My heart is breaking. I’ve had at least one cat since 1984, and my house feels so empty.

Tribute photos attached. The adult pic was from earlier this year before she started to decline.

Two years ago Lily had a couple of strokes (or maybe thrombosis, the vet wasn't sure). We thought she was gone for sure, but she bounced back is still hobbling around. Her vet says she doesn't seem to be in pain - it's not arthritis, it's neurological. She can jump and climb stairs just fine, but landing and going down is a dicier proposition.

Hello! First time posting here. This is my most recent foster, Penny. She is a very smol but very scrappy little old lady. The rescue shelter that connected us didnt have much more info than she was microchipped in FL but the chip is no longer connected to the owner's info. She lived as a stray for an unknown length of time and showed up at a neighboring county's animal shelter where I picked her up. She is a small cat and was quite underweight when I pulled her from the shelter.

We've worked hard to get her up a whole 1.5lbs since she became my foster, but we soon learned at her check up that she has stage 2 CKD. At first, I didnt know what kind of food she'd tolerate, but I needed to get her to eat something before she continued losing weight. After a lot of trial and error, we settled for Purina ProPlan Advantedge Senior Support. She was prescribed Royal Canin Kidney Support for her diet and was strongly advised to transition to wet food.

Ive tried two slow introductions to the renal kibble but she started eating around it even when mixed with her Purina kibble. But what is been most challenging is that she REFUSES anything that isnt kibble. Has no interest in Churus or other lickable, high-reward treats. I have tried RC and Purinas kidney vet wet foods and a couple of other OTC urinary health foods and no luck. Ive tried regular fancy feast and also no luck. I have noticed, however, that she seems to have been fed human food at some point because she managed to steal some ham from my plate and devoured it....

Has anyone had better luck with a senior kitty who refuses regular cat wet food to get them to eat it? Luckily she drinks a LOT of water so it eases my anxiety about her only-kibble diet but still fairly worried. I know with senior kitties, especially CKD ones, there's more priority on them getting enough calories than staying strict with a kidney diet but would ideally like to have her eat what is healthiest and best for her and her current condition.

Any tips would be appreciated and sorry if this has been addressed many times before! Pics for kitty tax

Hi it’s me and Sparta again. I posted about a month ago and this group was so supportive. I’m back seeking advice. Here’s a quick(ish) version of what we’re dealing with. Sparta will be 16 in January. For the last 4 years, he’s dealt with chronic pancreatitis (and chronic vomiting), suspected IBD, HCM (pretty mild per the cardiologist), and stage 2 or 3 of CKD. Juggling all of those illnesses has been financially and mentally challenging on both of us. About a year ago, I decided I’d focus on comfort care and avoid unnecessary vet visits unless it was something acute and curable.

His appetite has been a struggle for a while, but it’s been low the past month. Even with Mirataz. I’m lucky if I can get him to eat 1 can of Hills cat food per day right now. He’s clearly in some abdominal pain based on the way he’s resting (likely from the pancreatitis) and he’s on gabapentin round the clock to manage. I started tracking his days & we’re mostly having neutral days with a couple good and a couple bad in the mix.

About 3 weeks ago he started showing an increase in thirst and I noticed he’d peed on the couch when he was sleeping. This was highly unlike him. Concerned about diabetes because of the chronic pancreatitis, I took him in for a CBC, frictosamine, and UA. His labs weren’t terrible but I opted not to do the full senior panel since I just had one done in August. They determined no diabetes but wanted me to bring him back for testing his thyroid.

I really want to be mindful of his age, all his chronic illnesses, his obvious signs of pain, and also my capacity to support him. I acknowledge I’m fully in caretaker burnout. It’s been really stressful making sure he’s eating, giving him his medications, cleaning up vomit, and now cleaning up urine. I would also like to give him a very dignified crossing of the rainbow bridge and prevent a traumatic experience for both of us. Right now, he still looks in good shape (the pic I posted is from last week) but based on everything going on with him, I think he’ll only continue to go downhill slowly.

