He’s had a sharp decline in the past month and it’s been devastating to watch. I wish I had more time with him but I know it’s the right thing to do.

She's in stage 2 kidney disease and has some other health issues, but otherwise is doing okay. I'm just dreading losing her.

Also her eye is dark due to iris melanosis. There is a risk of it turning into cancer and some people have the eye removed as prevention, but the vet is monitoring and doesn't recommend surgery as of now.

Edit: thank you so much for all of the sweet comments 💜 she's my sassy old lady and I'm enjoying the time I have with her!

This is Mish-Mish. He was abandoned at the beginning of last year (I don't judge his previous guardian, I suppose they didn't have a choice for some reason), and ended up in my care. Mish-Mish is slow to take decisions (should I sit in front of the window or lay on the sofa? let's think for 5 minutes), snores when he's asleep, is very, very vocal especially when he's decided I'm not where he wants me to be, frowns in disagreement and meows when I wake him up, has an obsession about munching grass and strong opinions about which kind of meat he likes or not, pees on inappropriate stuff sometimes (poor synthetizer) but he still jumps on the counter when there's some cheese around, loudly licks himself clean, and is overall a nice old boy.

A few months ago we discovered that he had either a digestive tract lymphoma or some kind of inflammatory bowel disease. Either way it was decided to avoid chemo and to focus on his quality of life. So he's been on appropriate medication and follow up for most of this year and he's doing good so far. I wasn't sure he would reach this milestone, and I'll be surprised if he reaches the next one, but anyway here we are.

Happy Birthday Mish-Mish!

Still enjoying cozy days and relaxing in bed. Such a sweet senior kitty. 🐱Meet the Handsome NAN

Jade was diagnosed with arthritis 3 years ago in her shoulders and has since been transitioned to using steps and getting daily massages. Lately I noticed her falling or hesitating before jumping short distances she used to clear with ease and I went for it. I’m really nervous as I’ve seen a lot of negative stuff online and just hoping someone has some positivity of it changing their cats quality of life!

My heart physically hurts, my family adopted him when I was 2 years old. I am now 22 and he has always been the most reliable, unchanging part of my life. He was always beside me, always wanted to cuddle and I will always regret the times that I didn’t put my work down and hold him. It truly kills me.

We said goodbye 2 weeks ago, at home with everyone who loved him by his side.

I loved to draw him so much he was the light in my life and getting to grow up with him by my side is a privilege

My life feels so dull without him, I feel like he’s just on vacation? I feel like i will keep searching for him forever thinking he’ll just be in my bed when I come home from work or I’ll trip over nothing watching out for him in the kitchen like I used to. I’m going to do everything I can to make him proud. He taught me what it means to care for an animal and have that bond.

I know I was only a child for the majority of his life, but I wish I could have done more. I know 20 is an amazing long life but I just wonder if I could have done more. I will always wish I could have done better, I will always wonder if I gave him enough love and treats. I really hope I did. I feel like I did my best. I hope I did

I am okay, but I am really sad. I know we made the right decision but I wonder if he understands what happened? I feel like that day he might’ve known, he started to hide which he’s never done, and in the hours leading up to the vet coming to our home, he came out, greeted each person with a meow and sat in the middle of all of us. I just wonder if he was scared being sedated, and I wonder what it felt like as he passed on. We all pet him and spoke to him, he looked peaceful and I hope to god that it felt that way.

In my opinion senior cats are in their golden years. It was truly a pleasure to care for him as he aged, I would sing songs to him will picking poo out of his fur in the shower because classic old man behaviour. In his honour I have decided to donate what I can monthly to charities who focus on senior cats, and I hope to create my own charity one day in his honour.

I have also adopted a struggling traumatized cat. Although I miss my boy dearly, I know he would want me to keep going and help other cats in need.

As mishmish aged he got sweeter and sweeter, and kittens are sweet too but I have decided that I will be dedicating my future to senior and medically complex cats.

If you read this, thank you for helping me remember my boy. I know I’m all over the place but I want to share him with everyone forever. Everyone I’ve ever known knows his name and I will be loud about him until I die.

This is big boi Diesel (Beebo)! Adopted him and his littermate when they were 10 and they are truly the best kitties.

Beebo has had a really tough year.

A year and a half ago he was 15 lbs, playful, and bold. In January of this year, he weighed 9 lbs and got diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. We took the leap and got him the I-131 radioactive iodine treatment. The treatment itself was not too bad but he had to be isolated from our other 3 cats and us for a month with interaction limited to 30 min or less a day.

After the isolation, he just lost his spark. Started hiding around the house and not coming when he was called. We got more testing done and it came back saying he had early stage kidney disease. So, we switch diets for him to help him gain back some of the weight he lost. It didn’t seem to be working.

