My sweet Bonnie. We adopted her as a stray senior in 2021, both myself and my now husband. She was roughly between 15-17 years old when she passed today by vets guess. Last year she was diagnosed with stage 4 CKD. We thought for sure that was what she would die from and she has effectively been on kitty hospice since. I took her to an urgent care earlier because I thought she had a UTI and they found a large mass in her bladder. And the kindest decision to make was to let her rest. She was the sweetest and most gentle cat I've ever had. She loved to cuddle up with you and rest her head under your chin. And she had no regard for personal space and would bully you off your own pillow at night. But I always let her do it. All these photos were taken in the last few days. She was actually doing better than she had in a while, but now I think she was rallying for us. I'll see you in heaven again some day, my sweet old lady.

I miss JJ’s face looking at me like that..I miss those big, beautiful eyes that always found mine, eyes that held so much gentleness, trust, and love. When she looked at me, the world felt quieter, safer, like everything was going to be okay.

For 25 years, she watched me, followed me, slept near me, and loved me in the quiet ways only a cat can. I hope she knew, in every moment, how deeply I loved her.. I hope she felt it in the way I touched her, spoke to her, cared for her, and stayed with her until the very end.

I miss her so much… Not a single day passes where I don’t think of her. Not a single breath where my heart doesn’t ache for her. I will never stop loving JJ, not in this lifetime, not in any lifetime. My love for her didn’t end when she left this world. It lives on in me, and it will stay with me until my very last breath.

If love could have kept her here forever, she would have lived eternally. And if love can reach her now, I hope she feels it still, because my heart has never stopped calling her name..

I love you forever, J..

2000 - 9th January 2026

UPDATE, 26 JANUARY.

To everyone who sent messages and comments about JJ, THANK YOU. I read every single one wholeheartedly.

I joined Reddit 4 days ago, just to feel less alone and to talk to people who understand this kind of pain... Your words comforted me, held me up, and gave me strength during my deepest grief. In this painful time, your kindness reminded me that I'm not alone..

Sending love to everyone grieving a soulmate cat or dog, and THANK YOU for loving JJ with me..

As I am writing this I am filling out the adopting papers for a sweet little 15 year old cat, he spent his whole life as a stray and I'm wondering what to expect and more importantly what this little handsome man's name should be 🥰. I was made aware that his life will not last much longer but I wanted to give him all the best before he goes ❤️‍🩹

IT took 21yrs for you to leave me I just hoped form all the bad and the good u enjoyed every year you were with me

I've lost all of the 2005 pics since I've been lost tht phone but the oldest pic in my phone is 2015 when I started high-school so she's still a super senior by those standards I don't really remember the exact day I got her gifted to me but I was 5yrs old so I wasn't the best pet owner in my early years she ran way shortly after but 2weeks later she was under the porch crying and she never left my side since im ultimately destroyed im currently doing a gofundme to better my situation to take care of her but now im losing her instead im angry,sad,lost,and hopeless im deeply sorry I couldn't make you happy but I definitely tried my best with the little things I've had through out these years please forgive me when u finally pass( currently holding her) im not perfect im not right I'm just a 27yr old man with nothing and trying to make it all work im so srry

We met Miranda at a shelter in January of 2017 (she was approximately 4) after we had just moved in together. As soon as we came into the room I did a wall sit and she immediately ran over and sat on my lap—I’ve been her person ever since. She has lived in 4 places with us, survived a 1000 mile road trip/move, and been with us for so much of our relationship and life achievements. The last year we were having to give her insulin w/ every meal and she was slowly losing weight and had a lot of complications because of it. She was such a loving and sweet cat. My true soul cat.

EDIT: thank you everyone for your kind words. Miranda was a truly amazing soul and she will be missed.

Someone that someone knew had been feeding this cutie for a few months now. She wanted to bring him in so bad but had no space in her apartment for another cat, so she was looking around for someone that could. I've had on my bucket list to adopt an adult cat as well as taking an old cat off the streets, so I took the chance to cross both off.

