I was with her every minute of her last day. She made it to 18 years and her kidneys failed. We are so so sad.
I know that cats often search for a secluded place to die. But I believe / hope it was comforting to have her humans at her side.
Who else has this special experience of being with your cat in the final moments?
Last year we had to put down our 20+ year old cat. We rescued her from my sister who had to leave her at our dad’s house after her first divorce. The cat’s actual age was uncertain, but I found an old digital camera with pictures of her in 2004.
It was a tough decision to make as she appeared to be fine mentally, but her body was not working. Her joints had become loose and made it difficult for her to control her movements.
Our 17 year old kitty passed a few weeks ago too. She went peacefully but it’s still painful for us. You don’t care for something that long without it affecting you. We went to a cat cafe connected to the humane society last week and donated her food and treats and spent time with the kittens. It really helped.
Sorry for your loss. Could you be home when she went? We were actually lucky to be flexible that day.
Thank you! I’m not generally a sharing kind of person, but am touched by the empathy of cat lovers. She went blind then catatonic very suddenly. We took her to the vet when we realized she wasn’t coming back. We had waited too long with her sister and she died in pain. It was traumatic for us and committed to not letting that happen again. We work from home, so she was with us at all times. The vet was very compassionate about the whole ordeal. They saw us early without waiting and made her and us as comfortable as possible. Whenever I get up from the couch to go to bed at night, I reflexively walk to her spot to say goodnight still. It’ll be a while but we intend to get some kittens to fill the void.
I have a lot of pictures of my Chili on her last evening and last morning. Don’t look very nice though (she had her tongue stick out due to cancer) so I really don’t want to dig them up and post them. She was the purriest tiny little old cat baby though. <3
I did and I’m still impacted by it a year and a half later. Can’t move on.
Not yet but I dread the day. My cat is my best friend I can’t imagine losing him. I’m sorry for your loss