Then, he had to have 3 teeth removed due to reabsorbtion. He ate the wet food we gave him for the first week after his surgery but heavily resisted dry food when we switched him back. He also got a respiratory infection less than a week after his surgery that wore him flat out.

Now, he’s been on the kidney diet for 4 months, his mouth has fully healed, but he seems like he’s fading from us. He hasn’t gained any weight back and he spends most of the day sleeping in a dark corner of our house. When we picked him up from his dental surgery, our vet said he’s built like a tank and she can definitely see him still kicking at 20 but I don’t know.

I guess I just wanna know if anyone has seen their cat come back from a string of hard times? He is our most precious boy and I know he’s very lucky to still be around at 17. I’m just selfish since we have only had him for 7 years.

Cela fait 1 mois que mon petit chat est parti, j'ai passé ce premier mois extrêmement difficilement, je me suis fait beaucoup de mal, beaucoup de chagrin, beaucoup de problèmes on resurgi et beaucoup d'autres arrivent, étant très solitaire la perte de mon petit chat laisse un vide incommensurable.. Je n’avais jamais ressenti cette solitude comme ça tant qu'il était avec moi, je pense tous les jours à mon petit Mimine et je lui parle comme si il était toujours là pour m’entendre, c'est définitivement la pire période de ma vie pourtant j'ai connu des moments sombres dans ma vie, mais là tout s'enchaîne c'est terrible, mon petit chat était la lumière dans mon quotidien, mon pilier, mon oxygène. Je n’ai toujours pas pu récupérer son urne car le vétérinaire a été en vacances tout le mois d'août ce qui rajoute beaucoup d’angoisse, j’espère pouvoir le récupérer bientôt. Je n'avais pas la force de répondre à tout le monde pour vos messages que je lisais en pleurant, alors Merci beaucoup à tous pour vos messages bienveillants, je sais que beaucoup ont traversé cette épreuve et beaucoup la traverseront malheureusement, je me doutais que ça allait être difficile mais pas à ce point. Encore merci 🙏❤️

Annabelle is 16 and we are in the 3rd year of medication for hyperthyroidism. Weight loss has gotten worse as she is not eating dry food anymore. Feeding wet food 3 to 4 times a day. She doesn't eat much at a time and sensitive stomach keeps options limited. Over the past couple of months she has been losing large amounts of fur. No bald spots yet but so much comes off with brushing. This week I noticed some small mats for the first time ever on her. I guess grooming has gotten harder. I give her Cosequin for suspected arthritis.

Does hyperthyroidism in senior cats cause fur loss? Photo from early spring before fur loss issue.

He makes me laugh so hard. I’ve always had intelligent, spicy cats and loved them just as much, but this loveable derp has my heart.

Is fancy feast senior cat food good to give my senior cat? She is a 13 year old tortie who stopped eating her 9 lives so I switched to fancy feast senior cat food. Should I give her something else? I saw somewhere else that fancy food isnt good. Is this true?

This afternoon, Sunny joined his animal and human friends across the Rainbow Bridge. I know his original mom was waiting for him at the gates 💕

Sunny joined our home of kitties on March 23 as a hospice foster. We eventually ended up officially unofficially adopting him. This guy had a whole list of medical issues, but that didn't stop him from being the most loving, cuddly, wonderful dude. So many meds, so much poking with subq fluids... we definitely developed a special bond.

Sunny loved his heated blanket and sun spots. He was an avid connoisseur of Churu - and may I say THE #1 Churu fan in the whole world. He dabbled in watching cat TV once in a while, but most of all he loved to cuddle with his humans.

Hug your fur babies close and give them lots of Churu on Sunny's behalf 💕

Sunny photos in comments!

He has trusted me all this time but not to sleep on me. But today It happened.

hello! My cat Margosha has had a journey with her diet since the day she was born. it was on and off best grade catfoods and raw meals and ultimately for hers and our wallets sake we decided to just quit searching for an option she would like (she would go a week or two with cat food and then quit it cold turkey and refuse to engage with it to the point where switching cat foods so much became not healthy for her) and stop on the only thing she consistently eats - boiled ground turkey. she’s been on a ground turkey diet for a year or two now, (and on and off raw food diet for 10-ish years), and our vet advised me to add some fiber and taurine supplements to her meals. speaking of now, she had a real bad gastroenteritis and is now on meds. because of stress and her stomachaches she is now refusing turkey and the only other thing she mildly entertains is baby food (which is turkey and greens). this is where my question lies - do i still need to add additional fiber to her baby food? do i need to add taurine? our vet is not available for a call and won’t be for the next 10 days so i’m kinda in limbo with her diet

also i’m sorry for any grammar and punctuation mistakes, i kinda just go with russian punctuation since i don’t know how english punctuation works😭

and here is Margosha

Last week when I received bad news about Missy, my world was shattered. My vet told me to take her home, spend the weekend with her, and then see where we’re at. I had talked to some people over the weekend that told me it’s ’her time’ .. I said but she’s eating and going potty in her box. She’s coming over to my chair in the middle of the night to wake me up and let me know she needs food. She seems peaceful. She breaths a little fast, due to the fluid the vet can see in her abdomen, but she’s on lasixs now and it isn’t a hard, labored, breathing it’s just a little ‘different’ - but it’s been like that for awhile now. Trust me, I watch!!

