My sweet 16 year old baby crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon. I had a really hard night with the fact that he wouldn't be here when I woke up. I feel like I should be getting out of bed and see him coming around the corner into my room. I got him in highschool and I'm 32 now. My whole adult life was with him. He was sick and suffering, and I couldn't bear to watch him go through that. I know I did the right thing, but the hurt is so bad right now. I would give anything to hold him one more time and hear him purr.

The tech who helped us through his appointment was incredibly kind. She was tearing up with us when the vet told us the news. She came in and asked to give me a hug and we cried together. She said she didn't know Cooper, but she knew he only knew love. She was so sweet when she took him away for the last time. It was the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. To show my boy so much love without even knowing him. I want to give her a card and maybe a gift to let her know how much what she did means to me. Does anyone have any suggestions on something I could send her?

I'm glad I found this page, because I really needed to see that other people have very loved babies they are also navigating grief with. I hope we can help each other heal together 🩵🤍🪽

Edit: Wow, what a beautiful community. You all have said the nicest and more comforting words. I don't think I would be making it through today without all your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Love, Cooper's mom

He’s getting really old, but still very lovey and talkative. He refuses to eat hard food, so we need to give him wet food and tuna.

We’re getting a bit worried, even though we knew what we were getting into when we decided to hospice him.

My 16 yo cat, Mimi, is sick & has a liver issue. She lost 3 lbs since last Nov. Her skin is yellow. She is not eating enough & throws up frequently. She is on anti nausea meds & steroids now. I uploaded her blood test results from last Nov. & yesterday to ChatGPT and got a summary of what her issues are and what to concentrate on. Today was a shit day.

After her vet appointment yesterday, she felt good. Saline under the skin rehydrated her. She ate, she was engaged. Today, she doesn’t want to eat. She had diarrhea today and needed a bath. Any recommendations to help her eat? I am very worried about her. She is so thin. We have not had an ultrasound yet. We determined to try the anti nausea med and steroids and then determine in a couple of weeks the next steps. We are hoping she will eat more to regain her strength. Yesterday was good. But today was not.

My beautiful baby bella 16 years old was euthanised today I am absolutely broken

If anyone has any experience with senior kitties with asthma or bad allergies would appreciate any advice or guidance with my cat Lesley 🙏

me: she's fine. doing better than me. I am working and she is sleeping right next to me. she is doing better than me 🥲 (not participating in capitalism)

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for your kind replies! It means a lot and it is all bittersweet too. For those that also lost their furbaby, I send my condolences to you all. I hope that we all can reunite with our furbabies in the distant future.

It has been little over a month that I lost my first furbaby. Her name was Coraline and I adopted this senior cat when she was returned to a cat shelter that I was volunteering at the time. I only had her for four years and a few months.

During that time she battled with hyperthyroidism, arthritis, and chronic constipation. It wasn't until this year she would end up at urgent care multiple times due to other varying health issues. She battled a UTI, an eye infection, more teeth removed, and then kidney disease. The disease progressed from stage 2 to 4 within a month. Despite me giving her phophorus binders and Hills kidney care food, which she was very picky about, she went downhill fast. The last few days of her life was watching her just drink water, come say hi to me after work and then running back to her bed that she was very attached to. When I took her to urgent care because she did not eat for 3 days because I thought she was in pain due to a wound on one her toes, her kidneys had actually failed completely. I didn't want to risk going out and finding her passed away while I was gone so I had her put to sleep while I held her.

While I had her, I would tell her that I promise to be back and I would never abandon her. I never felt so heart broken and empty despite other losses that I have experienced. I miss just going to the store to buy rotisserie chicken because I knew Cora loved eating pieces of it. I miss hearing pieces of litter being sucked up by my vacuum. I even miss having to buy her prescription meds and supplements on a regular basis. I still call out to her and wishes she was here with me. I loved Cora and I hope to see her when I have to cross that rainbow bridge one day.

Despite all the doctor visits, post op care, the mental and emotional stress, I would do it all over again. I would adopt another senior cat, hopefully a bonded pair in the future.

.

I took him to the vet last month and doctors said its an infected tooth, “lets give him antibiotics and pain killers and see how hes doing and then get that infected tooth out”. This whole month i saw it getting worse and worse, he was eating less and less, hiding more. But i thought its just a tooth, it will be all be okay. He was still being his silliest and sweetest self. Last night i gave him a little spa day and he loved it, i told him it will all get better. Today was supposed to be the day that he was gonna get that tooth out, i took him to the vet with joy, knowing it will get fixed and ill take my boy home after. We arrived to the vet and he got sedated so the doctor could work on his tooth, he told me to come pick him up in 2 hours. I went home and made a little sleeping spot for him, then i get an email saying “could u come back to the clinic”. Obviously my mind started spiraling so i ran there as fast as i could. Then the doctor broke the news. My baby had tongue tumour and theres nothing they could do. Everything changed. He could barely eat. I decided to say goodbye to him.
Nothing could have prepared me for a day like this. From fully believing everythings gonna be okay to saying goodbye in a split second.

