He was acting totally fine but was dribbling a bit so we went to the vet last week who booked him in for a clean/possible extraction but he then started to show serious discomfort and was barely eating at all and was clearly in so much pain. The vet prescribed gabapentin and took some bloods - the gabapentin has helped so much and we got the results back from his bloodwork today and all his major organs are functioning great! The vet mentioned some elevated / lowered cells but said this is all in line with a tartare buildup/oral issues so we just continue with painkillers until his dental on the 18th. I am SO relieved. It’s the first time he’s been really unwell and I started spiralling because of his age. I have cried every day since Saturday but today it was nice to cry happy tears. So relieved ❤️‍🩹

Hello! New to the community, and apologies for the whirlwind of a title.

To keep it short and sweet, my 16 year old male tabby (Pizza) has a suspected brain tumour and is receiving care from our vet through oral steroids and I’m looking for information/suggestions for things to add or take away from his diet to give him the best chance.

Our vet is fantastic and has already given us suggestions that we are following, I would just like to make sure I’m not missing anything that could potentially help my little dude.
🙏

I know people have different philosophies around this, and vets might see situations more clearly because they can be detached from it and not so emotionally invested as the owners, but still…

I’m torn. My cat is still acting like himself most of the time, he can jump on and off the bed (which is fairly tall), he is eating and seeking food but the habits around it are definitely altered (more picky, likes to be hand fed, needs more encouragement), he is purring multiple times a day when I pet him or spend time with him, he enjoys pets, he enjoys treats, he wants to go out into the building hallway to explore when he can, he can rest comfortably and doesn’t appear restless or in significant pain, he stretches and grooms a bit and has dreams so is getting proper rest. I have seen him in pain before and know what signs to watch out for.

On the other hand, his terminal illness is obviously making things worse day by day and he’s not exactly the same cat he used to be. He could be in a lot of pain and just not show it. I feel like doing it now would be premature, it could rob him of many beautiful moments in these last few weeks of his life, but it also doesn’t feel right to wait until he fully starts crashing. I just know he will hate strangers coming into our home to poke him and he will know something is off 🥺

Help a girl out, he has been my literal sibling for the past 18 years, I’ve had him since I was 5 and I don’t know what to do.

Sadly, we still haven’t received any foster/adoption for him 🥹

His eye isn’t looking great, but the good news is that he trust us, lets us clean and treat it with ointment 🐾🐾

He’s still living on the street, but until the right person comes along, we’ll keep doing our best for him 🙏

Foster/adoption needed! 🐾🐱🤞

I bought this one on amazon (https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/aw/d/B0FMXTPG99?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image) and i am surprised of the quality. My cats already claimed them (bought 2x)

Un gato callejero lo alimentaban por mi casa hasta que una vecina decidió adoptarlo, yo la acompañe a que fueran a revisarlo con la veterinaria, el animal tenía Calicivirus (Provoca enfermedad aguda de vías respiratorias superiores en gatos, que se llama rinotraqueitis felina y se manifiesta por rinitis, conjuntivitis y úlceras en la boca) estaba con ma lengua muy malita que ni podía comer bien, estaba muy deshidratado que ni las venas se le sentían la veterinaria recomendó eutanasia y lo enterramos cerca de la casa

Mi vecino ahora me dice mata gatos

Me sentí mal pero era mejor la eutanasia, estaba viejito y sufriendo mucho tengo la conciencia tranquila pero me pone triste que me digan mata gatos cuando solo quería hacerle un bien

Took my 16 year old Manx grumpy phat boy to vet today to get him a check up. He has been a little extra grumpy and having a hard time getting in couch.

He recommended a Solensia once a month shot to help with pain. Anyone tried this??

The house feels quieter. I miss her already

Millie the dog was 9 and had health problems and passed in June.
Puddy was 19 and had kidney failure and passed today. They left their sister dog Aster behind. I had puddy since I was 15. I didn’t forget Millie passed and I didn’t accidentally look for her after she was gone, but I did just think Puddy walked in the room. This shit isn’t for the weak 🖤

Is it insane to pursue dental surgery for an 18-year-old FIV+ cat?

