We’ve just had to say goodbye to our lovely Mr this evening, and it hurts, a lot.
He was one month away from his 18th birthday so had a good innings and had been fighting illness for a while but it was still a big shock when he collapsed this afternoon. Called the vets and our favourite vet was on call so took him in and that was it.
We’ve known Felix since he was a kitten as he belonged to our friends and when they moved abroad when he was 9 he became our best present ever.

At the vets seeing him in that condition you start to question yourself, should we have done something sooner? Was he suffering longer than needed? We have known he had probably months left and had been nursing him for a while but he was still showing affection, was eating well and able to get out into the garden. It was just this afternoon he was obviously in pain and you feel guilty for that being the case.

Both feeling empty and tearful. Sorry just needed to say all that.
I remember seeing on another thread somewhere that there was a leaflet or something about pet bereavement, would someone mind posting a link if poss I cant face trawling through at the mo.

Here’s some pics of happier times. Thanks for listening.

sorry to hear that 🙁 it does sound like felix had a great life with you though.remember the good times.

Sorry to hear of your loss. We too will be gutted when ours go (16 years old now). They become such an integral part of your life. Something a lot of people cannot understand.

feel for you! I’ve been there, and like your cat, mine had a good innings which is consoling at some time later.

All the best and enjoy the memories

My condolences, he looked a lovely old boy. We’ve got a 15 year old who keeps on going. Reckon he is on his 12th life now! Not looking forward to the day he goes to the big litter tray in the sky.

At the vets seeing him in that condition you start to question yourself, should we have done something sooner?

Why ? He was obviously happy as he was showing affection and eating well and getting out in the garden, even if he was old and not very well. As soon as he showed signs of suffering you took him to the vets and he was painlessly released from this life. You can’t/shouldn’t put a pet down at the first sign of old age or illness. You did the right thing.

Felix looks a very relaxed and affectionate cat in the pictures 🙂

Night Felix x

Poor old Felix. I remember our tabby cat from years ago who died aged about 19. She was orrible & chased dogs. It’ll be a sad day when our Pepsi cat pops her clogs though cos she’s a little (fat) furball.
RIP Felix.

Pepsi cat sends hugs!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/5oJ8qZ]Pepsi fat cat[/url] by jimmyg352, on Flickr

RIP Felix. Sounds like you gave him a great life, and did right by him. IMHO, and that of experts I’ve heard from, animals can feel quite unwell without feeling distressed or sorry for themselves, and eating, cuddles and going outside are clear signs that they haven’t “had enough” even if they are unwell. When they have had enough, it’s pretty clear especially with a cat who won’t make an effort just to please you. So don’t feel guilty, you did right by him by helping him carry on when he wanted to, and helping him go when he wanted to. He was a lucky cat.

Blue cross stuff on pet bereavement at:
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/82007/download-our-literature.html

Cheesy stuff at:
http://www.catchat.org/rainbow.html

Sorry to hear about Felix, sounds like he was loved and cared for.

Had to have our cat Bella put to sleep before christmas. Such a sad time but looking back at all the joy that the ball of fluff had bought to our lives always makes us smile.

image by Parkesiemtb, on Flickr

Sounds like he had a great life – nothing to feel guilty about. Take care.

J

Sorry to hear of your loss. 🙁 Its amazing how much a cat can mean to someone.

Though just a brief description, I don’t think that you waited too long. If he was still eating and otherwise normal, then he still had good quality of life. I don’t think I would have done anything different.

This may not be right for you but what has helped me the most was getting another cat ASAP. Of course the new one is not the same, but having another to focus on helped take my mind off of the one that was gone.

He was beautiful by the way OP – very handsome.

Thanks for the kind words everyone and the info apj. Not a great nights sleep.
Unfortunately I cant get the thoughts out of my head of seeing him in pain yesterday afternoon and feeling guilty of not realising how serious the situation was and not acting an hour or too earlier.
Hopefully those thoughts will subside and we can remember the happier times we’ve had with him and the love he gave us both.

JoeG, I did wonder last week what we would do when the time came. We have another friend who has loads of cats and offered us a lovely one called Morris whenever we want. Not sure on timing of that or if we do at all. Think we need to grieve for Mr and have a bit of a break as we had to care for him for a while. But who knows…….just taking it day by day at the mo.

Not sure on timing of that or if we do at all.

Everyone is different of course but I am a strong supporter of filling that empty hole they leave behind as quickly as possible. It’s a helpful distraction and dwelling too much on the loss isn’t good imo.

Handsome chap.

Bad news indeed; but the local mice will be partying tonight.

Sorry for your loss mate 🙁 my cat bramble died about a year ago and it still makes me sad looking at pictures of her.

I am so sorry to read about the loss of Felix. Those are lovely photos, and you must be feeling the loss of your beautiful chap very keenly.

Everybody (at least every normal person I’ve ever known) feels some degree of guilt when they lose a pet – I think it’s simply a part of caring for somebody (I won’t say something – they are family members after all) that much.

It sounds like he was feeling pretty contented up until that afternoon, and I really can’t see what you could have done differently.

Thinking of you
X

Thanks again for the kind words.

It’s been a very difficult first day for us without Mr, many tears shed.
The pics of Felix are from about 4 or 5 years ago when he was fit and well.
I spoke to the vet again today which helped a little and I will try the blue cross support line tomorrow or Tuesday and hope they can help a tad.

We had a scare with Felix about a year ago when he stopped eating and drinking for a couple of days and we thought he was going then but he recovered thankfully. I promised him then that I would do the right thing by him when the time came and all he had to do was to let me know when.

I cant help but feel guilty that I didn’t take enough notice of his condition when I got home from work and that he suffered for a couple of hours longer than needed. That is a fact and one I have to come to terms with as I feel I broke my promise, and that hurts.

Thanks again for support, I wont keep banging on about it on here.

oh dear, sorry to hear that. Good innings as you say though.

Tiggy died earlier this year but went peacefully in her sleep.

If it helps anyone else who is our situation, speaking to the helpline at blue cross was very helpful.
They were very sympathetic and listened patiently and also mentioned some options that would help us move on. No doubt we will use them again.
Have also spoken to a local pet crematorium and think we will say our final goodbye to Mr with them rather than have him collected from the vets and taken away to be cremated elsewhere.

So sorry to hear of your loss granny_ring. You did exactly the right thing.

I’m not sure if this would be appropriate, or how you might feel about this, but when I lost my Poppy (little dog) the vets were brilliant and arranged for the pet crematorium to send her ashes back for us to collect. The ashes were then scattered in her favourite spot.

Yes no problem. The vets use PCS and have done for 10 years or so with no problems so I’m told. We might still use them but the more personal local alternative sounds a better bet for us I think. We’ll see, still mulling it over. At least we know where to scatter his ashes in the garden.