He gave us a scare by disappearing for a few days before he'd be caught then showing up like this. We took him straight to the vet; he's with some kind of (hopefully treatable) respiratory issue, dehytrated, possesses a grand total of two teeth, as well as two balls, and there's no solid idea about his age. From there I took him home with a bunch of meds, and a couple more scheduled vet visits ahead.

A couple days later and he's doing much better, blood tests came out okay all things considered. Still a skinny boy but will devour wet food like a champ. He pays no heed to my other 4 cats that are very curious about the whole situation, and prefers to sleep most of the day, so I'm guessing he really is an old boy.

Her favourite hobbies are sleeping and demanding fuss!! Oh and eating 😋

Nine days ago I made a post to celebrate Noodle's 20th birthday, and now I'm posting to show her off one last time.

Things have gone downhill very quickly over the past nine days.

Today I made Ms. Spicy Thai Noodle her final vet appointment. Tomorrow night around 9:00, the doctor will come to my house, and Noodle will cross the rainbow bridge and on to her next adventure.

I'm not sure exactly why I'm making this post, because death posts always make me sad. I think I just want as many people as possible to know that she existed, and she was a huge part of my life in that she literally influenced multiple major life decisions and was my only friend through some really dark times. She's been my ride or die for 20 years, and I am completely heartbroken right now.

Love you, Noodle Doodle.

EDIT: Thank you to everyone for your wonderful comments on this post. Noodle passed away about three and a half hours ago, and she will live forever in each moment that she existed. Although I haven't replied, I have read every single comment, and I appreciate every one of them.

We had to Euthanize my sweet boy Elliot on Wednesday, as the tumor on his face began taking over and impacting his sight and breathing. I’ve had him most of my life (he just turned 19 a few months ago, I’ve had him since I was 7)
I feel so empty without him, but I know he’s in a better place free from pain 🪽

To those who have dealt with the loss of their soul pet, what helped you cope?

Update:
Thank you everyone for your kind words; it means so much to me for you all to see my special boy, he was so incredibly loved.
I’m having a private cremation and ordered a special urn for when he comes home, along with a paw print, nose print, and some of his fur. I’m a pet portrait artist, so I will be painting many portraits of him for a little shrine. It brings me peace to have a special place for him in my living room next to his favorite spot near the window ❤️☀️

My boy Jackson Henrik had a kidney stone that got lodged in his urethra. He was fine (stone was in his bladder) on Thursday but it made a move on Friday. He was crying out starting around 4:30am and walking and sitting funny. Called the vet at 9:30, got in at 2pm. They found the stone from X-ray and sent me to ER at 4:30. They told me the surgery would be between 3 and 5 thousand. I was going to do it- he was “only” 13. When they ran his blood through the normal tests, it was revealed that his diabetes was back, potassium level was way too high, his glucose was over 300, and at that point it hit me and I didn’t hear anything else the dr told me. The tears started forming. He was a sick boy. I called the wife to come up and at 6pm we said goodbye. We’ve had about 8 cats over the past 20 years but this guy was different. He was a gentleman. Jax Henrik, you will be greatly missed. 😩

5/31/26 Update: Wow… just, wow. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to console me, send well wishes, and share their own experiences. I never expected this post to reach so many people and I’m truly in awe. I’m trying my best to respond when I can, however, it’s been a struggle as I find myself crying mid-response more than half of the time. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you ❤️ Boots (aka Bootsie/Bub/Bubba/Bubbles) and I appreciate you all.

I knew one day our luck would run out. He started having some issues with constipation a few months ago. His intermittent vomiting was become more frequent. Lost a few pounds over a course of weeks. Appetite some days would be great, other days not so much. He’s always had GI issues and is stage 2 CKD, so I wasn’t too worried. Until the day he stopped coming upstairs with my husband and I. He spent 80% of his day in a basket in the kitchen, a place he’d practically ignored for years. A few days later, I noticed his abdomen was distended. I made an appointment with the vet, but they didn’t have availability until the 2nd week of June. I couldn’t wait that long, every possible scenario was playing in my head and none of it was good. Luckily, I work at the shelter next door and when I pushed they were able to get me in sooner.

