during a bad mental health period where I was ready to leave the world. Any time I cried she'd come running from across the house and throw herself into my lap purring and shoving herself to my chest. In her golden years she retired from that to move on to being a lap cat for her daddy. She got one last lap sit in last night.

Deborah is ready. I am not.

I love you baby girl. My old lady. It's not goodbye, it's see you later.

I recently left him for four days to travel for my daughter’s graduation. He’s been clingy for the past year, but even more so since I got back. I literally can’t leave the room without him crying. He has had hypothyroidism for over a year. He has heart disease, an eye ulcer, kidney disease and he went deaf. He’s lost more than half his body weight in 2 years. Vet also thinks he might have cancer but I won’t let her do a biopsy because I don’t want him in any more pain than he’s already in. She actually agreed with me that the biopsy would be traumatic and we can wait.

My husband and I delayed our honeymoon last year and we are going to be gone for 15 days next month. I don’t know what to do. I can’t relax when I’m away because I’m so worried about him.

He has a great sitter. She checks on him twice a day. She admitted to me that it’s becoming hard to leave him without feeling intense guilt. He follows her to the door and cries.

I’m afraid he will die while we are gone. At the same time, has a lot of spirit left in him. He’s a strong little guy and he still eats. I don’t have the heart to euthanize him. I feel like a monster even thinking about it, but I’m so tired and heartbroken for him.

If you have any advice, please let me know. I’m not ready to let go of him.

She is the moment!

I’m used to my babies going at a right old age but this precious little jerk only made it to 11.(The nose is a mozzie allergy)

He’d been slightly not himself (himself being full on, slightly psycho and eating everything he could get) for about a week before he just wouldn’t eat properly and his nose and gums were really white.

After rushing him to a late night emergency vet it’s now been a week of tests and 4 nights at the emergency vet. Blood transfusion and meds. And we couldn’t save him. I know he was miserable but a part of me doesn’t think he wanted to go.

I can’t shake that horrible feeling that I’ve failed him somehow. There was a last ditch antibiotic we could have tried but it may or may not have helped much as they think he probably had a type of bone marrow disease or cancer.

Sorry for the trauma dump fellow cat lovers, I’m just not in a great place. He left me almost to the day I lost my 21 year old boy last year.

My friend's cat passed earlier this year at 17. She asked if I could make something to remember him by, so I spent a few weeks working on this wool portrait.

The two rings around his neck were the hardest part — I re-did that section twice to get the spacing right. The eyes took a few tries too. Getting the expression to feel like him and not just a generic cat was the real challenge.

Made entirely from wool, no armature. Core wool base, hand-painted watercolor eyes sealed with resin, individual wire whiskers. About 80 hours total.

There are things I'd improve next time (the ear placement still bugs me a little), but overall I'm happy with how he turned out. Would love to hear what you think.

I've had Mac since she was born, I literally held her minutes after she was born. Shes my little shadow and we've gone through so much together. She starting losing weight slowly and throwing up. At first randomly but then it started happening every month, every few weeks, to every week, to every day. She had gurgling in her stomach and dropped from 10 pounds to 5.5 pounds.

I had a feeling it was cancer but I hoped I was wrong. Well the results came back and it was cancer and she was given maximum 6 months but that was pushing it because of how bad her symptoms were. We put her on medication and she started gaining weight and doing better. I knew it would be only a matter of time and I always kept that in the back of my mind.

Shes randomly started throwing up again. She threw up this morning nothing but bile and she made a yell I've never heard her make and it automatically made me cry. She always acts normal afterwards and she did this time too, but I went to give her medication and I just started crying. She hid after and then fell asleep... I feel bad. She hates medication, shes throwing up and her stomachs on edge again. I emailed the vet to see when we can set a date but I find myself hesitating. I don't want her to suffer... Shes my little familiar, my baby bean, my bebe... I don't know. I'm just looking for advice.

I’m terrible but he loves me anyway 🎶

It's been a little over 3 weeks. She enjoys staying in the bedroom basking in the sun and sleeping, but occasionally she'll venture into the living room. She's (very) slowly getting used to our other cats. I'm giving her patience, time, and lots of cuddles 🥰

My Buddy, who is just one month shy of 17 years old. He is the last of an original pack of 4 cats. His 3 brothers and sisters passed. One last year to kidney failure at 16. One to lymphoma cancer at age 13. And one to heart failure at age 13. I still have 3 other cats that are his friends that I got after his original crew started passing away. He just got diagnosed with Stage 3 Kidney Disease a few months ago. The other day he started walking in circles, pushing his head against the wall, peeing on the floor. And then the next day he couldn’t walk at all. If he tried to walk more than 2 feet he would stumble all over the place and fall down. He started peeing on himself. And then he would just lay there with a dead look in his face. Pretty sure it was a stroke. But it was definitely a neurological issue. My question is has anyone else out there ever had a cat that had a stroke? It’s been about 48 hours and he has improved significantly. He’s walking around without stumbling. His appetite is back. I’ve read that the first 48 to 72 hours is when you’ll see the most improvement. And then within two weeks is when you’ll know how much they’ve really improved. I have pet insurance through spot so if I have to, I’m gonna take him to med vet and have a neurologist give him an MRI. Was going to do that today. But he had already shown so much improvement just over the course of the night. If anyone else out there has had a cat that went through a stroke. Tell me what signs you saw, how you dealt with it, and how they improved.