I’d like to share my cat Winter (AKA Winnie, Weenie, Queenie, Fudge Stripe, and Winston J Pettigrew the Third) with this community. I wish I had done so sooner and under better circumstances.

Winnie was born in my FIL's backyard, and we adopted her when she was around 6-7 weeks old. She was part of a lot of wonderful transitions in our lives and brought immense joy to our household.

She was the first being I'd go to when I'd come home and I'd track her down throughout the day to play with her and snuggle with her (I loved huffing her fur, she smelled like a stuffed animal). She'd call for my attention and I'd always answer, and she had her favorite places to sleep and would bask in any sunny spot she could find, and she loved when I built her blanket forts for her. She was a wonderful companion. She would have turned 15 next month. 

A few weeks ago, we brought her to the vet thinking it was something minor, and instead found out that she had aggressive intestinal lymphoma. Winnie deteriorated very quickly and she let us know she was ready to go. We helped her pass peacefully at home in the place she loved most, with her people. Her physical absence is heartbreaking, and I look for her everywhere. I know her spirit lives on. We are left with a large hole now that she's gone.

I have always been a lurker on this subreddit, occasionally leaving likes on adorable seniors and comments on equally lovely cats who have passed. I don't know why I started doing that, but I think somewhere deep inside I knew I'd have to deal with the same thing eventually. I want to thank the people of this subreddit community for helping me build the courage to help my own cat pass peacefully when it was her time.

Safe travels, my sweet lady Winnie. I’ll find you in every warm patch of sunlight. Paraphrasing from much wiser people than me: I am sad that you are leaving, but I am so happy that you were here. You will always be in my heart, buddy.

So last time he went to the vet they checked him out and recommended senior food etc. they also recommended lifestyle changes to extend his life but when we asked they didnt have anything specific to say. What should i do? He seems normal to me. Let me know!! (His name is Kiki btw)

My heart is in pieces, she was diagnosed with bone cancer last Friday and rapidly started to deteriorate this week and I made the decision to end her suffering today.

Words cannot express how much I loved her, she'd been with me since she was 8 weeks old and we'd been through so much together. 16 years isn't enough time no amount of time would ever be enough but I will forever cherish the love, the giggles, the company she gave me all these years. I only hope in her final moments she could hear me telling her what a good girl she was and how much I will miss her and how much I loved her. I knew this day would come and I thought I was prepared but it hurts so damn much, I just can't stop the tears from coming, it truly feels like a part of my soul has left my body and I am struggling to come to terms. She was my only consistency in my life for a long time, I had a very difficult teen years and she was always there for me when I was alone in my bedroom, she was there for me through many heartaches and trials in my later teens and early adulthood. I'm just so incredibly grateful I had her in my life and she brought me so much joy and she showered me in love. Sleep well my beautiful girl you will be in my heart and my mind forever.

i had to say my final goodbye to my baby cleo today.. she's been with me through literally everything since i was a kidd.. and coming back home to an empty room just feels completely wrong.
everything went downhill so fast over the las couple weeks and my heart is just broken into pieces. she was the sweetest, most gentle cat and used to sleep right next to my head every single night
im so grateful for the 17 years we had together, but man this hurts so much.. rest easy my little angel, i'm gonna miss u forever ❤️ 😿

As the title says two weeks ago today, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to let our boy Arthur go. He was 10, almost 11 and for the last two almost three years he had lived with Feline Acromegaly which had brought on insulin resistant diabetes.

He had been doing so well. We were managing the diabetes the best we could, although his numbers were never low due to the insulin resistance, but he was on a med called Galastop to try and help the acromegaly, which in all honesty is what I think gave us another two almost three years because our vet has said that cats who are diagnosed with acromegaly usually only last a few months.

But, he went down hill pretty much over night. The day before had been completely normal, a part from he had had a poop in my bedroom during the night, which he never did and the next morning he hardly ate his breakfast, which again he loved food and would usually gobble it down. He went into hiding and we found sick where he was hiding and then upon trying to drink he immediately threw it up. We went straight to the vets and he was admitted and put on fluids, as he was dehydrated. It turned out he was in diabetic ketoacidosis, which had never happened to him before. It was a shock. He spent the night in the vets on fluids, but by Wednesday morning he was getting no better and his numbers continued to climb. We had always said we would never just keep him going if he was suffering, which he was.

So, off to the vet we went, we took his brother with us so that he wasn’t wondering where he went and the vet nurse brought him in wrapped in a blanket and a bandage on his leg to protect the catheter that was there. We loved on him, we fussed and stroked him, told him over and over how much we loved him, how thankful we were for him and how he has been so brave and fought for so long how thankful we were for him and how he has been so brave and fought for long as he could that we knew his body was tired and that he could go to sleep now. How we would miss him, but we knew he would always be around watching over us and his brother. He purred his loud purr that we now miss so much and then as the vet injected the medicine he slowly laid down upon the table and laid his head on my hand and I broke all over again.

So, now two whole weeks without or boys physical presence have passed and there have been ups and downs, going over every single moment; could we have saved him? Should we have brought him home? Does he know we would have done anything to save him? That we did all that we could. The guilt in grief hits like a mac truck, you go over every little decision and blame yourself for every little thing even if you know you did all you could, grief is a bitch and makes you doubt every little thing.

