Fred is slowing down and starting to sleep more. Some of this is because he is recently recovering from iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism. I’m looking for tips to help him be comfortable as he ages. Any pet beds, toys, food, enrichment activities would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

She chose me when she fell asleep on my lap while visiting my in-laws on their porch in 2009. At the time she was a stray neighborhood cat, estimated to be about a year old. We brought her home and she's been by my side ever since.

She's my first born and I've never experienced a pet death. I'm just beside myself thinking about her not being by my head every night when we go to sleep.

We had a vet visit about a year ago when she was severely constipated and the vet didn't have much hope in her recovery because of her age and petite size but here we are! Since then she's gone deaf, but still eating and given lots of treats, still drinking, and using the litter box. Although she has significantly slowed down and lost weight.

Since I don't have life experience for this situation, I guess my question is at what point do you intervene or let nature take it's course? My hope for her is she decides when she wants to leave earth side and passes peacefully in her sleep. But how often does that happen? I just want to do right by her.

I see a lot of posts here with regret worrying about possibly ending their pet’s life too soon and of course, that is something that I can understand. But does anyone else here have regret about doing all you can to save your pet and to keep them around longer than you should have? I lost both my 20 year-old girls a few years back and I just wish that I was stronger and was able to know when it was time. Instead, I was doing everything I could to have them not leave me, and I feel like their last days were filled with an energy and a sadness and upset that I really truly regret putting up upon them in their final days when all they needed and wanted was to say goodbye with love. I didn’t know what to do and I was just so beside myself. I just wish I could’ve thought of them more than my feelings and I hope that next time I can do that. Im so sorry girls 🤍🤍Thank you for listening to me. 😔 this will forever bother me.

ETA: I just really wish their last moments could’ve just been filled with love and peace instead of me constantly crying, trying to syringe feed them or give them subcutaneous fluids when it was clear that they were done. I guess I was just hoping for a miracle. And instead, they were surrounded by a lot of upset in their last moments, and that breaks my heart so much.

Some of you may recognize Gracie girl from a post I made a couple months ago. I had to take her to the vet for chronic puking and they ran tests and found out she has advanced kidney disease. I was dreading this day for a few years now and it’s finally here. I’m so beyond heartbroken and I wish she could stay alive forever. I’ve had her since I was 5 years old, I grew up with her, and I might lose her soon. I don’t know how to handle these emotions. Has anyone else gone through this?

I'm not even sure where to start here and I'm still reeling from his final appointment, so I'm just going to let my fingers type on autopilot for a bit. I wasn't expecting it to happen today, but his condition was deteriorating and his quality of life was becoming compromised. You could see it in his face: he was frustrated, he wasn't sleeping well, and just wasn't happy with anything.

He'd been progressively losing weight and was becoming increasingly picky about to his food to flat out inappetent in the end since November prompting a battery of tests, which were generally unhelpful because he was looking great on what we were looking at. We were a little closer when an endoscopy showed irritable bowel disease, but it was the least of his concerns in the moment. A CT scan last week showed a growth on his spleen and he was suddenly anemic. I opted for surgery to remove it, which he sailed through without issue and the vet commented on the generally good condition of his intestines and other nearby organs, but recovery proved difficult. The spleen was sent off to the lab for analysis with the worst of aggressive cancers expected, but the report came back today saying benign. He was the 3% of cats who made it through with a nodular hyperplasia. While that was really welcome news, it didn't do anything towards bringing us to the answer. It's an answer I'm probably never going to have now.

An opportunistic infection took hold of his chest and pleural space shortly after the surgery seen on X ray, which was making breathing difficult and really made this past week miserable for us both. He'd lost so much energy and even taking care of the basics was a challenge for him. At first, he could make it to the litterbox even if he was a bit unsteady on his feet. Today he just lied there and let it go on our bed. He had a feeding tube placed in during the surgery to help combat the inappetence, which I was relying on 100% the past week: didn't eat a thing by himself, didn't really want to, but took his tube feedings very well and it made getting antibiotics into him much easier. Still, his white cell count wasn't improving. In the space of three days, the neutrophils had doubled to 60 tonight and the antibiotics clearly weren't helping. An ultrasound also showed some fluid in the abdomen that wasn't there a couple days ago and his stomach wasn't emptying his tube feeding earlier this afternoon, which might've explained his attempts to get away from me. He'd had a B12 shot on Wednesday as well, which didn't do anything to perk him up. His haematocrit remained at 14% and was pretty much there throughout other than a brief jump to 24% on the day of surgery a few days after being given nandrolone.

He gave me a great birthday on Wednesday though. While things weren't improving by the number, he had such an incredible burst of energy that gave me a lot of hope that he was finally coming out the other side. For the first time since the surgery, he was up and out of bed and even managed to get himself downstairs wanting to be let outside: hard no from me. I think I forgot to say thank you because he gave me such a great gift in seeing him so much better that day and I'll take that memory with me for the rest of my life.

