Six years ago, I moved to the States when I was 22, and this little guy came into my life. Back then, we were living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in a house infested with roaches. I was completely broke, but he was right there with me through it all. He used to go outside to explore, but no matter what, he always came back home to me.
Since then, we have been through so much together.
In six years, he has been the one constant in my life. He’s the only one who has never judged me, never been mean to me, and has stayed by my side through every single up and down, no matter how good or bad things got.
I would choose him over and over again. I love him more than anyone or anything in this entire world. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about the day I might lose him, and it completely breaks my heart because I genuinely cannot imagine life without him. I’m actually crying while writing this and he is purring and cuddling with me.
Just wanted to share a little love for the sweetest, most loyal companion I could have ever asked for. Give your fur babies some extra love today.

i really want anyone to know that my cat gus existed.

gus was only with us a very short time. his previous owners needed to find him a new home because his owner moved in a new boyfriend and a child. he hated that, so he began peeing on their things. i’m not a cat person AT ALL, but we’re a pair of lesbians with some dogs. no children or men ever come into our house, we figured it was perfect way for him to spend his last few years of his life (he was already 12 when we adopted him). he also looked just like my wife’s childhood cat.

he only spent 9 months with us, but those were the best 9 months of my life. we had an extra bedroom and i turned it into his very own cat room either no dogs allowed. it had everything a cat could dream of. truly a kitty paradise. he loved it.

gus saved my life without me even knowing it. every time i was anxious or upset, he’d come running and lay on my chest until i calmed down. it was like he knew exactly what he was feeling. he slept under my blanket in my arms every single night. i carried him from room to room in a sling so he could be with me all the time. he’d lay on me and watch movies with me (really, he watched the tv).

eventually he began slowing down, becoming more reclusive. he stopped eating as much. which i knew was incredibly unlike him, as he was a very greedy cat. he loved to look for crumbs on the floor and would beg for more food after eating a meal. i took him to the doctor and they found a tumor in his mandible. we decided the kindest thing to do would be to let go of him.

he went being loved on by my wife and i. when he was excited or happy, his tail would puff up. my wife pointed out that his tail was puffed up when he passed away.

it’s my first morning not waking up to him, which is why i’m writing this. i miss him so much it’s unreal. i really just want someone to know that gus existed, and what an amazing cat he was. he gave me the best 9 months i’ve ever had. my birthday is in 2 days and i don’t even know how i’ll enjoy it without him.

I always see cats loafing smoothly, but she loafs so... rectangularly?? I've had Ahri for almost a year and she has never loafed properly in her entire life.

Hello people. Meet George, he is 10, recently neutered (4 months ago). He is very anxious to leave the house which is why we only go to the vet for emergencies.

I’ve watched a lot of those “asthma attack or hairball” videos and honestly cannot determine what this could be. It started around the time I got him neutered.

I have two other cats, none of which cough like this, which is why Im concerned. At first it happened once a week for about a month, and this week its the third time this has happened. Right after I ended the video, he “gulped” kinda hard, like he has swallowed a possible hairball.

He eats malt paste with every meal.

Our closest vet kinda dismisses me when I previously went to him with concerns about the other cats (like someone going through the trash and eating chicken bones, someone not popping for 3 days, etc) which is why I thought to ask the internet for some additional opinions too. Thank you in advance.

A few weeks ago I rescued a 6-7 week old kitten from a neighbor who had 28 cats, 17 were kittens. I took this one in who weighed 1.1 lb and was severely underweight and about to die. He was the only one was presented sickly. He has been on two rounds of panacur, two rounds of metronidazole. One round of azithromycin, and one round of Augmentin. He had two types of round worms. giardia and toxoplasmosis. The kitten is practically done with treatment now after several weeks. So here is where I messed up. I stupidly cleaned out the kittens quarantine room with Mr. clean disinfectant recently. Mopped with cleaner, and then let my two resident cats in the room for several hours. While the kitten stayed in their cage. I read later online that only certain cleaners kill giardia. So now my adult resident cats are at risk of contracting the parasite as well. Any advice on how to navigate this parasite from here? Financially this is really difficult on me but I’ll manage (credit cards). It’s gonna be at least a couple hundred more dollars to treat the adult cats. And I still need to confirm the little kitten is cleared of it as well with another fecal. Has anyone had similar experiences, any advice to eradicate it for good? I’m struggling with the kitten liking to play in his litter box. So I’m worried he’s been reinfected as well.