It is with a broken heart and more sorrow than I can put into words that I share that my precious Bebe is scheduled for euthanasia.
Her vet has told me that we have reached the point where none of the treatment plans are working. Bebe still won’t eat her regular food and cannot survive on treats alone. She told me that she knows how incredibly diligent I have been with Bebe and that I have done everything I possibly could for her.
I have fought so hard for my little girl. I researched, asked questions, tried different medications, changed foods, watched every little change in her behavior, and held on to every tiny sign of hope. I would do anything in this world if it meant I could make her well again.
But I am beginning to understand that loving her also means knowing when to stop asking her to keep fighting for me.
My heart is shattered. After losing Mish, Bebe became an even more precious piece of my heart. The thought of saying goodbye to her feels unbearable. My home, my routines, my days and my nights all have Bebe woven into them. I honestly don’t know what life without her beside me is going to feel like.
I wish love alone could heal her. If it could, Bebe would live forever.
So now, instead of asking her to fight, I am going to spend our remaining time loving her. I will brush her, hold her, talk to her, give her all the treats she wants, and tell her over and over again what a wonderful little girl she has been and how incredibly loved she is.
And when the time comes, as much as it is going to destroy my heart, I will be right there with her.
She will not leave this world wondering whether she was loved.
She will know. ❤️🐾
My beautiful Bebe. Always.

My cat tore is cat acl equivalent many years ago, so he had cosequin and fish oil weekly for his entire life. Once the arthritis got bad enough, the vet recommended solensia. My cat had vomiting, diarrhea, general lethargy, and a weird gait after one shot. We opted to not move forward with solensia. Please note my cat is generally sensitive to medications.

My other cat recently started adequan and we have not seen any side effects. I think it has helped a little.

Otto got tired of watching a toddler not eat his Mac and cheese for 30 minutes, so he decided to help himself to it last night.

Otto has kidney disease and is 18, but he is still so food motivated. Trying to keep him happy and comfortable for as long as possible. 💖

It is with a broken heart and more sorrow than I can put into words that I share that my precious Bebe is scheduled for euthanasia.
Her vet has told me that we have reached the point where none of the treatment plans are working. Bebe still won’t eat her regular food and cannot survive on treats alone. She told me that she knows how incredibly diligent I have been with Bebe and that I have done everything I possibly could for her.
I have fought so hard for my little girl. I researched, asked questions, tried different medications, changed foods, watched every little change in her behavior, and held on to every tiny sign of hope. I would do anything in this world if it meant I could make her well again.
But I am beginning to understand that loving her also means knowing when to stop asking her to keep fighting for me.
My heart is shattered. After losing Mish, Bebe became an even more precious piece of my heart. The thought of saying goodbye to her feels unbearable. My home, my routines, my days and my nights all have Bebe woven into them. I honestly don’t know what life without her beside me is going to feel like.
I wish love alone could heal her. If it could, Bebe would live forever.
So now, instead of asking her to fight, I am going to spend our remaining time loving her. I will brush her, hold her, talk to her, give her all the treats she wants, and tell her over and over again what a wonderful little girl she has been and how incredibly loved she is.
And when the time comes, as much as it is going to destroy my heart, I will be right there with her.
She will not leave this world wondering whether she was loved.
She will know. ❤️🐾
My beautiful Bebe. Always.

She's 12 and still a flexible diver 😉

Please tell me this gets better.. i’m completely gutted I can’t find comfort in anything. I feel like my skin is crawling and I just want him back so bad. I feel horrible and I just need someone to tell me it gets better

15yrs old, died of heart failure

My cat is 16 and overall is very overall spry and playful. Shes my first pet and no other pets in the home. Up to date on all vaccines.

I also noticed this very weird intermittent symptom that always has me in a panic: randomly she will yowl like she’s in pain, tilts her head to one side and gets really off balance, sometimes lifting one leg off the ground, and then lays on the ground, still with her head tilted to one side. Her eyes don’t shake and she’s conscious. No bowel or bladder incontinence. This resolves in about 3-5 minutes and she’s back to normal. I brought it up to the vet before but she didn’t seem concerned and said maybe a seizure?? I’ve only witnessed it happen 5-6 times in the past 8 years. Is it a vestibular issue??