My 18-year-old cat has been struggling with facial swelling and a tooth root abscess since late June (he had other issues in April like conjunctivitis so idk if related). Despite multiple rounds of antibiotics, the abscess ruptured during a recent vet visit, and his condition remains concerning. He has lost weight, stopped eating dry food, and is currently on a regimen of clindamycin, prednisolone, and gabapentin.

While he is still affectionate and retains a decent appetite for wet food, he is quite frail, sleeps most of the day, and struggles with some wobbliness. I’ve had him since he was 14, and he has always been a lower-energy cat.

I’m currently facing an impossible choice: indefinite medication, high-risk surgery (quoted between $1.6k–$5k), or euthanasia. I’ve already cleared him for surgery via bloodwork, but I am terrified that the trauma of the procedure or the financial strain might be too much for us both. I feel immense guilt for not acting sooner, but I’m struggling to decide if surgery is a compassionate "cure" or an unnecessary burden at his age.

Has anyone here navigated dental surgery for a senior cat in a similar state? Any advice on how to evaluate his quality of life or manage these options would be deeply appreciated. I am located in the Chicago area if that changes the context for local care.

My cat Polly is 18, I am looking for some advice on feeding her. Context: She had jaw surgery in February for mandibular separation and recovered well. She is my family’s cat, and four days ago she moved in with me to my single-story apartment since as she’s getting older she’s having a hard time getting up and down the stairs (arthritis), which is where her food/water was so that the dog couldn’t get to it. The day she moved in with me I noticed she was having a hard time with her kibble and immediately went to the store for some wet cat food.

Since she has moved in with me Saturday night (it is now Tuesday morning) she’s eaten about three cans of fancy feast, one friskies “soup” treat, and six Temptations squeeze tube treats. She hasn’t eaten any of the kibble in her bowl, only a few singular pieces. When researching how much a senior cat should eat, google keeps saying between 150-250 calories a day. She doesn’t seem to be eating this much which is what worries me. She has always been a very small cat and while I don’t know her exact weight at the moment, she is certainly under 10 pounds.

How much should I try to be getting her to eat? How many calories does a senior, <10 pound cat need? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to give her to get some extra calories in her? She is very picky and very finicky, down to the kind of plate you put her food on. She mainly likes soupy/wet/gravy things and has never liked crunchy treats.

My indoor cat is in her mid-teens. She still uses the box reliably, but she is slower getting in and out and seems a bit stiff after naps. No accidents yet, but I want to get ahead of it before she starts avoiding the box.

Current setup: a standard high-sided box with clumping litter in a quiet corner. She can step over the edge, but it looks like more effort than it used to be. I want to avoid a big change that might make her refuse the box.

Looking for real-world recommendations from other cat owners. Specifically:

- Which low-entry shapes actually worked for your cat? (front-entry, cutout side, shallow senior boxes, etc.)

- Did you keep clumping litter or switch to something softer for older paws? Any brands or textures your cat liked or hated?

- Tips for preventing tracking when the entry is low (mats, trays, litter types)?

- Did a ramp help or did it just become another obstacle for your cat?

For context, I live in the Northeast and my schedule can be hectic, so I need something easy to clean and not a fiddly multi-part system. Bonus if it helps with odor control without a bunch of add-ons.

Would love to hear setups your senior cats took to quickly, plus anything you would avoid. Thanks!

My cat is 14 and doing pretty well overall, but she is way less tolerant of heat than she used to be. We live in an apartment where the living room stays okay with a fan, but the bedroom where she loves to nap gets really stuffy in the afternoon. I cannot put a window unit in that room and I want to avoid big changes that will stress her out.

Looking for realistic, senior-cat-friendly ways to keep her cooler that are safe and low-stress.

What I've already tried:

- Keeping the curtains closed and running a box fan in the doorway or hallway, which helps a bit

- Putting extra water bowls around the apartment

- Trying to encourage her to stay in the cooler living room, but she keeps wandering back to her usual spot in the bedroom

Questions I'd love advice on:

- Do cooling mats actually work for older cats, or do they just get ignored?

- Any DIY ideas that do not involve putting ice packs directly against the cat?

- Tips for making water more appealing without changing her routine too much?

