today my cat, katie was euthanized. i've had her since april 2000 - i was 7 and she was 2 months old when she came home with me. over the last few years she developed hyperthyroidism, kidney issues, had a stroke, developed a heart murmur, and was starting to go blind. three days ago she stopped eating, a very noticeable trait for a cat that screams for food every time i walk by. i was in the process of trying to schedule a visit with her vet, and nurse her with liquids when this morning i woke up and noticed her hind legs kept collapsing when she was walking. i brought her to her destination, the litter box, and she couldn't get her hind legs over the top. i lifted her in, but then she just laid down.

after getting her to an emergency vet, they called me back within 15 minutes to let me know her temp had been 95 and was dropping down. they let me know that euthanizing her was probably the best option, given her age and overall health but did offer to try to give her an IV and see if anything could be done. not wanting to be a cruel pet owner making their cat keep living with a rapidly diminishing quality of life i chose the first option.

this morning at 9:30, after me and my girlfriend and sister had time to hold her and pet her we said goodbye to a pet that, for me and my sister, has been in our life for 20 years. katie was like my child basically. i'm 27 years old, she's been in my life for almost 2/3 of it.

i cried and cried but the longer things go on the sadder i get. i won't hold her anymore, i won't feed her her salmon pate wet food (the only food and flavor she would eat lol) or have to trick her into taking her thyroid medication by wrapping it in cream cheese, baby talk at her or give her ear scritches. i have all her little sweaters.

how do you live with never being able to hold your baby again?

how do you deal with the hurt?

I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I want to say it gets much easier with time, but everyone says that. It is true, but I understand that doesn't really help right now. Writing down your feelings, listening to music, talking with loved ones, and just giving yourself time to grieve sometimes helps.

One thing I did was found a stuffed animal that looked similar to my pet, and whenever I felt bad or started thinking of him I would hug it. I don't know if this is a good idea, but it helps me even years later.

I hope in time you start to feel okay again.

I am sorry for your loss. The worst part of having a pet is saying goodbye. I've lost 3 cats, all who came into my life when I needed them the most, and it was not easy either time. Everyone copes with grief differently and it will be hard while the hurt is still fresh. I still miss my babies, even after all these years. What I've done to help with my grief is I had their ashes in a nice box, with my favorite picture of them. I unfortunately do not have them anymore, thanks to a scumbag ex. I still have plenty of pictures and I remember all the fun times. A friend gifted me a CW of one of my cats. - she use to sleep in my mixing bowls <3 Maybe make a memory box with those little sweaters, some of her favorite toys/things, collar (if she had one), and photos of Katie?

I've seen different coping online too. A person left a bunch of balls and treats at the dog park in honor of his dog. Some people donate to shelters, to spread the love that they had with their companions. There is also a website that helped me with my last cat, Petloss.com. They offer different support group lists, and you can add her name to the Monday night candle ceremony.

I hope you find a way to heal, no matter how you do it. <3<3

20 years is a long time. So sorry for your loss!

We had to put our cat down on May 15th. Had him for 14 years. The most comforting thing for me has been my other cat. We've been spoiling him and giving him a lot of attention since our old boy's passing. He's a good comfort cat, and his demeanor is so laid back and he doesn't give anyone a hard time. It's like he's considerate, lol. He's such a good boy.

The other things that comfort me are my cat's ashes, which are in a lovely box, and that I put him in a basket that he used to love to sit in when he was little. Something about putting him in there felt right to me, as opposed to just having him neatly placed somewhere...because I knew he LIKED sitting in the basket -- that was comforting to me. Also having a keepsake box of his favorite things and I always keep the first toy of my kitties, so that's also included in there.

Honestly the whole thing makes me kind of want to start over again and get a kitten. But for practical reasons, I don't WANT TO want another kitten, lol. I wanna move out in the future and I plan to bring my other cat with me, and worrying about 1 is easier than worrying about 2. And my mom said she doesn't want another one, so I can't even get one for her. Maybe foster. Sometimes fostering and helping other animals helps bring comfort and shifts your focus. I may wind up doing that, myself.

thank you everyone. i elected not to keep her ashes, not due to the cost but mostly because i felt it would be more of a sad reminder for her death for me than something positive.

i like the idea of getting a plushie that looks like her, and i have heard of people who make custom ones that look like your pet. a memory box would be nice too. she did have a collar, but i only put it on her when she was leaving the house since she hated wearing one lol. she was kind of a pill (and a mean-spirited one that, at least until she mellowed out around 13 or 14) but she was my baby.

I'm sorry for your loss too. I wish I had another cat around, but the other cat in the house is my sister's and she's half feral and I'm scared to pet her because she has such hostile body language.

I'd also like to get a new cat, but I think it would hurt me if I got another cat so soon. Also I want to wait until I'm more financially secure so my girlfriend and I can both get a kitten at the same time to raise together. Part of the reason my cat was such a bastard was because she was the only cat in the house and wasn't properly socialized. She bullied my sister's cat once she moved in when she herself was 6, and bullied our dogs.

I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did everything you could for her and gave her a wonderful life. It is nice that you got to spend time with her before she passed and she knew she was loved.

I understand what you are going through as one of my dogs passed away on the 4th of July. She had went into one of our closets in the middle of the night (because she was scared of the fireworks) and when I went to check on her in the morning she was dead. I felt horrible that she was all alone and probably terrified, and I cried for days over it.

She was 14 and had a lot of health problems too, but I felt like she had so much more time left. It does get easier with time and you will be able to think of your sweet baby without crying and remember all the good times you two had together and all the quirky things she did.

One thing that I did was I ordered a necklace on Etsy that has her name on it to remember her by. I also went through my phone and put all the photos of her in their own album so I can look at her when I really miss her.

I hope things get better and easier for you soon <3