18 years.Follow

I'm not sure exactly how old my cat was. But he was right around 18. He hadn't been doing the greatest the past 6 months. And in early January he had surgery to remove part of his Thyroids. Some small part of them that had growths.

One month after the surgery he had gained some of his weight back, seemed to be eating better, had calmed down and wasn't getting into every piece of food and garbage can in the house.

Then the Friday before I came home, my brother said he stopped eating his food. So when I got home I tried a few things. And after a couple days of different foods, he seemed to go back to eating his old food too, if not very much. Around Sunday he stopped eating anything, and I made an appointment for him to see the Vet on Thursday. I didn't expect him to have any good news, and was prepared to have to put him down. Today I came home and he had passed while I was at work.

I guess 18 years is a good run for a cat. He lived about 11 of those outside (at least, at nights and some of the days, even if he just sat out in the yard during the day).

While I am sad, I thought I would be sadder. I guess my biggest disappointment was him not getting put down by the vet before dying on his own.

Edited, Apr 12th 2014 8:57pm by TirithRR

I'm really, really sorry Tirith. I had to have one of my dogs put down not too long ago and it was not at all pleasant. I could not let the vet do it while I waited outside, I had to be there for the little guy (my daughter's name for him). I also had a dog pass while at the vet under similar circumstances as your cat - I left him because I suspected something and the vet called me less than an hour later to tell me she passed.

Neither way is easy, but having to be there for Brutus was a lot rougher on me, so maybe it was all for the better that your cat passed on his own (you didn't tell us his name). Better for him to go naturally and better for you.

My cats are 5 days away from being 1 year old, I really hope I'll have them with me for another 17 years.

So sorry for your loss. I've had my elder cat Sebastian since 1996. He's slowing down and has kidney issues, but is still active. It's going to be traumatic when he shuffles off. That cat and I have been through a lot of crap together.

RIP Tirith's cat friend.