I’m seeking insight from this group. I’m really struggling with my mental health right now due to being at the end of my graduate program, and managing a senior pet’s health on top of everything has been hard. I just really need insight from folks that have dealt with similar. Any advise you have for my situation would be really appreciated.

(If you’ve seen this post before, I apologise! It got flagged by an automod and hung in limbo for a bit, so I’m trying again with a different photo of Mia!)

Our old gal Mia has always been well-versed in deploying a tactical protest pee, but I’m genuinely stumped right now. Mia insists on sleeping next to me in our bed, right next to my pillow. Recently (say, the last two weeks?), I’ve inadvertently woken up every night in a puddle of pee. We can rule out health issues, she does have well-managed CKD, but she’s had that for at least the last four years I’ve had her, and the vet checked for other potential health issues causing this. I work from home, and her litter box gets cleaned at least three times a day, or whenever I see it has been used. The litter has not been changed. No new cats have been brought into the household, and her three orange brothers have not changed their litter box behavior or approached her while she was using the bathroom. No furniture has been re-arranged, no changes to her diet, nothing. Same as it ever was.
Here’s the curious thing: I have set a little cosy corner up for her on my nightstand, with her stairs leading up to the nightstand rather than directly to the bed, and have blocked access onto the bed (she doesn’t usually engage in acrobatics anymore, save for when she’s actively trying to be a muppet). She’s slept there for a few nights (with much protest, ole yeller has been at it) and there have been no accidents - she’s used the litter box without fail until this morning when she had a little pee in her sleep, but that just sometimes happens with the old lady. I even left clothes and other soft items on the floor to see if the litter box is the issue, but she does not pee on them. After I gave her access to the bed again to test if maybe it was just an unfortunate habit that somehow formed, she immediately peed on the bed again.

Things to consider:

- She almost always pees in the same spot: somewhere along the right side of my body, usually next to the upper half of my torso or head. She then snuggly wanders further down the mattress to curl up away from the pee, while I wake up in a wet patch.
- Whenever she has an accident, I clean the sheets with enzyme cleaner before washing. We have pee pads under the sheet, but if something reaches the mattress, that too gets cleaned with enzyme cleaner. I try to make sure there is no residual odor, even for cat noses.
- She’s never had litter box issues without a reason. She weaponizes her pee when she wants to speak to the manager, or she sometimes sleeps a little too deep and pees in her sleep (she usually wakes up and shoots towards the litter box like an ICPeeM, leaving a trail of pee behind her).
- We assess her QoL every month. She still scores high. She has phases of less and more activity, but they usually change like clockwork every three weeks (she is in a less active phase right now).
- She recently lost a fair bit of vision and is a little insecure (especially in the dark), so her litter box, food, and water are all in our bedroom, albeit in opposite corners far away from each other. She does not seem to have trouble finding them, even in the dark.
- She eats, she drinks, she sleeps, she squawks. Nothing has changed except for her peeing habits.
- She has an open litter box with the same clumping wood chip litter we’ve used for about two years. It’s very soft and doesn’t hurt her paws. She’s a bit of a litter box diva (she once peed on my chest while holding eye contact because I fell asleep on the couch after a long day before cleaning her litter box a fourth time that day), but we’re super duper extra meticulous with it as she has taught us well about the consequences that will follow otherwise.
- She’s been checked for thyroid-issues, and does not seem more or less confused than usual. She’s on Solensia. She acts precisely like you would expect a 22-year-old Grand Dame to act.
- Feliway doesn’t do anything for her, Zylkene works but turns her into an eepy missile.

I’d be most grateful for any advice, ideas, input - the works. I feel like there is something obvious I’ve been missing.

He will be 16 in April and I wish I could just freeze time and have my crotchety old man forever and ever.

My heart is absolutely broken, and I need to let it out somewhere. This has been the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

Pookey collapsed a couple of weeks ago and then the saga of vet appointments started, in the end after ultrasonography last Monday he was diagnosed with pyelonephritis (a kidney infection) and fatty degeneration of the liver since he already wasn't eating properly since his collapse. Kidney lymphoma was another concern raised during his investigations.