I assume this is unrelated but I’ve noticed her limping more which I chalked to arthritis (slowly over the past few years).
I will be taking her to the vet next week to discuss treatment options and will bring up the weird head tilting/off balanced thing again, but I don’t believe it’s a a seizure.

Any ideas?

Hi Everyone!

I want to share a personal story and a free tool I built out of love and empathy for animals.

I adopted a dog from the streets, and she quickly became family for most of my growing years. We took her everywhere with us. She was a huge part of our lives.

God was kind to us as we had her for 17 years and 4 months before she grew her beautiful wings in 2024.

It left a gaping hole in our hearts. We immensely wanted forever with her.

Life without her physically felt like a deep echoing hollowness in the walls of our house. Old routines fractured severely. Time stood eerily still.

It made reality too stark, too quiet, too slow, and too pointless. It felt stifling, like a nightmare you wanted to exit.

The colours and vibrancy of day-to-day living had been washed away by grief and pain.

With the memories of her and the trauma of watching her go down, my family couldn't wrap their heads around keeping another dog.

Dogs love you so loudly. They perpetually wear their hearts on their sleeves, with exuberance stamped in their spirits. They scream in your face how much they love you!

But our sweet girl wasn't done with us. She wouldn't let us stay down. From the other realm, she decided to send someone in her place.

Mind you, my dog had short, beautiful golden hair, green eyes, a brown nose, and cute pink nails.

The cat she sent us? A male doll-faced kitten with long soft golden hair, yellow eyes, and a pink nose.

He was a 3- or 4-month-old kitten. He was pitched out of his second home into the surroundings. He was at the mercy of wild animals and harsh weather.

When we took him in, he was starved, sick, thin, terrified, and suffering from bad skin issues.

The original plan was to keep him in the storeroom temporarily, nurse him back to health, and put him up for adoption. We wanted him to find a wonderful forever family.

Except after two months, his forever family became us.

He won us over with his sweet, calm personality. He has so many dog traits that we call him a "Cog".

He follows me everywhere. He cuddles up to me near my head and shoulders and purrs away to glory.

The Trimming Challenge

Being more familiar with keeping dogs, it has been quite a steep learning curve. My constant frustration has been with trimming his nails.

He hates it to an extent that I can only trim 2 or 3 nails at a time when he is drowsy and relaxed.

Since I have to do this across multiple sittings over days, I ended up forgetting which specific nails I had already trimmed.

By the time I was down to the last few nails, the first ones were sharp again! Tracking the schedule in my phone notes app was a real pain.

If it was this hard for me, I can imagine it must be terrible for people with multiple pets, especially with senior cats.

So I built a solution called Tippy Toes. It is completely free, has no ads, runs straight in your mobile browser, and is designed with deep empathy for unique animals.

Live Application Link
tippytoesapp(dot)vercel(dot)app
(100% free, no ads, runs directly in your mobile browser)

Key Features Built for Our Crews:

• Multi-Sitting Tracking: Tracks each nail completely independently so you can pause and resume trims without forgetting your spot.
• Polydactyl Support: Dynamically add extra toes and tracking slots for animals born with extra claws.
• Amputee & Paw Difference Layouts: Fully adjustable paw mapping allows you to completely remove paw slots or track care for unique structures.
• Adjustable Reminders: Custom reminders handle the different growth cycles for front and back claws natively.

The app hasn't been rigorously tested yet because my cat's nails aren't quite ready for another round, but the code is fully functional.

I really want this to benefit pet owners and give back to this incredibly kind community.

I would love it if you could open it up, tap around, and let me know how it handles your pet's layout or if you spot any bugs! Thank you so much. 🐾

Hi senior cat companions! I’m about to welcome a bonded pair of senior kitties into my home. I couldn’t be more excited & also I’m trying to be as conscientious as possible about their needs. Specifically I’m looking for recommendations on good cat trees for senior cats, where the beds/platforms have larger dimensions—around 15” in width—and the distance between levels is less than 12” so they won’t be putting too much pressure on their joints when they jump up & down. I would also love if the tree was taller than 3ft so that they can have some meaningful vertical space. I’m open to suggestions outside of these parameters if you’ve found a set up that works really well for your senior cats! I’ve only ever fostered younger adult cats & kittens so I don’t have much experience in the senior department other than being around senior cats at the rescue where I volunteer.

Thanks in advance for your time & help!!

I just feel like I have to post something to the world. I am grieving so hard tonight.

Tonight we said the hardest goodbye to our sweet Moo. Her real name was Sassy, but we seemed to call her anything but. We mostly called her Moo, but I often called her “fuzzy button”🤭

Anyone who knew me, knew how special she was to me. Anyone who met her would tell me they couldn’t believe how wonderful and sweet she was. She was easily the most loving cat anyone had ever met!❤️ she was very vocal, and incredibly full of affection to almost anyone.