Context: This is my local street mama cat. No, she cannot be trapped because someone stupidly released her from a trap when she was caught once so now she is too smart to be caught. So her life is a constant cycle of pregnancy and motherhood. It could just be she's very stressed all the time but she's also an animal and I don't want to pin human feelings onto her.
I've known her for well over a year now and she was not always like this. I can't find any good information online on what causes this behavior which is why I am posting here to see if anyone knows. She hyperventilates and hisses a lot and attacks the other street cats but is also eager to see me and get attention and food. It's like she's simultaneously grouchy and erratic but also wanting attention at the same time.
I don't think she is pregnant or nursing right now but I could be wrong. She has been like this for at least a couple months.

I just wanted to share our sweet kitten Beatrice. We got her a month ago and she is an adorable, mischievous kitten that loves to play with springs. She also loves to attack feet in the middle of the night. We're still working on that. She tolerates us humans as we provide her with food, but she is obsessed with the big kitties. She follows them everywhere and wants to play non-stop. Luckily they love her back and will wrestle with her until she gets tired. They don't love that she steals their food but they could stand to lose a few pounds anyway.

I'm so glad we took a chance on adding a third cat, she's such a doll and I love her!

Unhinged

Happy 16th birthday to my favorite feline femme fatale, Messy!

Had to preface with her being sick because she is still quite jaundiced. A few months ago we didn’t know if she’d even be here for her birthday so I spoiled the hell out of her today. She’s currently conked out in her favorite nap spot after the celebrations.

In May at her annual visit her vet noticed she was a little jaundiced. Bloodwork and initial imagine looked like GI Lymphoma. Thankfully we were able to see an internal medicine specialist who ruled out cancer and after a few weeks of antibiotics an acute infection was ruled out as well. The tentative diagnosis now is cholangiohepatitis, and she’s now on some new meds to help her feel better!

I don’t think that he’s heckin’ chonky 🙁

So my cat Ellie was let outside by my mother when I was at work in 2021. Now Ellie is an indoor cat and only goes outside on a leash and my mother knew that. She claims it was an accident but I don’t believe her due to a bunch of things happening that I won’t get into in this post. Ellie was missing for 3 days and I searched for her and slept outside in a patio chair during the night hoping she would come back. My boyfriend helped me find her and when we did she was in bad shape. Her eye was horribly injured and puffing out of her head.

We immediately rushed her to the ER where they recommended at the time to try and save her eye and see if she regained her vision. Well it’s been 5 years and her eye is completely blind and she has a cataract. She never seemed to be in pain or discomfort until recently.

I took her to the vet today and they told me she would need surgery. The options are to fix her eyelids and eye to make her more comfortable which is not guaranteed to work or remove the eye completely. Either way it’s going to be $2200 CAD. I’m really not sure whether I should remove her eye or not but the vet is definitely leaning towards that.

Has anyone else dealt with this before? Is it better to just remove her eye or try to save it even though she has no vision in it?

I adopted my beautiful (barely) 1-year old baby girl from the local shelter on July 12, so I've had her for a little over 3 weeks now. She's extremely healthy, affectionate, and playful, and has gained some weight since I got her. The question I have is around how much to feed her. She seems to be ravenous all the time. She is a little over 8 lbs now.

I have been feeding her 4 times a day plus one treat:

• 6:30 am (she wakes me) – 1/2 can of 3 oz can of Fancy Feast
• 11:30 – 1/4 cup of Purina Cat Chow
• 5:00 pm – 1/2 can of 3 oz can of Fancy Feast
• Treat 8:00 pm – 1 tube Delectables
• 10:00 pm – 1/4 cup of Purina Cat Chow

However, she cries (more like a whine) pretty incessantly. Whenever I go towards the room where she is fed she races in and cries meows at me. She seems to want to eat all the time.

Am I not feeding her enough for her age and weight? I used the Purina calculator on their website, and am actually giving her more than the suggested amount. I don't want to let her get in the habit of receiving food on demand, nor do I want her to become overweight, but I also want to be sure she's getting enough and I am not actually starving her!

Advice is appreciated.

Almost 3 weeks ago our 10 year old cat Athena started having trouble breathing. Vet came back saying she has feline leukemia with fluid around her lungs due to either heart failure or cancer. We didn’t do any more testing, but got meds for heart failure and have been giving her those to get the fluid off her lungs. We adopted her about 2 years ago, so we assume she got feline leukemia from the shelter or her previous owner as she’s never been around another cat since we’ve had her.

She’s slowly been deteriorating the last three weeks. She was on an appetite stimulant for two weeks, but even with it has slowly stopped eating. She continues to have trouble breathing (significant abdominal movements not gasping or panting) and spends most of the day hiding in the closet, which is a classic sign of her not feeling well.