We started antibiotic treatment, and he also had two full days of tube feeding and IV fluids towards the end of last week. Unfortunately, there was no improvement in his overall condition or appetite. Last Friday, additional test results came back, revealing a multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, which is particularly nasty and difficult to treat.

Together with our vet, we decided not to pursue further tube feeding and instead give him a peaceful weekend at home, as recovery was already very unlikely. We agreed that if there was no improvement, it would be time to consider letting him go peacefully. Unfortunately, he barely ate anything over the weekend, and yesterday I made the decision that it was time for him to cross the rainbow bridge.

What makes this so incredibly difficult is that, in many ways, he still seems like himself. He comes to me, sleeps in his favourite places, and even grooms himself. But there are so many underlying issues, and I don't want him to suffer or for his other organs to start failing.

My heart is breaking into a million pieces, but I just want him to be at peace. Thank you Pookey for 15 years of companionship, you are and always will be my baby. Pictures are one from a few days ago and when I first brought him home 15 years ago.

EDIT: Pookey has now crossed the rainbow bridge, we brought him to the clinic is his favourite blanket and he fell asleep in our arm. Rest in peace my sweet angel 💔 Thank you all for the incredibly sweet and thoughtful messages, they made this day less dreadful.

Very cozy old lady

Dude threw up a LOT of food, then pooped on the floor (I got the paper towel down in time, thankfully)

She's officially progressed to stage 2 kidney disease, but continues to hold her own.

Made these artworks for senior cats for someone. Painting them is such a joy.

If anyone wants to get some artwork of their fur babies made do let me know😃

We just got back from the vet where I was tearing up all day. My little buddy is gonna make it to another Christmas. Found out he was in good health for his age! His lungs sounded good and his heart sounded good. His teeth were great and he mostly just needs more fluids.

Vet did say we need to be grooming him as his poor looks have everything to do with his arthritis and inability to clean himself. We got a grooming glove for his dander and some baby wipes for his occasionally poopy butt. She said his nausea was related to him eating too fast so we got him a feeding mat! I’m ecstatic! Thank you all so much for your advice and support it was really helpful!!

Time flies, but the pain is very real. I don't think I'm doing a very good job of managing the grief. I try to come here and console others and I do believe it's helpful. But sadly this loss still cuts like a knife. I think of her every day and I miss her so. I hope you are watching over me Carly. I need all the help I can get. Hopefully I will be good enough to join you one day. 💔❤️🌈

Kinda just posting here to vent and maybe get some advice from everyone. Yesterday I had to take my big boy, Brimley, to my university’s ER Vet as he began having some wheezing and weird reverse sneezing episodes, and seemed to be struggling to breathe. The past 36 or so hours have been a lot for me. He was kept overnight, and received a CT scan this morning to see what was going on. They found a mass in his larynx, and called to request consent to do surgery while he was still under anesthesia due to it already having been hard to intubate him.

During surgery, they were able to remove a small portion of the mass, but not as much as they wanted to. They placed a stent as a form of palliative care, and from what they’ve told me over the phone he is doing much better (no longer in an oxygen box, is up and exploring, was purring nonstop when they did a physical exam). We still need to wait a few days for the full pathology report, but the cytology report is showing squamous cell carcinoma. They told me radiation is an option, but with the location and his age I’m not sure if it would be the best choice for him.

As long as he stays stable tonight, I’ll be allowed to bring him home tomorrow and will be talking more with the vet about options. I’m so heartbroken about this, I’ve had him since he was around 9 and he’s been my best friend even with how much he loves to cause trouble. He was there for some of the hardest parts of my life. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him trying to eat plastic or tearing up any piece of paper he can get his hands on. My friend is graciously paying for his stay and surgery, and I’m definitely going to owe her money until the end of time haha. If anyone reads this far thank you for reading, and any words of support or encouragement or advice would be appreciated 💜

Hello, the tl;dr version is my arthritic and deaf 13.5 year old cat has started sudden episodes of yowling in distress multiple times a day with no clear reason why, but here are the details:

In June of this year, she had l, what we think, a first episode of this. I had been away for a few days for work, but my parents were coming over multiple times a day to take care of my 2 cats and said she was completly fine and happy before, but was acting withdrawn the day i was arriving back. In the evening a few hours after i got back, she had 2 episodes where she yowled with no clear reason why, then she fell out of her cat tree and hurt her lower back, causing her tail to go limp. We went to the vet, they treated her back with anti-inflammatories for a few days and a shot of solencia (since she has a history of arthritis and we thought that might be the cause of the yowling and fall). Her tail has completely healed since.

