How do you prepare yourself to say goodbye?

[Fontainebleau007]

Feeling very emotional today. My cat is 17 and has gone down hill slightly the last few months due to arthritis but otherwise well in herself. Today was an emergency vet trip after there was blood in her urine. They want to do an ultrasound and blood tests and even mentioned the word "tumour"
I'm such a mess. I have had her since I was a teenager and couldn't imagine her not being here.
Even if she is ok for now, I know the end will be edging closer and closer anyway. How do you prepare for the loss? I can't even think about it without crying. I'll be devastated. I love her so much 😢

@SparklesandRainbows also sending you a handhold. And I will keeping all fingers crossed that your lovely girl responds well to the fluids overnight. I hope you manage to get some rest too xx

@Pudmyboy I really appreciate that thank you so much 😭🩷

@Daydreamer2017 thank you so much 🩷 I'll be thinking of her all night. Made sure I gave her plenty of kisses before they took her away. My heart is aching. They really are family 🩷

After 48 hours on fluids I got my girl home 🩷 still not out of the woods, she needs to have medication, more laxatives and a scan next week but she pulled through even though they thought she wouldn't 😭 she looks ten times better and I get her for a bit longer... she's not leaving my side. Already shouting for chicken at the fridge door 🥹 feeling emotionally drained but grateful for her. Little fighter surprised everyone. Taking it day by day at the moment. Here's a photo of my girl Xx

So glad you’ve got her home @SparklesandRainbows - lots of snuggles and as much chicken as she can eat tonight!

@CaveMum oh definitely she's had some, not a lot which is expected. She's exhausted bless her. Snuggled back up with me where we will both stay tonight on the sofa bed 🩷

So happy to read your post @SparklesandRainbows 🥰🥰

What a strong girl she is. Enjoy having her home and soak her up. I will keep all fingers crossed for you that she continues to improve x

@Daydreamer2017 thank you!! Feeling very grateful for you and everyone here. Honestly xx

Hi all, just wanted to thank you all for this thread.

My girl is 19 and out of the blue stopped eating last Wednesday, she was also vomiting and had diarrhoea although the d&v is not hugely unusual for her as she's always suffered with ibd, but never stopped eating before. Saw vet on Thursday he gave her steroid anti-inflammatory and anti-emetic jabs, she was very subdued but still drinking water, took her back this morning and they've given her more anti-emetic and an appetite stimulant which seems to have done the trick as she's been eating tiny amounts of food this afternoon mostly just licking the gravy tho tbh. Got to call them in the morning to update and potentially pickup more appetite stimulants, so we'll see.

Anyway, I was reading through all the stories on here and found it very helpful, so many thanks to all of you, and of course so sorry for your losses

We lost my dog after 14 years. He’d been my shadow. In the last year or sonhed gone quite blind, deaf and definitely senile. But one Friday he started fitting. We got him to the vets and they game him diazepam and anti fit tablets. He never really came back tho. He was clearly distressed. After 14 years of loyalty and devotion I had to do what was right for him. I stayed with him, he was on my lap, the place where he loved to be and then we brought him home.

we deal with it because it’s not about us, it’s about them. They’ve given us everything they had and, at the end, we have to give back.

@iknowimcoming aw bless her heart, how worrying 🥺 how is she doing? X

@LoveSandbanks so sorry for your loss how devastating 😢 🌈 🐾 x

@SparklesandRainbows - bizarrely she's made a very dramatic recovery, back to normal in every way and eating way more than she has for years, I'm not really sure what to make of it tbh! I'm really hoping it's not that thing that humans do sometimes when they suddenly rally and then go rapidly downhill again? But I'm not aware that's a thing with cats

@iknowimcoming aw that's good then! Hopefully she stays well fingers crossed 🤞🏼 🥰x

Update for everyone here 💞 she was doing really well, her check up yesterday was good she's put on weight, been her usual self until she had her Solensia injection. Two hours later she lost use of her legs and I was on the phone to the emergency vet who was out on a call. She started walking again at 11pm but today isn't eating or drinking so we're taking her back in this afternoon. They reckon it was a side effect but she really isn't herself today.