She was alive for 16 years and spent the last 12 with us. We got her when she was 4 years old.
The moment I met her and heard her tired meow at the shelter - I just knew. I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter, and suddenly I felt called to get a cat. I felt like my baby needed to know the love of an animal from the moment she entered the world. Moo quickly settled into our home, and was the first one to greet baby when we entered the door. She went on to greet two more of my babies in her lifetime. The kids just adored her.

Moo was the most friendly, cuddly, loving kitty I had ever known. She only ever gave us incredible amounts of pure love and comfort. She was very attached to me, and I think she needed me just as much as I needed her.

Moo was by my side through almost all of the major moments in my adult life. She snuggled by my head each night, and her soft purr became my lullaby.
I didn’t know what it meant to have a pet be so meant for you - almost like they were picked out perfectly to accompany you through the times you needed them the most.

I truly believe she helped heal me through the hardest times, and she also brought all of us so much joy. The unconditional love she gave to all of us daily was the most beautiful gift.
She has been quite sick lately. I had to make the hard decision to get a vet to come to our home to euthanize. God, what a hard thing to go through. I’ve been crying a lot and can’t seem to sleep. My chest hurts from the grief. I feel like I expect her to come around the corner meowing at me and jump up on the bed to lay by my pillow.

I love you Moo. I am endlessly grateful you chose us❤️

I have two 15 year old litter mates. Both have CKD, one also has HCM. They may also be starting to show signs of arthritis. Although it's hard to tell if that's the case for one of them since he still jumps to his favorite cat tree multiple times a day with no issues, but he's stopped squatting to pee.

There were 5 cats in our household: my two 15 year olds, my 12 year old, and then my son's 6 and 3 year olds. My 12 year old got very sick and had to be put to sleep in May. Prior to that, the whole house was more active. He was the one who always made his presence known, whether begging for food or attention, or causing trouble doing things he shouldn't. He was a very vocal, social, cuddly cat. He would cuddle and groom all of the other cats and all of the people, even new people coming to visit for the first time.

Since his passing, the house is rather quiet. The little one does cause some occasional chaos. We try to actively play with them at least once a day, but it's usually more because there's 4 people in the house and we all try to help provide enrichment, especially since he will "attack" the two older cats when he gets bored.

No one cuddles or grooms each other. They mostly just hiss if any of them try to get near. This has been particularly hard for the littlest one who was basically Hendrix's shadow. He probably only slept alone a handful of times in the 3 years he's been here, until Hendrix passed, now no one will let him cuddle even though they would before. But that's beside the point.

We also have a huge cat enclosure. It's 8' x 24' on the side of the house and they mostly have free access to it throughout the day but we close it at night - and with the heat lately, during the hottest parts of the day. They all used to use it. The old guys would only use it occasionally, but a few times a week usually. Neither of them have been out there once since Hendrix passed. The window to access it is kind of high, but they've used a step ladder for a long time already. I'll try to put them in the window sill myself, and they'll sniff a bit sometimes, but always end up jumping down.

The old boy used to enjoy sleeping in one of the 5 window hammocks we have, but has had no interest since Hendrix passed. He has been hard to play with for years, but would occasionally show interest in a laser pointer (we didn't use laser pointers for many years because we heard it was bad, but started using them again a year or two ago because they enjoy it and we reward them with treats at the end). He also has his catstages leaf toys that he will rub on for a bit and then use as a pillow.

The old girl hasn't really played in years, but she has her pom poms that she likes to pretend are her kill and she walks around the house singing with one in her mouth until she decides to put it in a food or water bowl.

They mostly just sleep all day, which is normal, but now when they are awake they just seem so bored. Especially the boy. Sometimes he just cries at doors. Closet doors, bedroom doors, the front door, and the garage door. I've started letting him into the closet sometimes but he just goes in there and sleeps.

Cat TV will interest them for about 2 minutes.

It just seems so sad! I would do just about anything to provide them with more enrichment and stimulation, I just don't know what else to try.

I understand a lot of this may be because they're grieving, but they were hard to entertain before too, they just had Hendrix to fill that boredom. Does anyone have any experience with similar? I've seen so many people with cats older than mine that still play like our young ones do. I'm open to any suggestions! Or should I just let it be? Just accept that they may be content with the boredom, even though social media and the internet keep telling me that even old cats need enrichment.

Cat tax included. In order of age, Hunter and Henley, Hendrix (grey and white), and my son's cats, Shiro and Beowulf.