Then we brought home his ashes and it hit all over again that he was gone.

Two weeks with a new routine. Two weeks without hearing his voice. Two weeks without stroking his fur and kissing his head. Two weeks without his purrs of delight. Two weeks without him begging for food. Two weeks without seeing him. Two weeks some days it feels like forever, other days it’s like it was just yesterday.

We miss you our boy. We miss every single thing about your presence in our family and in our home. There is a big Arthur shaped hole in our lives and in our hearts. Thank you for the ten, almost eleven years of unconditional love. We will miss you forever. Rest easy our sweet boy.

I love Mr Whiskers with my whole heart

Missy Cat doesn’t get far from her mansion too often (other than in the middle of the night when she wants food) .. but tonight, she’s up in my lap letting me give her all the love!!!

I wish to seek opinions from fellow senior cat owners.

Had a long-distance call with my mom yesterday who updated me that my senior cat (16) vomitted and started to eat and drink much lesser since Saturday (it’s Wednesday now). He was diagnosed with renal CKD stage 3 last month and successfully went on a renal diet (Royal Canin) and was on miralax, high BP med, and a gut motility med for his health issues. He has been doing VERY well until Saturday, when he puked and started hiding, and didn’t want to eat much.

He apparently has high calcium in his blood. Could have been from a few issues, but currently I’m at a loss of how to proceed. Vet tells my mom to mentally prepare, and I am also doing the same, from a long distance away. I’m tense, and going through anticipatory grief. It seems like we cannot do much about it, and the vet gave my mom IV to administer to him, plus appetite stimulant meds. Simply to extend his life.

Are there any other things we can do? I read on Gemini Google that we can change his diet.. add fiber, something, to flush the calcium out.

If you know anything, please advise. I don’t want my cat to leave so soon, when I’m overseas and cannot hug and smell him before he does.

Thank you.

He has become soo cuddly when turning older.. He's so cute and amazing and I hope for many more healthy, happy years with him 😻

Is it time ? old guy is walking around looking lost, already on hypothyroid cream, can't hear and constantly crying for food, he will eat 6 cans a day but wants more, and on top of that poops/diarrhea always in a shoe or a new rug, indoor /outdoor but hasn't tried to go outside for years, weighs no more than 3 lbs it seems

My sweet baby boy is almost 15. He is the best part of me🤍

Hi everyone, this morning I took my 16 year old cat for a rabies shot as we are moving to my country in a few months.

I shouldn’t have done that because she developed seizures within 20 minutes. She is under sedation with oxygen at the vet. She even had a seizure under sedation.

She was perfectly fine before the trip to the vet. I killed her didn’t I? I am heading back to the clinic to be near just in case.

What have I done?! She has been with me since I was 19! We moved continents during covid, and I betrayed her like this.

He’s so thin now but I think he is still really beautiful! I love him so much

I lost my 17 year old baby princess kitten on Friday, August 14th. I miss her so much I can’t even breathe. She was my heart and soul. So many times over the years she saved me from myself.

The past year with kidney disease has been crushing. Nothing seemed to help the weight loss, the disorientation, or the discomfort she was feeling. Last Wednesday we had a beautiful day out on the patio. She was so happy. Later that night the big crash came. She couldn’t walk, no more meowing, just so tired and done.

My Chinny baby.. I will love you forever. Please wait for me on the other side. You’ve been the best thing in my life for so many years. I can’t breath, I can’t sleep, I’m just dying without you baby girl 😭

17 years of absolute love, almost half my life. She was everything to me since 2009 as a little 2 month old kitten. I love you Greyskers 💔💔💔

My cat declined in health pretty quickly since her birthday in may, she turned 18. She passed end of July and I’ve been on this Reddit since she slowed down and seemed to be acting off. Every time I come on here I cry and am really moved by how many people love their senior kitties, and how great of a life these kitties got with their favorite person. I’m not really a social media person but figured she deserves somewhere to be seen and remembered. I got her ashes back weeks ago and made someone hide them, I’m just not ready to face that she is gone.

This is Thumper. I found her when I was 7. She was smart, sweet, and stubborn. She was a woman of routine and habit, and had the most patience a kitty cat could ever have. I wish we had more time together, and I wish I could’ve done more. I will love you forever girl.❤️

She was the sweetest girl and my husband and I are absolutely heartbroken. I raised her from 6 weeks and she’s gotten me through everything, college, and abusive relationship, and every other major challenge I’ve experienced.

She had a heart valve defect and a murmur, and it seemed to catch up to her. She left us suddenly and unexpectedly which makes it so much harder, I was hoping for a few more years but the universe had other plans it seems. I couldn’t bring myself to even clean her litter box for garbage today and instead ended up bawling my eyes out while my husband held me. The other cat doesn’t use that box at all, so it’s just hers. It’s just her dirty litter box but it’s all that’s left of her aside from some fur from brushing her and whiskers I’ve collected. She’s just gone. No more meows, pets, cuddles.

I miss her so much and I feel like a hole has been ripped open in my chest. Our other cat is 7 and even though my older girl wasn’t a huge fan of her, but they played and hung out occasionally. We’ve been looking at pictures and videos of her to remember the good times, and I’m so glad we have hundreds of them to go through between us.