Bloodwork looked great, better than it has in a while. But x-ray and a sample taken confirmed there was fluid. At the ultrasound appt the next day, they found two masses - one on his liver, one on his adrenal gland. Still, the doctor was surprised they would cause so much fluid accumulation. Diagnosis: carcinomatosis. They drained 900 mLs from his abdomen.

I knew something was wrong and deep down I knew it was cancer. I work in vet med and know too much, so I’ve have had anticipatory grief over the situation for months now. I’m glad to at least have an answer. For now, we’re taking it day-by-day. Week-by-week. He’s on meds to help keep him comfortable until the time comes. Even though I’m preparing myself, I’ll never be ready.

Chicken came to our home in February of 2025 at 13 years old. I found out about him through a message sent from, Friends of Companion Animals(Monroe, Michigan) to my work's(TV station) Slack channel. As soon as I read he had been in the shelter 3000 days, which is roughly 8 years, I said to myself, "This shall not stand!" I contacted the shelter. A couple emails, a phone call or two, and some filled out forms later, a pick up date and time were agreed upon. A couple days later our family went to pick up Chicken(he was going by Louis at the time) When we arrived it was explained to us that he had bonded with another cat. Her name was Cardamom. Well, in for a penny...

They both came home with us. Cardamom become Allie, which is short for Alfreda.

It took awhile for Chicken and Allie to become bold enough to wander upstairs to join the household, which includes three other cats and a dog, but they did. That's when we really got to know Chicken. Chicken absolutely loves my wife. He would cuddle with her while she sat in her chair. He would often sleep in our bed at night. However, he was jealous of our dog getting attention. He bullied her. In a picture you can see that he claimed the dog's bed as his own. It brought me great amusement, seeing this shelter hardened cat putting a much larger to him dog in her place. It gave me so much laughter. My wife was not always so entertained by it.

He was a total treat pig. Whenever I went in the kitchen he would materialize into the kitchen, push the other cats out of the way and demand treats. I always feed him first so he'd be busy eating when I doled out the other treats to the cats.

In May he took a decline in health. They feared it might be lymphoma in his intestines. Only a biopsy could confirm it. We felt that was to much for him to handle. In addition, it was very much an ordeal to get him to the vet. I assumed Chicken must of thought that leaving the house meant going back to the shelter. I didn't want to put him through that. He was in his forever home, and that is where he would stay. He was prescribed steroids. After a couple days he rebounded. He was back to his old self. Unfortunately, by late August he was showing signs of declining again. This week, it became apparent the rebound was over. He didn't want treats. He wasn't being affectionate to the point he didn't really enjoy being petted. We had to make that difficult decision.

I always remember that just last week, I fell asleep on the couch and awoke to find him snuggled up against my leg taking a nap with me.

Later today, a person will come to the house to help us say goodbye to Chicken. This ensures that Chicken never has to leave his forever home. He will always have a home for rest in our spacious backyard.

I made a special collar tag for him to always wear as he crosses the bridge.

UPDATE: Chicken passed peacefully in my arms that evening. I want to sincerely thank everyone that left an upvote, comment, award, and gold. I've tried to read every comment and give it an upvote. Your kind words have left me tears numerous times. I'm so happy Chicken received a little recognition in this world. Thank you!

Bailey was scheduled to be put to rest yesterday but we delayed it again. We are really torn about what to do. The biggest thing is that he is still eating, drinking, and being social with us. He still loves his treats. Still jumping up onto the couch. The bad thing is incontinence. He’s been peeing on a blanket we put on the couch instead of in the box. He isn’t pooping as much. And his belly looks big because of the mass in his stomach (pic #2) He is a bit lethargic compared to usual. I need help to know that putting him down is the right thing to do, in my opinion his quality of life hasn’t decreased to that level yet. We were thinking about setting the appt again for Wednesday, or should we do it tomorrow? This is one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make.

This is his current state, he is 14. I have had him since I was 6.