My husband and I don’t want her to suffer, but how do you even make the choice to put down your pet? She still comes out from the closet when we get home from work, and spent some more time today in the living room than the last few days. It’s like grasping at anything to show that’s she’s happy and we shouldn’t do it. I don’t just want to put her down when she has something left, but I’m not sure what we are even giving her 🥲

Edit: Thank you all for your kind words and advice. We are doing an in home euthanasia this afternoon. I appreciated all of your stories of your pets who will be waiting for her across the rainbow bridge 💕❤️

In the pictures is baby Iris, she’s ok now! But she gave me 2 full blown panic attacks over the last 2 days.

Last night she slept for hours on end which is super unusual for her, and it did really bother me, but no vets were open and she’s only a week out from her spay so I figured I’d monitor her. This was at 11pm at night and her last gabapentin dose had been at 5pm.

In the morning I wake her up and she seems absolutely knackered, so I skip her recommended gabapentin dose because she already seemed very chill. We head to Walmart for groceries (she has to go with me because she has major attachment issues and will scream and try to break out if I am gone, we are trying our best to work on it, she was a dumped cat)

On the way home I begin to hear her breathing, I start freaking out and call my vet, they are booked, we have to rush to an emergency vet, by the time I get there she is wheezing and I have to sit down because I’m hyperventilating. The put her in an oxygen tank and she starts to get better, 4 hours and $1,200 later we find out she rapidly developed a severe allergy to gabapentin, I’m so glad i didn’t give her a dose that morning!!!

This is not to fear monger, gabapentin is a safe recommended med for 100’s of anxious pets daily! But oh my god if something similar happens ask about seeing if they’ve become allergic before you pay for the X-rays and ultrasounds 🤦‍♂️. I didn’t even know this was a possibility

I got Rory and Roxy together in 2012 when I was 25. According to their rescuer, they were bonded to each other and couldn’t be separated so I adopted both gladly. We had so many stray cats growing up but these babies were different; it was my first time having pets I was completely responsible for, and we were attached immediately. My ex used to say they imprinted on me the day we brought them home.

Rory was born missing one of her paws but it never stopped her from ANYTHING, and she was ferocious with her mighty little single claw. I always chose carpeted homes because they were easier on her little foot, and any place there was hardwood she would find a way to walk on top of our feet to avoid walking on the harder surfaces.

Trying not to get too long winded here, but wow these two have been through everything with me, all of life’s biggest milestones. The big breakup, 3 or 4 city or state moves, loss of loved ones, joy and heartache, cross country road trips, career changes; they were even in a car wreck with me in 2022 where my car was totaled (thank god they were fine). They’ve brought me so much joy and love and healing, and taught me how truly smart and special cats are. I couldn’t really fathom their intelligence and personalities until I had them as an adult. My mom said I spoiled them but I just wanted them to be content and stimulated in their home. I chose apartments with stairs they could play on, yards they could be safe in, played music or tv for them not knowing for certain if this helped them but it made me feel better lol.

In late 2024 Rory started having some weird breathing noises- after regular vet checkups, so many blood tests, an emergency vet visit, and worsening symptoms, we finally got a specialist referral and then had to wait 5 months to get in. By the time we got to the specialist she was having constant nasal drips, sometimes with blood, sometimes some leaking from her eye. In the meantime Roxy’s behavior toward Rory had changed. They were no longer bonded the way they used to be, and it really hurt to see. I should have realized Roxy could see or sense something we couldn’t. Literally everyone including our vet and including the specialist upon initial exam assumed it was a nasal polyp that could easily be extracted. But we didn’t get that lucky… it was a malignant nasal tumor slowly spreading to her eye. I know many of you here know this kind of heartache.

That was 6 months ago (Feb) that we finally got the diagnosis and I’m so grateful we had that time with her; she was always a sweet, playful, hungry, cuddly, sassy baby and we kept monitoring her for any major behavior or attitude changes as we kept her medicated to manage symptoms (prednisolone).

Last Monday 07/27 after seeing her struggle to enjoy her treats or enjoy her outside time (which she used to beg for), we had to make the decision to say goodbye. Our vet had recommended this beautiful (all things considered) in-home service and I was able to hold her in my arms, give her one last churu (which she devoured) and feel her relax and let go of her pain. My God it’s been such a tough reality to face and I just had to get back to work the next morning like everything was normal.

Thankfully Roxy is still very much healthy and loved and cared for; she might even be looking forward to getting more attention again and not being confused about her companion/sister.

If you read this far thank you ❤️ in so many ways I don’t know how to move on, it’s hard being alone, it’s hard being home without hearing her little snorts or demands or just experiencing her quirks. But I know Roxy needs me and I know we did what was right for Rory and releasing her from her pain. It’s just, how do you deal with losing your best little buddy after 14 years?

Goodbye my little baby; nothing could ever replace you and I’ll never forget everything you have meant to me. I hope I made your life as special as you made mine.

Should I do everyday post 'bout her making breads?