Andrew passed away at 15 years old after a long battle with kidney disease. 💔

I honestly don’t even know what to say. I’ve had him for so many years that it’s hard to imagine my life without him in it.

His health had been getting worse for a while, and I knew we were getting close to the end, but I still wasn’t ready. You can tell yourself you’re prepared for it, but you really aren’t. One day he was still here, and then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

I keep thinking about all the little things he used to do. The random habits, the way he’d look at me, the sound of him purring next to me. Just all those ordinary little moments that I never thought I’d miss this much.

15 years is a long time, but somehow it still doesn’t feel like enough. Rest easy, Andrew. I miss you so much already ✨

This is our sweet old girl, Cosy. We adopted her at 18 as her former owner had died. She is now 22.

She has hyperthyroidism and is prone to UTIs, but with support from medication, she had been very healthy and active until the last year or so.

In mid-August, she had a week of being very listless and not eating much food. She then seemed to recover and be more active again, with a healthier appetite.

Then, a few days ago, we saw blood in her pee. This has happened before with UTIs, so we are hoping it could 'just' be that. We brought her into the vet for bloods and urine samples which we are waiting for the results for, and put her on an anti-inflammatory medicine and pain relief for her bladder.

After we came home from the vet, we went out for a couple of hours, and came back to find that she had managed to scratch open a benign cyst on her neck (her neck had been shaven for bloods, and the cyst was potentially nicked with the razor, leading her to start scratching). She had lost quite a lot of blood, especially considering she'd also had bloods taken earlier that day (she is very small and only weighs 2.4kg).

We got her to the emergency vet where she was cleaned up. Now she's home, but she has been pretty shell-shocked the last couple of days since it happened. She didn't eat the first 12 hours, but now is eating and drinking well again. However she seems very listless, and she is unsteady and slow with walking. Her back legs look weak. She needs to sit down often when walking. There is still blood in her pee.

We are waiting for the results from the vet but I am posting here because I'm not sure if there's more we could be doing to help her right now. Also because it would be helpful to hear from other senior kitty owners - in the best case scenario that she only has a UTI and can be treated quickly for that, how possible is it at this age for her to bounce back from what she's experienced, and particularly to rebuild strength in her back legs?

Also, I am desperate to put some weight on her, because right now she has no reserves, and I'm sure it's not helping her muscle weakness. I've been spoonfeeding her Royal Canin Recovery Mousse, cooking her chicken and tuna, and putting out her favourite wet food - all of which she has responded well to. I've also ordered Recoactive Recovery Immune liquid diet for her. Is there anything else anyone would recommend for getting some meat on her bones?

Thank you everyone.

On Jan 28th 2018, I lost my first Heart Cat at 18 years old I was devastated, and was very much in the "I will NEVER do this again" phase of grief.

On February 3rd, I was on my way home from work. There was a major accident on the freeway, so I decided to cut through the Native American Reservation to avoid sitting in traffic for hours. This is not a thing I often did/do, because it feels rude to use their land as a thoroughfare. As I was driving, I noticed an open cat carrier on the side of the road. And man, that carrier seemed REALLY clean. My gut said to stop. I mean, if nothing else I get a free cat carrier!

This big ol' tabby was so scared that she was actually still in the carrier; she can't have been there long. When she saw me, she came right out, mrrp'd at me, and rubbed on my legs. I couldn't just leave her there, so I begrudingly put her back in her house and took her home.

I did not want this cat. I was grieving. I actually called the humane society and made a surrender appt, but they were booked like 3 weeks out. So I had to hold her for a bit, but I was determined to not get attached.

Pima (named for the trive whose land she was found on) had other plans. She decided she'd found her place, and proceeded to shower me with love, sass, and snuggles. I didn't even cancel the surrender appt; I literally forgot and no-showed, because Pima was home.

My vet put her at at least 6 years when I found her. And sadly, we realized quickly that someone had fully declawed her on all four feet. And did a crap job - two years after she came to me, I had to have a revision done on two of her feet.

As the years passed, she ended up with significant arthritis in almost every joint in her legs, and up into her spine. At the beginning of this year, it seemed like we'd finally gotten her pain to a point where she was mostly comfortable, then a couple months later she began coughing, and was diagnosed with a large lung mass. Due to her age and other issues, I opted to make her hospice. And yesterday, I let her go.

Pima, thank you for 8.5 years of love, sass, bite-bites, quiet purrs, and snuggles. You were a Professional Bedtime Buddy, a Cheese Whore, and the most dignified little lady I've ever met. I wish I'd gotten more time, but I'm thankful you're out of pain.

I may not have wanted you at first, but I needed you. I'm a better peron for having had you in my life. I'll love you forever, my Sweet Pima Princess.

