Just over two years ago my wife and I took in Anakin from another family who didn’t want him. Neither of us had any experience with cats except when around other people’s cats so we did lots of research to give him the best life.

We had been pet free for a few years, we previously had a dog that we took in from another family that didn’t want the dog anymore. I’d been talking about adopting a cat but my wife was unsure as she had the impression they were aloof but after getting to know another friend’s cat she was more comfortable with the idea.

I am AuDHD and have hEDS so I have a lot health issues and partly why we chose a cat was because I wouldn’t need to take him outside and I work self employed in and out of the house while my wife works full time and I was lonely at home some.

We think Anakin was around 4 when we brought him home but he was a stray that ended up at a shelter before the previous family adopted him so our information was limited. While he was still a stray he lost all his teeth except for his 4 canines but was otherwise healthy, though looking back at his old photos he was quite chubby when we first brought him home.

He was very timid at first and would hide a lot. We didn’t force him out or anything. We would occasionally come near his hiding spot and gently talk to him and sit facing with our backs to him and let him decide to approach. It didn’t take long for him to come up to us and enjoy pets and being near us but any sort of activity, noise, or visitors would have him hiding.

Pretty soon Anakin learned that I napped every afternoon and he would come and nap with me, if I didn’t go nap at the usual time he’d come and tap me with his paws. At first just on his cat bed on the floor and then eventually he started coming up on the bed and would either lay right next to me or on the other side of the bed. I think I annoyed him when I fell asleep, I shift around a lot when asleep, because we eventually settled a routine where he’d come and lay next to me when I first got in bed to relax for a bit and then when I’d pull the covers up and try to sleep he’d usually move to the other side corner of the bed. At night he started sleeping on our bed at my wife’s feet.

We never got him to be very playful. We tried all sorts of toys but he pretty much ignored all of them. We got a cat nip banana toy that he’d nibble on and groom for about 3 minutes and that was the most he ever did. He really liked to be around us though. Whenever we watched tv he’d come and lay next to us. If my wife came home while I was napping he’d go lay with her and watch tv and then as soon as he heard me start waking up he’d come back and harass me or wait at the bedroom door if it happened to be closed.

For months we could tell he wanted to lay on our lap on the couch. He would come and put his front paws on our leg and make biscuits and pur. We‘d gesture and vocally invite him up but then he’d turn around and lay down next to us. A couple times we tried to place him on our lap but he’d get off and lay next to us. I don’t remember how long that went on for but it was quite a while, several months at least I think. Then one day he laid down on my wife’s lap and from then on he’d come lay on us.

My wife and I are both pc gamers and he started jumping up on our desks and walking back and forth in front of us for attention. We bought new matching desks that had a small elevated shelf thinking he’d like to lay under the shelf so we set the desks up with the shelf on each one touching and put a blanket under it and he started laying up between us on our desks. When he wanted attention he started doing the cutest thing, he’d be curled up by us on the blanket and then he’d slowly lift his head up and lean all the way back so his head was upside down and he’d just stare at us. If we made eye contact he’d get up and come stand or lay down right in front of us. If we ignored him he’d curl back up after a minute and then he’d wait a few minutes and repeat. He’d wait less and less time between doing this if we didn’t acknowledge him and eventually he would just get up and stand in front of us.

Over this past year he started having health issues. We had lots of testing done, nothing was conclusive for a while and none of what we were recommended helped him improve. It was a lot of work and it was hard to see him sick. His pancreas wasn’t producing enzymes and we had recently started a powder for it. It seemed like he was maybe improving.

Sunday night I went to bed around midnight and he was sleeping peacefully on the couch. He died some time during the night. One of his hiding spots was under the couch and my wife found him on the floor near the spot he usually used to get under the couch.

I‘ve loved all my pets over the years but I really adored Anakin. At some point my wife and I started calling him my little buddy because he seemed to have a really close bond with me. He had some really goofy facial expressions with his missing teeth.

To my little buddy Anakin, you were so gentle and sweet, and I already miss you so much.

Two years ago 5-year-old JinBao lost to a sudden form of Feline Infectious Peritonitis. I couldn't bare to write anything at the time. Now, two years later, an homage to my boy Jinn. He was:

- Best Friend

- Food Champion

- Puzzle Master

- (Not so) loving Brother

- Advanced Button-pusher

- Destroyer of Worlds

- "The reason we can't have nice things"

- Late-night cuddler when everyone else went to

bed

- Best Boy Cat

This is my girl Winifred (or Winnie). I got her when she 10 weeks old, and now she’s 8 months old. She’s the light of my life. 🥹

She is very vocal and curious. She loves doing supervised, leashed outside time, and love to hunt and kill bugs. She loves treats and food. She follows me around everywhere and love pets and cuddles on her own terms.

I can’t wait to keep watching her grow up. 💛😭

WARNING FOR MENTIONS OF CAT LOSS AND MOURNING AHEAD. Just enjoy the art and ignore this description if you don't want to be sad.

I lost Billy when I was 17, almost 3 years ago now. It was New Years, he was acting strange, and my dad didn't think it was serious enough for the emergency vet. It was. He passed away in my arms. He wasn't a friendly cat, not to most people, but I was his person. He'd wake me up every morning to make biscuits on my chest whether he'd been fed already or not. He followed me around like a duckling, he meant the world to me. He was 10 when he passed, and before he got sick I remember wanting to find any reason or loophole to take him with me to university as I was moving far away. So his ashes sit on my shelf, now, and he goes where I go.