Now, this Sunday to Monday morning, she had around 8 episodes, of 2 to 3 sets of yowling, lasting around 5-10 minutes total, around every 3 hours. Again there was no clear reasons what is causing it. She is not doing anything in particular that could trigger pain right before it happens. In between the episodes, she is acting normal and happy, she's eating well, drinking, using her litter box, played a little. She does however seem a little more agitated than normal, i wouldnt say hyperactive, but she is occasionally pacing around more than she usually would (almost like she is looking for something but doesnt know what), she went explore corners of my apt she doesnt usually, and also countersurfed... Those are things she did often in her younger days, but very rarely now that shes an older lady, so thats why my first reflex is not to assume arthritis, i dont feel like she would be doing these things if she was having a sudden onset of severe joint pain...

Right before her episodes happen, you can see her pupils dilating (google AI said this was a sign of pain spike ?), but then returning to normal as she yowls, and then she kinda just spaces out. It repeats 1-2 more times, then she relaxes and go back to her normal happy-self.

So yesterday (Monday), we again went to the vet. I showed the video of what happens to my vet, and she agreed that it was odd. She recommended to try a Solencia treatment to see if that helps. I explained that i felt something else might be going on, but agreed to give it a try. The vet said that otherwise, by physical examination, everything looked good (but didnt requests any tests for now).

The other hypothesis were dementia due to her age, or behavioral/attention-seeking (also since shes deaf), which I dont think fits, because i feel like at this point, shes pretty set in her habits and routine, and i think in both cases, it would be more of a progressive change, rather than sudden frequent like this. And also, this is her distress/pain yowl, its true she is more vocal due to her deafness, but every other times i heard her make that sound, there was a very real underlying cause.

Since the Solencia shot, she had 2 more episodes of yowling in the evening, 4 in the night, and 2 this morning. So no improvement whats so ever.

By the way, the reason why i didn't go for a follow up shot of Solencia since June, is because she had adverse effects when receiving them more regularly in the past. So i decided at that moment, that the cons were outweighing the pros, and that i would reassess if ever her arthritis would become worse.

I know it can take some time for the Solencia to take effect, I'm trying to keep an opened mind and hoping its really just arthritis, but again while its true that she suffers from some arthritic pain, i feel like there might be something more happening. I'm thinking if it's still like this by the end of this week, i will go back at the vet. So i was just wondering if anyone might have any insights on whats happening or experienced anything like this with their cats, in case we need to go back?

My senior cat (roughly 21 - 24 year old) has a few health issues going on at the moment, which we are trying to treat (kidney disease, diarrhoea...).

Something I have noticed she also seems to be struggling with more is going to the toilet, both peeing and pooing.

Over recent years, she has struggled to pee a little - she raises one of her rear legs when going, but recently this has increased so much that she ends up balancing on just one of her rear legs. This is as difficult as it sounds... As she is trying to do the same when going to poo, she is having a lot of difficulty going to the toilet and she seems very uncomfortable. Often she will have to try several times before passing anything.

I suspect she is doing this due to arthritis pain - has anybody elses cat done this or somrthing similar? Did you find any way to help? Could there be another cause?

Just to note, she already doesnt use a littertray. She hasnt for a while - she uses puppy pads on the floor, so there is no issue of her stepping into the tray etc. She receives monthly solensia injections and is now on prednisolone too. She gets extremely wobbly with gabapentin, so wouldn't like to go down that route as she is wobbly sometimes as it is.