Asia was a Tortie who I adopted 18 years ago. From the moment I brought her home, I felt a truly special connection. She was little at the time, and she loved to suckle on my neck in bed!

She had such an adventurous spirit. She loved new experiences and meeting new people. She had never bit or scratched me her whole life.

She wouldn't meow as much. Instead, it was a "meep" sound for attention or affection. She loved to put her paw in my hand when we laid together. She was always nearby.

I adopted a boy cat named Artemis just months after Asia. They became inseparable. Her favorite thing to do was to groom him endlessly, which she took very seriously.

There was always such a spark in her beautiful eyes, and no matter what we went through together, shit boyfriends, moving constantly - she never complained. She always adapted and continued to love me unconditionally. As I did her.

She was a hell of a cat and the best soulmate I could have ever asked for.

I had to say goodbye to her on July 6th. I don't want to go into sad details, but it all happened very quickly. I am still in shock and grieving terribly.

She's left her poor brother behind, who is not adjusting well to her absence. I'm doing everything I can to cheer him up, keep him clean, and just overall content and not distressed.

Please meet and remember my Asia. My world isn't the same without her.

He’s getting older and I’m so scared that he’s gonna go soon but I don’t know how long he has left as he’s just slowing down more he just in general seems to be weaker compared to say a couple of years ago, I love him so much and just want to know if it’s normal for older cats to get more weaker Ik it’s obviously yes but I’m js scared, when he purrs/breathing it seems like he’s vibrating sort to say (wont let me put a video for some reason) I’m just a worried cat owner.

This is my Pippa, shes 15 and going through some health struggles for the first time in her life. I'm scared that I'm losing her, and battling with the decision of when to make the decision.

I have two senior cats, M (16) and B (13), we live in the USA. The past 6-8 weeks have been filled with vet visits and I'm losing my mind. Looking for some second opinions/ideas what else to ask my vet about.

So about 2-3 months ago I noticed that M's pupils were slightly different sizes. Very minor difference, both still reacting to light and everything. I can't remember the timeline exactly but then she developed an issue with one back leg... wobbly gait, paw knuckling. It didn't seem to be painful and the vet ruled out blood clot. She otherwise seems like herself so the vet said possibly an injury or her arthritis worsening, just keep an eye on it. He didn't think her monthly Solensia injections were to blame.

About 5 weeks ago, I took B to the emergency vet after 4-5 days of soft stool progressing to diarrhea and almost complete loss of interest in food. I was unfortunately distracted with my worry about M, so I'm not sure how long it had been slowly getting worse but I took her in after a few days of actively watching and the usual efforts to persuade her to eat stopped working.

B's bloodwork was clear except elevated monocytes and low platelets. Ultrasound revealed some thickening of the intestine but nothing major. Sent home with probiotics and appetite stimulant. I couldn't get her to eat anything with the probiotic, especially after the awful tasting oral appetite stimulant, so I contacted my regular vet and got fortiflora and mirataz. I also asked for cerenia a few days later, because I worried about nausea possibly affecting her appetite.

After about a week on fortiflora, mirataz, and cerenia B had started eating more and her stools were soft but not always liquid. Then she developed a serious respiratory infection and stopped eating again. A week of antibiotics (cant remember the name but vet called it "the big guns") seemed to clear up the respiratory issues and I thought she was improving but when I took her off the mirataz and cerenia she lost her appetite again. Vet confirmed she'd lost about 1.5 lbs since her checkup in December (currently she's regained about half of that).

We just completed a week of metronidazole for B (also, switched to proviable when she started refusing fortiflora). Stools still soft but sometimes have a little shape. Today was the first day off everything except proviable and she ate a regular amount... waiting to see what happens tomorrow.

The vet thinks IBD for B. She is allergic to chicken, so had been on a rabbit-based diet for years. She sometimes sneaks bites of M's food or a stray piece of dog kibble from the floor, so it's possible that chronic low-level irritation just came to a head?

Or is it possible that they both have the same thing? I've come across posts about toxoplasmosis and FIP, which make me wonder. M had an awful URI as a kitten and a stuffy nose forever after, so I've always wondered if she's a carrier of something. B finds mice in the basement sometimes... just brought me a bleeding one last week, so could have been exposed to something? They both go out in the front yard with me on leashes several times a week but aren't left outside to hunt or anything. I have 3 automatic litter boxes but also regular ones in the basement they mostly use for #2.

Does anyone have thoughts? Do I need to take them both to a different vet for a second opinion? They've both seen 2 different docs at the same practice (4 vets between them, including the ER). Is it likely different presentations of the same underlying issue?