Over the last 2-3 weeks his health has progressively got worse each day it seems. Noticed his spine being boney but figured it was just him not eating enough, now last week started to develop a little eye infection it seems, but now everyday the right eye seems to get shut cuz of it and I have to clean it out so he can see again. Now it seems he has lost most power in his back legs + balance and now he’s really just skin and bones vs how he used to be :(

With that being said I think it’s time for him to go cause I can’t stand seeing him like this cause it really hurts me more than anything to see my first son go

(Update as of 1:50pm, he’s going to the vet at 2:30 within the next hour so we will have a verdict soon)

2:55, he is no longer with us. Took him to the vet and It was to late to even attempt to save him, he was actively dying. He had a BPM of 40. wish I saw sooner I feel so fucking bad that I didn’t notice it sooner. Hes gums were also pale so he was anemic. I feel so bad I didn’t do anything sooner . I appreciate all the comments and advice.

On Friday of last week, I said goodbye to my soulmate. He was born in Fall of 2011, adopted from the shelter in January 2012, and I got to spend 14 1/2 amazing years with him.
I adopted Hercules from the shelter when he was a couple months old. I was just a child myself at the time, too. We spent the past decade growing up together. He watched me go through middle school, high school, and college. He was with me through so many chapters of my life, my dearest little companion.
He wasn’t overtly affectionate, but he was sweet in his own way. He followed me around like my own little shadow and he always wanted to sit next to me (but never on me). Closed bedroom doors were highly offensive to him and he would meow until I opened up my door and let him in to my bedroom. He loved sitting on the patio in our backyard and basking in the sunlight. He was very opinionated and never hesitated to let his thoughts be known, especially when we had guests over — he let all of our guests know that he was merely tolerating their presence, and he would hiss and growl if they disturbed him.
He started slowing down a bit these past few years and developed mild arthritis, but otherwise, he was in great health for a senior kitty. Unfortunately, this past year, he had a bit of an accident. He tried jumping onto the bed like he always did, but missed, and landed on his leg weird. The joint never quite healed right and what started as a benign injury somehow ended up infected and turning septic. He hid this from us for literal months until his body couldn’t take it anymore, and we had to put him to sleep because it wasn’t something that could be cured.
I’m in my mid-20s now. I’ve spent more of my life with Hercules than I have without him. The house feels profoundly empty now.
Always give the kitties at the shelter a chance, especially the ones who are a bit shy and picky. Hercules was the best companion in the entire world.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for honoring his memory with me 🩷 I miss him so much.

Patches - thank you for the wonderful 16 years. Rest in peace my beautiful girl.

09/19/2010 - 08-23/2026

Hey all,

Lurker, first time posting here. I had to let my soul kitty, Windy, rest eternally yesterday.

I wanted to share our story because I want you to know that when the time comes, it’s going to be ok. This is gonna be a long one.

I got Windy 2/12/2010. She was my “Valentine’s Day present.” I still remember clearly going to pick her up and tucking her into my pea coat and under my flight attendant uniform. I was 19 years old, and she was my first baby. We had a very close relationship as she loved to cuddle- when she wanted to. When she demanded cuddles, you’d better buckle up cause cuddle sessions were always an hour long, full of purrs and nose bumps.

She was my Queen, and was the boss of the house. Two more kitties and a Rottweiler followed, and she made it known she was the alpha. The Rottweiler was scared of her his entire life 😂 she was not just a cat- hate to say it- like my other two. Windy was an old soul. When she looked at you, she looked into your soul. I had no doubt that she understood every word we peasants spoke to her. You could tell she had deep thoughts, interests and opinions. Literally- whereas my other two will “meep” and “merp,” Windy would never.

I first discovered a tumor on her chest about a year and a half ago. I freaked out and was a mess about it. My husband and therapist both convinced me to monitor her at her age- 15 by then. Not much could realistically be done, or afforded in terms of treatment. When I had to unexpectedly put my 10.5 year old Rottweiler down last summer, I spoke at length with the vet about her condition. He agreed that at her age, it was best to monitor her for any changes rather than attempt to treat the cancer. He said chemotherapy was expensive, hard to get, didn’t work well, and was potentially cruel to taking her in for so many visits and stressing her out. So, we continued to monitor her for any changes.