There was something different about today though. The peeing the bed, the look on his face, the retreating into his little fleece hut where he knew he wouldn't be bothered. His breathing was loud and mucusy, which I was helping with a humidifier the past couple days and using a warm cloth to wipe away the snot. I figured the antibiotics were clearing something up until the blood test tonight said otherwise. Plus the presence of fluid was likely making it harder to fully inhale and exhale. There was a high risk he'd continue to deteriorate over the weekend until he could be seen again on Monday if he was even able to make it. Prednisone was suggested as a maybe to drive everything down, but there were no guarantees and the relief might be extremely minimal or short lived. He didn't deserve even the chance of any further misery and he was so damn miserable to begin with. He went quickly and our eyes were locked as he passed.

There's a big part of me that feels really guilty. Was this just irritable bowel the whole time and his white cells were inflammation brought on by the liquid diet not agreeing with him that prednisone would have corrected in the end? I acted far quicker than I normally would have in making the final decision and I'm probably going to beat myself up about it forever. There were stones left unturned and that's not usual for me, but I'm not sure how much more his little body could have put up with. The vet commented his condition had really worsened in the past couple days and a rare leukaemia might have been at play even if he wasn't otherwise cancerous, which would have had a terrible prognosis by itself regardless. The vet would've felt more confident in carrying on if it was just an isolated case of anemia, or just fluid in the abdomen, or just elevated white cells - but the combination of everything together and more investigations needed to find the answer was likely going to be too much of a strain on his body to make it fair on him. There's also a selfishness in the back of my mind. Did I rush this because I just started a new job this week and have a ton of additional stresses and pressures right now? I always had a big problem with the idea that old cats are seen as inconvenient and disposable by so many, so am I just as bad as them now? Should I at least have given the prednisone a shot and see how he felt this weekend before reconnecting with the vet on Monday (if I didn't end up in emergency vet before that)? I don't know, but I'm not feeling good about myself right now and hope I can be forgiven if I didn't make the right decision for him in the moment. It wasn't just my cat who I let cross the Bridge tonight, but also my mom's hand-reared from birth kitten. She's a mess.

Rudy is behind me now in his carrier awaiting our trip to the crematorium tomorrow morning. Run free over the Bridge, little one. I know your siblings were waiting for you and you'll be protected by Calico until it's our time to meet again. I'm sorry it had to be this way and thank you for all you did the past 15 years.

For such an old boy he's got decent lab results. He's got a small UTI that he'll start meds on but other than that the vet had no concerns.

I adopted Dee at 6 months old from a shelter. She was very sickly with bacterial infections and both eyes and in her sinuses as well as feline herpes that exacerbated these conditions. She fully healed within a year and has been my sweetest confidant and cuddle buddy ever since. In July of 2024 we noticed a heart murmur at the vet and decided to do blood work. Everything came back normal except for a pro-bnp. It was elevated at 299. We also did an echo which showed some abnormal findings but not extreme changes. Just did a recheck echo a couple days ago and the report shows that while the thickening of the walls of her left atrium and left aorta are still apparent, it hasn't increased by very much meaning that it is a slow progression. For that I'm grateful but today she has to go back to get a recheck of blood work and her pro b&p. I will keep all of you up to date on how everything goes. She's usually really good in the car and likes a good ride, so I'm glad she's getting something nice out of this aside from getting poked.

My cat for the past few months have been obsessively staring at herself in the mirror. It has turned into her favorite pastime. If she’s not sleeping or eating she’s staring at herself in the mirror for hours. I took her to the vet and my vet didn’t see a reason to be concerned about it and that it might be just some weird quirk she had developed. Is there a reason why my cat would be obsessively looking at herself in the mirror for hours on end.

I relate to all of you and your love for your special kitties so deeply. Honestly, I cry every time I read this sub, and my heart goes out to anyone who is missing their friend. I joined this sub in part because I am becoming more and more aware of how precious my time with Clementine is. Hopefully we have more years ahead, but I guess you can never be certain.

My Clementine came into my life as a kitten, shortly after I graduated from college. She has been beside me through so many big changes in my life since then and I love her so much, more than I can describe. She is big, floofy, talkative, silly, and just the sweetest thing. So, happy birthday to Clemmie, and a wish for many more! ❤️❤️

Quick backstory. I adopted Charlotte October 2024. She had spent 3.5 years in the shelter. Because she’s shy. Very shy. When I first brought her home, she did very well. I learned quickly that to not spook her, let her come to me. She needed her remaining 3 teeth pulled in January, and she really took off then, going from 5.5 lbs to almost 9 lbs. she’s fine with other cats unless they’re too “in her face”.

Everyone just left her alone until about 2-ish months ago when my 2 boisterous playful boys would chase her when she came out from under the bed because they wanted to play with her. I noticed she started spending more time under the bed, but would still come sleep snuggled up with me unless one of the boys came in. She was eating and drinking fine, but about the same time, I noticed blood in her stool (she occasionally went under the bed if she was too scared to come out). She just wasn’t acting like her normal timid, but ok, self.

