I had to put my beloved cat to sleep 😢

[Anna0221]

I had to put my baby to sleep 2 days ago and I’m not coping very well. It all happened pretty suddenly an unexpectedly. He was 12 and in good health until a couple of weeks ago when we noticed his breathing became laboured. We took him to the Vets and they diagnosed fluid on the lungs due to suspected cancer. They drained it and he was almost back to himself for a few days until it happened again and the vet recommended we PTS. I miss him so much, expecting to see him in his fav spots and then remembering he isnt here anymore 😭😭anyone been through this and has any coping tips? I also have a lot of guilt as Ive been on maternity leave for the past year and the baby stuff just took over. I went from spoiling him rotten before the pregnancy to ignoring him and even getting impatient with him most of the time in the past year 😭

Thank you all for your comforting words. I found this today which made me feel a little bit better so sharing it in case it helps anyone else thecatsite.com/threads/when-the-moment-comes.237066/

[quote Anna0221]Thank you all for your comforting words. I found this today which made me feel a little bit better so sharing it in case it helps anyone else thecatsite.com/threads/when-the-moment-comes.237066/[/quote]
This is so true and comforting, Anna - thank you for sharing it. I'm so sorry you've lost your beloved cat. Until you've had a cat become part of your family, it can be hard to understand. But we share our lives with them.

We had to have our cat PTS yesterday, so your post is timely for me. Although I know, logically, we made the right decision and it was the kindest thing to do, there's still a part of me that wonders if we should have waited longer or tried harder to keep him (he had heart problems and was getting really distressed and frightened about taking his meds, so it became impossible to keep him stable).

My oldest son (22) has just come in and said he misses him and the house feels all wrong. He said we must now cherish our remaining cat (who is relishing the extra attention).

@Anna0221 dcat was 13 bless him. He was a ragdoll cat. He was very vocal shall we say haha. He started meowing constantly his head off about 3 years ago when ddog died. We took him to the vets when he started that to make sure nothing was physically wrong (it wasn't) and well he carried on with his meowing right till the Wednesday when we knew something was wrong.

He was a very tolerant patient cat especially with the dog we have now.

He was food obsessed bless him and was always in the front row along with the dog whenever anyone was eating and ofc at his own mealtimes.

I remember going to meet him and his sister for the first time. We were sat on the floor and he was climbing all over us, eating our hair and climbing down our tops. Bless him

The house feels very very empty and strange without his presence. We've still got his sister but she she seems to be coping OK.

Ps Ian was beautiful and I love his name. ❤️

@Toffeewhirl, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re going through this as well 😢 May your lovely cat rest in peace 🕯🐾 I’ve had similar thoughts so can sympathise. Ian was still moving around, eating a tiny bit of food and didn’t seem too distressed. His breathing was getting really bad though and he hated having pills shoved down his throat. Everyone keeps telling me that better a day too early than a day too late and I do find some comfort in that so I hope you can too. I still expect to see him when I come home every day, it’s so awful 😢

@Bringmefood, Ian was also a Ragdoll! It’s such an amazing breed isn’t it. My other cat is a Savannah so I’m missing having a fuzzy polar bear cat to stroke 🥺the vet gave me some of his fur in a little bag which I keep touching 😓 your cat sounds so lovely and cheeky, I’m not surprised the house seems empty, it’s exactly the same here. I hope you’re coping ok and can find some comfort in memories you have of him. My other cat seems to be coping ok too, I’m trying to distract him with lots and lots of treats 😉 I showed my 1 year old a video of Ian this morning and she was stroking the screen 🥺🥺she loved him so much, always shrieked with excitement when she saw him first thing in the morning 🥰

I went through this last year and it was awful. I think the responsible thing to do with a dying animal is to give them a humane death and that’s what you’ve done. My cat gave me a pleading look as if to say "help me" and I did and she was in good hands at our lovely vet practice. I miss her, though, even after adopting a gorgeous rescue who we love just as much. X

@Kittyshopping, so sorry about your cat but I’m glad she had such a peaceful death 🤍 Ian did the same actually, he came to where I was sitting on the floor that morning and looked at me as if saying ‘help me’-that’s exactly how I described it to someone the other day! I called the vet there and then. They must know when it’s time. Having another cat definitely helps to fill the void somewhat but as you say, it won’t stop us missing the pets we’ve lost unfortunately.

So sorry for your loss. He was beautiful.

Thank you @EatYourFive! 🤍

[quote Anna0221]@Toffeewhirl, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re going through this as well 😢 May your lovely cat rest in peace 🕯🐾 I’ve had similar thoughts so can sympathise. Ian was still moving around, eating a tiny bit of food and didn’t seem too distressed. His breathing was getting really bad though and he hated having pills shoved down his throat. Everyone keeps telling me that better a day too early than a day too late and I do find some comfort in that so I hope you can too. I still expect to see him when I come home every day, it’s so awful 😢[/quote]
Thanks @Anna0221. That saying, "Better a day too early than a day too late" brings some comfort and I'm sure it's true. I know that my cat's natural death would have been horrible for him (fluid on the lungs), so remind myself that I gave him a peaceful death instead.

I haven't quite managed to wash up the last bowl he ate from. Was going to do it today, but my older son asked me not to. And he's usually Mr Cynical.

@Toffeewhirl, Ian also had fluid on the lungs and laboured breathing. Poor kitties 🥺Your son sounds lovely and your cat lucky to have such loving family. I haven’t touched any of his things just yet apart from the things that my other cat uses. I don’t even want to wash the jumper I wore the night he was PTS as it has his hair on it 🙈every day there is less and less of his hair in the flat and that makes me sad whereas I used to hate cleaning it all the time! X