I know we don't talk much, but my condolences anyhow. This is an incredibly hard yet brave thing to do. Don't feel terrible about giving her an end without suffering. Its all you could do for her, and you knew it. You gave everything you could and then some, and it shows from just what you've said here.

Please, take the time to mourn. Appreciate her life, and remember that she loved you to the end.

Hey bird brain, been a long time. I'm sorry to hear of your loss, my condolences. I cannot remember if I ever told you my cat story. I was there myself in a situation like this. Mom and dad bought this beautiful, pure bred, blue himalayan kitten when I was around three or four years old. She was quite beautiful, big pretty blue eyes and so fluffy, named her Shadow. She stuck around through so much, even adapted to me taking her with me at sixteen to live with my father. I still partially regret that, I should have let her stay at mom's. One day she started getting quite ill, vomiting often and eventually stopped eating. Dad came home and she decided to bolt out the door, she was gone. I tried finding her, searching for blocks, calling her name, nothing. A little over a week, late at night I could hear loud meowing. I thought it was my friend's cat, they lived right beside my dad and I was over at their place. I opened the door and gasped in shock, I found my Shadow, so thin and frail, crying for someone to help her. I got her cuddled up instantly, cleaned, and tried to feed her and get her drinking. She did try. For a bit, it looked okay until she started getting sick again. When she was taken to vet, they discovered something wrong with her stomach and offered options. Dad immediately exclaimed he wasn't going to pay a ridiculous amount of money for surgery on a cat. While I tried to plan a way to get the funds, the vet called again later with the news she had stomach cancer. The call was made to put her down and on the day it happened I switched off from the world, I couldn't go and watch a cat I had known nearly my entire life at the time be put down like that. Dad and sister took her. I still regret not going, I should have been there for her in her final times because she knew something was wrong with her, that's why she took off in the first place. To find a spot to go hide and die but she couldn't do it and came back after that week.

Oh, wow. Thank you so much for sharing your own story. It takes a lot to revisit hard memories like this. I must commend you on being able to speak of it.

To add more and share with you: a few years ago I lost my little dog that grew quite a bit on me. Still don't know what it exactly was as dad refused to take her to vet, he was afraid to hear what she might have and the vet giving that grave news. She definitely was getting old, a bit senile and ill. Dad knew it was her final day with how she was acting, barely showing life. Got up, walked around the living room slowly in a sort of daze, made it to the kitchen and flopped over, she was gone that fast. Some critters, if not all of them, sure get to us. It's part of life though.

awww, no... so sorry to hear. It sounds like you did what you could, and gave her a better life than she would have had otherwise. I wish you the best, and hope your heart mends soon.

I'm so sorry to hear this. Feeling helpless as a beloved pet's health deteriorates is one of the worst feelings to have.
They offer us their love unconditionally, and when we aren't able to do our part in keeping them healthy and safe, we feel guilty and devastated.

But Life and death are beyond our control. We can only do our best for them.

Try to feel secure in knowing that you did all that you could.
Cherish her memory for all the fun and playful times, and not these final days.

The grief will slowly fade, but your love and memories of her will always remain. As it should be.

The loss of a pet is hard but you did all you could. You gave her a good life and took good care of her, but I too know how you feel. I had plenty of cats growing up.. many got sick.. or injured.. some went to the vet.. some my dad "took care of".. but I felt much the same about a cat a few years back. Hit my room mate harder then me. he was a very sweet and loving cat, and we didn't see any signs of infection or bladder issues until he woke us up in he woke us up in the middle of the night. We should have taken him to the overnight pet clinic but we waited till morning, but in the end it didn't matter. medication didn't help.. he died in my arms two days later from a massive infection and sepsis. I still to this day wonder if we missed some warning signs, but we know we gave Drake a good, happy life for the 4 years we had him.

I can't leave it with that, so I must tell you about the newest addition to our family. Since we lost drake, we have adopted two other cats, a siamese who was so small when we got her, but a bit crazy now, and another black cat, grew up to be 12lbs but acts like a kitten, but just last month, I was at work, finishing up a work order when I walked back out to my truck, and saw a flash of gray out of the corner of my eye, looked over to see a tiny silver tabby cowering between the gas up and trash can at gas station. Don't know where he came from, but I called my room mate and we caught him, had the vet check him out, and now we have a two month old, silver tabby tormenting our older cats. So playful and energetic and to think, someone just dumped him at a gas station at 6 weeks old.

Our pets become a cherished part of our life, but sadly they don't last forever and life will go on.

My condolences. It's never easy to make that choice for our companions, but you did the right thing for her.

It is hard to have to put a pet down, but it is the honorable decision when their health is failing and they can no longer lead a happy life. You did right. Wish ya well.