I took her to the vet Tuesday morning, which of course was traumatic anyways. Turns out her anal glands were very full, and one expressed some blood. So that indignity was even more traumatizing. Vet gave her an antibiotic shot and said she should be doing better within a couple days.

I don’t think she’s eaten, or used the litter box. She doesn’t cover her stuff so it’s usually easy to tell which stuff is hers. She’s just hid under the bed and not moved.

So, here’s where I need to know what I’m doing now is the right thing. I moved her into the other spare bedroom that I can gate off (the one I use when a new cat comes in). She has food, a water fountain, a litter box, toys and a cat tree. And. No boisterous boys to bother her. Of course, I feel super guilty because she’s “shut down” under the bed. And does her scared meow when I go in to check on her.

But this is the only way I can figure out if she is eating, drinking and using the box. And shouldn’t this help “calm her down” from the vet trauma?

She used to love sleeping with me. Maybe go sleep in that room tonight with her? I don’t want her to feel like she’s being banished 😭

I’m such a sap. I just want her to be okay and she’s clearly not right now. I’m just so upset and second guessing myself.

Had to scroll quite a bit on my phone to find a picture 🥺

Hi all - my 15 yo cat, Chandler, has recently gone through a few health scares including a minor urinary blockage and has some teeth that need to be extracted. Unfortunately, he also likely has cancer according to the ultrasound he got on Monday and now it’s unclear if he is healthy enough for the teeth extraction. All this to say, his eating has significantly changed and he has been losing weight so I’m trying to keep him fed and as healthy as possible in his current state. He will no longer eat hard food so I’ve started incorporating the Hills A/D canned food, the tiki silver comfort satchels, and Wellness appetizing mousse packs. The problem is he is he seems to not eat as large of portions so I’m feeding more frequently but unsure if I’m feeding enough. Additionally, I cannot leave these foods out as I have 2 very eager kittens that will eat everything. Do you all have any tips to ensure I am feeding Chandler enough? Any schedules that you’ve established with your older, picky cats? Thank you so much!

She died in June 16, 2023. I posted about her multiple times here that year but there's still so much guilt and grief. I still haven't gotten another cat and still can't get rid of her stockpiled cans of food.

I was hit with the realization today that I spoke so badly of her before she died. She was showing signs of aging with arthritis and kidney disease. She was responding really well to the medications I mixed into her follow phosphorus foods so it was keeping her kidney values at a good range.

But in April-May of 2023, I started the process of looking to move out of my parents house. I wanted to move out of state but it was going to be difficult with her. I obviously never would have considered leaving her or giving her up. I just remember mentioning, complaining, really to my parents that she was what held me back from moving a farther distance because I didn't want to put her at risk on a long car ride or a plane. I complained that some days it felt like I was more her caregiver than anything else because she required a lot of maintenance. I did it anyway but I never should have said those things. I'd give anything to have to clean the litter from her little furry toes again, to have to crush up the pieces of dry food and soak them in water so she could chew them better, to warm up her food so it didnt bother her teeth, I'd give anything to feel her warmth next to me all night like I had for 11 years.

When I said those things about her holding me back, it never meant I wanted her gone. But I feel like she must have felt that way. Her pericardial effusion came on so suddenly and then she was gone. I wasn't ready to lose her. There was no buildup to her final day. When I took her to the vet that day, it was just a routine checkup for her kidneys, every four months. I always did four months instead of six so I could keep a closer eye on her to catch things like this. And since she had just been seen in February and was fine, I feel like my complaining is what caused this. I made her unhealthy and I made her die.

She didn't look at me as she laid there on the exam table on June 16th. When the vet said there was no saving her, I immediately went into shock, I'm realizing now because I didn't hold her, I didn't talk to her, I just stood there and cried and watched her. Physically, she looked fine but the vet said it was only going to get very bad very quickly and that this was the right time.

But I didn't say goodbye. I couldn't. If I had held her, I never would have been able to let her go. I didn't want to lose her. I wanted her to be with me wherever I went and for her to be healthy again.

My punishment for this has been that all of my plans fell through and I was never able to move out. I'm still stuck in the same room filed with her memories. She was supposed to come with me but instead all she does is haunt me and I'm tired of being here without her.

Recently I decided to go on kijiji to adopt a cat. I found a beautiful 2 year old male cat that met the description of what I wanted. I decided to message the owner to see if he was still available. The owner was quick to reply with a yes, and told me he’d be willing to drop off the cat if I’m interested. I asked for a visit before I take him but I keep hearing things like the weekends are my rest days because he works a hard job. He also mentioned that he’s sold other cats before without a problem or complaint. Am I overthinking that the cat owner doesn’t sound like the most trustworthy?

Would you all feel safe using Nextgaurd Combo for your senior cat with fleas? Frontline didn’t work so our vet prescribed Nextgaurd. Anyone used it before? It has very mixed reviews.