In late November she rapidly lost weight. I’ve been a wreck ever since, checking her breathing every time I walked by. I switched her to wet food with some supplements, which she hated her entire life, and she ate ravenously. She even put some weight back on and perked right back up! I went from humming and hawing daily about euthanasia to continuing to monitor and enjoy her. Then, on Christmas, I found blood on her bed. Just a drop, and we checked her, but didn’t see anything and she was acting the same, still purring and eating.

Last week, I came home and she was smelly. I instantly knew what it was and my stomach dropped. I took a baby wipe to her and sure enough, wiped pink. I knew then that it was time to let her rest. I made the appointment for in home euthanasia, but they couldn’t come out until the following Thursday. Knowing how much she hated the vet, I agreed to the appointment but knew I might have to take her in sooner.

Luckily, our last week together was wonderful. She acted totally the same, unbothered and unchanged. Up until her final moments, she was still my girl. And that was such a beautiful gift for me, to be able to put her to rest before she got sick, while she was still in full spirits. With the week to plan I ordered a bouquet of pink flowers, very much her. I put together a crate with a pillow and champagne velvet to take her to the crematorium in. No cardboard box for my girl. I ordered an urn from a potter painted with pink roses and had her name put in pink to match. I even called on our local church to come for some blessings before the euthanasia and scheduled an end of life photography session for that day.

Yesterday we cuddled and she ate as normal. I lit candles that seemed very “her,” turned on some calming music and gave her as many of her favorite snacks as she wanted. We had the photography session and she was very growl-y, which was unusual for her. It made me really realize how much pain she must’ve been hiding and it truly was her time to go. It helped me to not panic when the euthanasia van pulled up. The woman was kind and compassionate. I held Windy in my arms and sat in front of the fireplace and sang to her as she passed. It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful and perfect. I was not shattered as I always thought I’d be. We were both ready. It was a beautiful ending to our story together. I’m so, so thankful that she went the way that she did, and it was on our terms and just how I wanted it to be. I was scared for months- years even- that something emergent would happen and I would be panicked when the time came. But nope, it was wonderful. And as someone who would normally sob for days- I haven’t cried much since then. I think it’s because it was so peaceful and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful passing for my girl.

Please, don’t be afraid to make the call for your loved ones. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, she really was my first baby. My son even knew her as mama’s first baby 😂 I feel totally at peace with our goodbye and our beautiful life we had together. I’m so thankful for that.

Some of you may remember my posts about traveling with Cotton from California to Arizona last May. Cotton lived a very loved 23 years. 10 months of it here in her new home.

Unfortunately, today we had to say goodbye to her. She went peacefully and quickly. I was so lucky to get so much time with her. It still did not feel like enough, but I know I am lucky. She is at peace now after a long and beautiful life.

Give your babies an extra kiss from me and Cotton today. 💜

I received a lot of love on my post the other week for my old 18 year old, Boots. He was recently diagnosed with carcinomatosis, an advanced stage of cancer. I just wanted to give an update that he will be crossing the rainbow bridge tomorrow, June 13th, at 12:30 pm EST. Unfortunately, draining the fluid from his abdomen and starting steroids didn’t buy us as much time as I would have hoped. But I can tell he’s ready… I hope he forgives me for trying to medicate him, even though he hated it, in hopes that it would make him feel better. I hope he knows how much I love him. I selfishly wish I could keep him forever, but he is a shell of what he once was. He hasn’t wanted to snuggle in weeks and he stays in his bed unless he needs to use the litter box or drink water. He is not interested in anything he used to love to do. A part of me is relieved that he will no longer suffer from his failing body, the other part of me has taken on the suffering. I’m definitely not okay, but I know one day I will be… Until next time, my sweet boy ❤️

Let me tell you a little bit about my baby girl. She was sassy AF, she ran my house, my dogs, us, her partner cat (who crossed over 2 years ago) and was the best big sister to 2 kittens we got in December.

