We have (at the family home) a “20 year old female cat. I was 9 when I got her, and from the moment we met I loved her. She’s a great cat, really the best I could have ever seen. In the past few months her health have been reclining. She has dementia, probably joint issues. She forgets that she ate and because of this the comes for food like 20’times a day, of course we feed her each time a bit. She had a stroke a few years back, and sometimes have problems walking in a straight line. She is meowing constantly during the night, it’s more like a yowl really loud, and desperate,like she doesn’t know where she is, and every time we come and get her she settles,but it’s like 10 times a night. In the past few days she started to pee and poop everywhere, and obviously can’t control her bladder anymore. Doesn’t really look for our company either. She is extremely thin even though she eats a lot. Our vet knows all of this, we regularly check her blood, and gets vet visits. But it came to that point where im not sure if she’s comfortable anymore. She can’t sit still, or lay comfortably for longer than 15-30 minutes,obviously uncomfortable all the time. I can’t bear the thought that she’s suffering, and I know that she doesn’t have a lot of time ahead of her. I don’t want to come to that when she is on OBVIOUS pain and then run to the vet or has like seizures or something. I would like her to go peacefully and have the time to say goodbye. We had pets in the past and it was always awful, we waited for the last possible minute to go and euthanise them, but i don’t want to do that to myself, my cat, or even my mother who is home most of the time.
Long story short, i would be interested in your opinion. We have a vet visit tomorrow, and im going to talk about it with the doctor, ask for his advice, but im still feeling unsure. I levitate towards euthanasia more, to end her obvious suffering even though there are still good moments in her days.

Ps. my first language is not English sorry for the grammatical errors.

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.

I could really use some support because I feel completely emotionally exhausted and I don’t know how to stop worrying about my cat.

Miles is 18, but outside of this problem he has had a genuinely good quality of life. He’s always been extremely food motivated, social with me, vocal, opinionated, affectionate, and very involved in whatever I’m doing. He normally checks on me throughout the day, bugs me about meals, follows routines very closely, and generally has a huge personality.

This all started with what looked like a tiny puncture/abscess on his front paw in the spring. Since May he has been through antibiotics, repeated cleaning and vet visits, weeks in a cone, one surgery in July to debride and close the wound, then another revision surgery with a specialist in early August when it became clear the area was mechanically reopening when he put weight on it. After that he spent weeks in a rigid splint/cast because they were trying to keep the repair immobilized long enough to heal.
The awful part is that before the second surgery, and even immediately afterward, Miles was still basically himself. He ate normally, cared about food, interacted with me, etc. Several days into Clavamox after that surgery, his appetite suddenly dropped. Around the same time he went into the big splint. The antibiotic has been stopped for weeks now, but although he is eating again, he still has not completely returned to his normal baseline.
He will eat wet food, including a completely normal meal recently, and he’s eating some dry food voluntarily again. He takes treats. He got excited when I shook the treat bag. He asked me for some of my yogurt bar, gives me slow blinks, purrs, and even tried to groom my hand after accidentally biting me at the vet yesterday. So I know he is still in there.

But he is so much quieter than he normally is. He doesn’t initiate meals or come looking for me nearly as often. He rests a lot and I’m constantly going to him instead of him coming to me. That is the part that is breaking my heart. I feel lonely even though he’s right there because I miss having my little companion constantly interacting with me.

Last week his cast and stitches finally came off and I thought we were at the finish line. Instead, the one stubborn area of the paw opened again. Yesterday the specialist explained that there is a toe/bone in the exact area that seems to be mechanically preventing the skin from staying closed. He thinks the best chance of permanently solving this is surgery tomorrow to remove that outer toe/ray, along with the dewclaw because they suspect it may have contributed to the original puncture. His main weight-bearing toes will remain, they expect him to walk normally, and he keeps his leg.

The alternative is basically more bandaging and waiting indefinitely to see whether the same area somehow heals on its own, even though we have already been waiting and watching this fail for months. So intellectually, the surgery makes sense to me. I don’t want a stupid localized paw wound to be the reason his life ends when there is a realistic treatment for it.

But emotionally I am terrified. It is another anesthesia, $4,000, and they are estimating at least three more weeks of bandage changes afterward. I am so tired. I have been organizing my entire life around his paw for months, constantly watching his food, his bandage, his behavior, driving back and forth to appointments, worrying about every tiny change. I feel like I haven’t had my normal life or my normal cat in forever.

The hardest part is wondering what exactly I am preserving if his old personality doesn’t come back. I desperately do NOT want to euthanize him over this paw. When the surgeon basically said, “you don’t want to put him down over this,” that was exactly it. I want Miles to get through this and have another summer sitting in the sun, grooming himself again, growing all his shaved fur back, jumping around, yelling at me about food, and being his annoying wonderful self.

But I’m scared another surgery will wear him down more instead of bringing him back. I’m scared I’m being too aggressive because I can’t bear to lose him. At the same time, I’m scared that giving up now would mean ending his life over something potentially fixable when he is still eating, affectionate, interested in treats, mobile, and having good moments.

I just feel completely defeated and incredibly sad. I want someone to tell me that it is possible for an older cat to go through a prolonged medical ordeal like this, get the underlying problem finally fixed, and actually come back to themselves afterward. I miss him so much even though he is sitting right next to me.

i posted here a little less than a month ago about not knowing when it’s time. it came far faster than i ever wanted it to. she took a turn this morning, i woke up to find her not moving in the kitchen. she couldn’t even pick her head up for more than a few seconds at a time. i knew something was wrong the second i got up and she didn’t greet me or come running when i filled the food bowls. the second she hears it she always hightails it in there to beat her sister. we couldn’t get her in to put her down until the afternoon so we spent the day doing all her favorite things. she got lots of snuggles in her favorite blanket and got to lay outside in the sun on her bed. she never lost her appetite and got spoiled with treats, turkey, and tried steak for the first time. we took a car ride and she got to look out the window. she couldn’t hold herself up so i held her so she could watch and used all her strength to meow at the birds. she passed quickly and peacefully with her whole family around her. i feel so lucky to have gotten 17 years but even a lifetime wouldn’t have been enough. thank you for the heart on the way home, baby. i miss you so much more than i ever thought was possible already
edit: i did not and would not post a photo of my dead cat. she is perfectly alive and healthy here doing her (second to eating) favorite thing in the world

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.

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!

EDIT: please don’t share negative experiences! I’m aware they’re plentiful as the internet is filled with them for solensia and it deterred me giving my cat better quality of life. I’m very anxious to have started her on this so please don’t make that anxiety worse, I’m content with my decision and wanted to hear of older kitties who had good experiences.

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 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!

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!

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.

I will miss you for the rest of my days, until we meet again ❤️

We lost our dear boy Headphones two months ago to congestive heart failure. He was a sweet lovebug who was very food-motivated. We always joked that he would be so easy to kidnap, if you just gave him food and tummy rubs. He loved to sit between us at dinner and purr loudly (beg) for human food (mainly meat). Tonight, to remember him, we set his ashes between us while we ate. We miss him so much.

😇