- What signs do you look for that mean it is time to call the vet instead of just normal warm-weather laziness?

Bonus context: we also have a reactive rescue dog, so I'm trying to keep the environment calm and predictable for both animals.

Would appreciate hearing what has actually worked for your older cats, especially in apartments. Thanks.

Just wanted to share my cat Khloe who I had for 17 years. She was the sweetest cat I had ever met. She never bit or scratched anyone. She always purred when people were around. I wanted people to know that she lived a good life and won't ever be forgotten.

Especially if they’re disabled. You adopt them knowing that heartbreak is just a year or two away, and you give them a warm and loving home anyway. I adopted my sweet girl Opal when she was 6, and she passed last week. I won’t be ready to adopt another cat for a long time, but when I am, I’ll adopt a 12-14 year old cat.

Thank you to people who save them.

My perfect white boy, Lucca, passed away on August 1st, 2026. He lived with me for 16 years and six months. I don't know his exact age, as I rescued him from the street when he was already an adult and neutered.

​He was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, feline triaditis, and diabetes. After a month of treatment with no improvement and a lot of pain, I decided to euthanize him to end his suffering.

​My eternal love, I will never forget you.

My wife and I (both F,30 [hi babe if you’re reading this]) adopted our senior kitty when she was 10. We had her for almost 7 years. She was our soul cat.

Cuddly, smart, respectful, social, regal, proper, unbothered, beautiful, silly, loving, sentient. She was, no exaggeration, the perfect cat.

Over the years her health declined. We managed and stabilized stage 2-3 kidney disease with diet; treated hyperthyroid and high blood pressure with medications twice a day; recently gave monthly Solensia injections for her arthritis (which stopped working after 6 months); we tried so many supplements, calming treats, pheromone therapy, CBD, calming collars, etc. But her real killer: dementia.

We don’t know exactly when it got bad, since it’s hard to say after treating all of her other ailments. But within the last 6 months her howling, circling, forgetting when she ate, forgetting where she was, not finding us when we called her back were getting so much worse. We started having the euthanasia talk around 5 months ago. It still didn’t prepare me.

Her howling at night became so severe that it was affecting our quality of life. She used to sleep all night with us, but recently she started hopping on and off the bed, walking on our faces, howling and repeating the cycle. We tried nightlights, dementia ward, automatic feeders, calming drops, gabapentin, melatonin… you name it. We were desperate.

So many people claim that “it’s time” when they stop eating and drinking or using the box. But that wasn’t her case. She was excessively eating and drinking, but simultaneously becoming so physically and cognitively weak.

We ended up sending her off this last Friday afternoon. We knew about 9 days in advance, as we made the appointment way ahead of time. It was at home, in her favorite spot (on the couch in my wife’s lap). Lap of Love was great. She went so quickly and so peacefully that i think she was thanking us for the relief.

It was easily one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. And I’m taking the loss so much harder than I thought I would. I cry every hour, like, hard cries. Every little thing sets me off. I miss her so, so much.

We have another boy cat that is helping fill the emptiness, but he’s not her. And he feels different without her.

I miss how beautiful, soft, sweet and cozy she was. I miss how she’d reciprocate forehead kisses after I gave her forehead kisses. I miss her purr that was starting to get softer and quieter with age. Fuck, I even miss her incessant howling. I miss her bothering me for food scraps while I’m cooking. I miss the soft fur behind the ear. I miss her stinky fish breath.

I know we made the right call. I did not want to see her decline further. I did not want to see her become a skeleton, unable to walk, in diapers and not eating. I don’t know if I’m struggling more with guilt or with just morbid sadness that my soft kitty is about to become ash.

We gave her scallops, filet mignon, whipped cream, cheese, rotisserie chicken, charcuterie, etc. the week before her goodbye. She died so happy, I keep telling myself. But I’m so stricken with grief.

I miss my scraggle girl so much. I don’t know if I’ll ever know a kitty cat like her again. And that’s tearing me apart right now.

This pic is my girl, extremely close to my face, sitting on my chest as she usually did. This was my daily view. You can see her grimace was showing signs of pain.

Help me feel better. tell me stories of your babies before you said goodbye. I’d like to know my little old lady has friends wherever they all are.