Last april she suffered a stroke. She had total paralysis of the right side of her body- as well as right sided visual and hearing impairment. She was not supposed to survive but everyday she recovered. She regained use of her front and back leg and adjusted to life with some blindness. The only thing that lingered was hyperesthesia - so if you petted her or brushed against her right side she got a little overstimulated and would growl. And obviously some daily maintainable medications (blood pressure, plavix)

She lived a super quality life until early April, I had gone away for a long weekend and my husband was left to give her, her medication and feed her. He called me a day or so in to tell me she was not eating. I told him to give her whatever she would eat and we would take her to the vet Monday. She had hyperthyroid, I had assumed her numbers were still a bit high (which we were working on adjusting over 2 months) which was resulting weight loss.

Our vet did an exam and did bloodwork and found some dental infection - because of her age we opted out of surgery and did antibiotics. She began to eat again… really well… especially by the end of the week.

But, Cali grew weaker, she was losing weight, she was getting more irritated/growly…We thought because she had lost muscle from not eating , her arthritis was giving her some issues - we started Adequan…. The next day I found her in her litterbox, eating mouthfuls, something wasn’t right. When I went to give her, her medication and clean her mouth out , her gums were white. She was anemic.

We went to our friend, who was also our longtime vet to get a second opinion. She immediately found the baseball sized mass in her abdomen. I called my husband and we immediately made her appointment to go to the bridge the next afternoon. We did not want her to suffer at all. We did not want her to have pain. We did not want her to stop eating. We did not want the mass to take every part of her life from her before making the decision…

By that night, she could barely make it a few steps, she was exhausted, she was in pain, she couldn’t hold her head up. We made her last night and day one we all enjoyed and will hold memories close. She was a SPOILT girl. And I’m so glad we got to do these things together before her journey.

I feel guilty because, while I’m so sad she is gone and I miss her so dearly. I am not grieving her in the way I thought I would. She was in so much discomfort that, seeing her that way KILLED ME and letting her go, came relief for us all.

Ive had him since the first month I left my parents house and now Im 36 and he's 14. I cant stop crying. I want to spend the night near him but he's been under the bed, which he would never go to. I'm going to have to bring him in alone and I never knew this would hurt this much

Long update to the post I made a 2 days ago.

A friend told me that I should ask Johnny if he was ready, so I did. On Wednesday night, I sat next to him and asked him if he was ready to go. He usually breathes noisily due to the growing mass in his throat (on top of kidney and megacolon issues). But for the first time in a long while, he calmed and quieten down. That’s when I knew.

I told him to give me just one more night and I’ll take care of him with dignity the next day. And he did just that. I checked on him many times that night, but I knew he couldn’t find a comfortable position to rest or sleep.

The next day he allowed me to tube feed him, brought his water bowl and canned liquid food to him so that he could eat/ drink independently, he even let me feed him his favourite churu treat by licking it off my finger. Of course his body couldn’t process any of these and he puked multiple times throughout the day.

That’s when I knew it was time let him get his final rest.

So on the night of 22 October, Johnny took his last car ride, got into his carrier one last time and went to his final vet appointment. They removed his feeding tube and cone and gave me and my family time to say goodbye. I knew Johnny tried to stay strong for us, he stood up while I gave him the last nose boop, head kisses and cuddles. Then he went to sleep.

To Johnny, thank you for 18 years of joy. Thank you for seeing me through my successes, failures, heartbreaks and everything in between. Thank you for trusting me and saving me. I hope I’ve done right by you and I was enough. I love you so much and I miss you even more.

Here are some of my favourite photos of him. Last pic is just before he went to sleep.

Edit: thank you everyone for all your kind words. This sub has really helped me during his last days. The past couple of nights were difficult, but reading your comments has helped. Also, my 6 yr old tuxedo cat has been a good distraction, she doesn’t seem to be very affected by the loss. Just cats being cats I guess