The one comment that got me was ‘but isn’t that what you want her to remember?? Rather than waiting until something tragic happens and she’s struggling and you’re traumatized??’ .. .. .. when they said they, I lost it because that is the LAST thing I want.

I had decided I was going to make her appt for Monday. I felt sick about it. I ‘slept’ on her pallet with her .. cried until I literally wondered how it was even possible to cry more .. not sure how the human body can produce so many tears. Saturday morning I still felt super sick about the whole thing. I called my vet and we talked for awhile. He is so kind and so understanding and told me he doesn’t believe it’s time. Obviously she isn’t going to get ‘better’, but if we can keep things at bay, that’s what we’re going to do. Seeing that she’s 22 .. we’re a little more limited.

I will continue to watch her .. spoil her .. and love her every moment that I can.

My beloved Lucy Lu has had a benign follicular growth on her side for almost 2 years. While unsightly, it wasn't bothering her and was restricted to the surface of her skin. I chose to monitor it, admittedly in part due to financial constraints. I also did not want to put her through unnecessary stress and pain at her advanced age. A little over 2 weeks ago the situation suddenly changed. Somehow the mass had partially ripped off of her side, leaving a sizable gash which rapidly became infected. The timing couldn't have possibly been worse for us. I spent 2 agonizing days waiting for my paycheck to clear; Doing everything I could to mitigate and manage the wound. When I finally had funds, I called over a dozen local vets and none would see us for an emergency visit. Utterly defeated and beside myself in tears I tried one last vet. Finally I was greeted by a compassionate receptionist who managed to squeeze us in between appointments. I could not have been luckier - I rushed to the office to find a dedicated cat hospital and extremely compassionate staff. The veterinarian and I went over options and I was on the cusp of deciding to euthanize her. I simply couldn't afford the surgery. I sat in the exam room and held Lucy tight, crying and saying my goodbyes.. When the vet reentered the room and sat across from me. "I believe that the surgery could be successful. Her heart sounds great and she still has so much life in her eyes." He paused.. Then looked up at me. "I don't want money to be the reason that you don't do this. I'm the business owner, so I can make this call. We'll do it for you and discount the cost to what you can afford. If that's what you want to do."

The vet checked with his nurse to see if she could work late.. And, after saying a few more goodbyes just in case the worst happenes.. They took Lucy back immediately to the operating room. I got a phone call a few hours later to find that the surgery had been a success! She was coming out of anesthesia and ready to be picked up. I can't even remember the drive back to get her as I was floating on spent adrenaline and utter relief. I was sent home with her recovery plan, pain meds, and a free follow-up appointment in 2 weeks to remove the stitches. She had that follow-up last Tuesday and she is almost completely healed! She's back to being an incredibly active and healthy super senior cat. I get to spend more time with the kitten I brought home my senior year of highschool. I am looking forward to celebrating her 18th birthday this winter. (: Pics included for everyone's enjoyment.

We have a senior stray cat frequently roaming around the neighbourhood. She is well fed by one of my neighbours but ive noticed her nails are severely overgrown to the point it is digging in her paw.

Ive tried to trim it for her (since i myself has cats for almost a decade) and made sure not to trim too short, so i left some extra space, just so it wouldn’t keep hurting her paw. But i stopped halfway because it started to bleed. Ive rinse her paw with some diluted chlorhexidine to prevent an infection.

Any tips for trimming her nail to prevent hurting this cat? Or is the only option to the vet.

We made the decision to send Jaeger over the rainbow bridge today. He had a huge decline in health the past week—I can’t let him suffer and he needs to be set free from the pain. He taught me patience, kindness, and humility. He will always be my little guy, my bubba. He was my first cat and he will always be the biggest part of my heart. The biggest lesson from him was unconditional love.

So I search here for litters to try and tested the ones I found, which Charles🐈has responded relatively well to but some concerns have arisen.

1. Dr. Elseys sensitive paws - we liked the consistency but holy DUST.
   
2. Worlds Best (green bag) - he used it but, I found it to be normal in size of the granules, rough and sharp despite claims of it being soft and having finer granules. It also stuck to his butt and cause a small laceration.
   
3. Dr. Elseys Senior care crystals - good on texture but I think we both hate the pee not clumping and being mixed back in because it just constantly smells after a couple of days.

I want to try arm and hammer because of the sand like texture but again concerned about dust and texture of the naturals option, they also don’t specify unscented which worries me.

Has anyone found something that really covers all the bases?!