Beelzebub is my new kitten. I saved up and budgeted everything out on a spreadsheet before I got him just to make sure I could. I love him so much, he means everything to me and makes me unbelievably happy. But I can't help but think of my first boy, and wonder what it could've been like if he were still here. I would give anything if it meant my two worlds could've met.

Sorry about the heavy topic and wall of text.

Love you so much my princess. Even if your claws are fast and hidden beneath your cute and harmless looking face.

He always gets his breakfast when my alarm goes off at 6am. This week however, I have to be on work for 6am so my alarm is set for 4.30. Guess what time he expects breakfast

Ok well. Stray neighbor kitty, he has been coming around for about a yr now. We named him Deebo. Big ol Tom cat. Definitely a punk. Super friendly tho and wants u to love him. Anyways. Gma buys cat food so we can leave food out when it gets cold. Today Big ol Sir. Is all about some loves has tried to come in the house multiple times. Followed me all around the yard and is currently waiting on me porch for me to go back outside.

i’m 31 and never owned a pet before! i got a kitten on facebook market place because i really wanted a lil baby 🥹 his name is Snacks and i love him so much

he's a sweet boy, zero medical issues and very active (even though he has a huge body mass as my sister likes to say). he just kinda chooses to stretch out completely instead of a loaf like our girls do 😭 it's so cute but i genuinely have no idea why he does it. i know it's not bad or anything but it's odd since our girls have never done this.

Should I stop?

My wife and I have always been cat people. A long time ago when we were floating between apartments we had discussion on what kind of pet we would get when we got our own property.

My then girlfriend now wife considered herself a dog person. I've been a life long cat dad and always said the second we get our own place we would get a pet.

Literally the day after we signed the lease on our single family home, we stopped by a Petsmart on a whim and a beautiful 2 year old ragdoll mix ran up to my wife and just started purring.

She was instantly converted to the church of meow and we took home Felix, our first family cat. After three years Felix went missing for over 6 months. we did everything from plastering the neighborhood with signage to hiring an actual pet detective.

On month 6 we got our second cat, Cate. Cate is a Tabby serval mix. We got her from the same Petsmart adoption center as Felix. But even with a new cat we never game up on Felix and by a miracle he popped up at a neighbor's house, who was free feeding strays.

Even after 6 months of being lost Felix immediately knew who I was and jumped right into the car, he was done and wanted to come home. We didn't even need a carrier.

At home Felix and Cate got along immediately. Being a Ragdoll, we knew Felix had a genetic heart condition that cause clots. His life expectancy was 8 to 12 years. Right before his 12th birthday, he had a minor stroke caused by his condition. He had a minor neurological tick in his paw but was for the most part ok considering how serious his condition is. We hoped he would make it though and recover, as he was with us for 9 years and watched both my kids grow up.

Last Friday night he had a fatal stroke. The clot led to a severe brain aneurysm and he was gone in less than a second. We rushed him to the emergency vet but he was already gone, purring until the end.

Losing him was devastating and the next two days Cate was roaming the house meowing and looking for him. She was with him after the first stroke and we knew she was aware he was gone. The following weekend was tough and on Sunday we went to the Buddhist temple to help him crossover the rainbow bridge in our family tradition.

Before we even showed the monks a picture of him, they knew who he was. The described him, his fur color and personality.

After everything, we mulled over when to get a second cat but were worried about Cate because she was still grieving and we were just not ready to move on.

At this time I knew the Cat Distribution System would come for us. Being a life long cat house with an open slot we also figured we were pretty high on the priority list.

Lo and behold, my mother in law was working at a recycling plant and heard some noise under a trashpile. Next thing you know she comes home today with this beautiful Persian kitten with blue eyes, we named her Rose.

The Cat Distribution System is real. It's more powerful than any force us measly humans can create, beyond the power of science to comprehend, and sooner or later - if it decides you are ready (even when your in the worst place and don't think your ready) it will come for you.

I like to think Felix is up there, beyond the Land of Peace and across the rainbow road. Up there in the place beyond our understanding, he put a paw on the lever of the CDS and pulled it for us.

One day, when our work in this world is done, we will meet again my best friend. Until then, we'll take care of Rose, your final gift to us.

This adorable idiot is Chad. Chad likes to destroy toys. He very specifically likes to remove the innards of mouse toys, naturally. He was an outside boy for 5/6 years until he showed up wounded at my place and now he’s an inside boy. Any recommendations on toys meant to be destroyed? I’m looking for stuff that’s safe for him to just absolutely demolish and also won’t be something he accidentally eats and it becomes a major problem. Idk if this exists.

Note: he is diabetic, so nothing food related.

Am I okay to put topical flea meds on her? She’s got a decent infestation

Hello, I don't know where to start, today, October 26, I found out that my cat had died and I don't know how to feel about it.

I had found out from my grandparents, it turns out that a lady accidentally landed on a pallet and accidentally ended up falling on my cat, I don't want to give details but unfortunately she didn't die instantly, they had to take her to a vet and nothing could be done about it so they had to put her to sleep, the worst part of all is that the poor cat was crawling around with broken bones and that woman just left.

I don't want to give too many details about my private life, but I've known that cat for as long as I can remember. She was never aggressive. In fact, I don't even remember her ever scratching me or biting me. She loved to be petted and pampered. She always asked people to pet her and she never had enough.

I love you Pampita, if I had the opportunity I would like to be able to pet your head one more time.

Bonded brothers fall asleep every night together, alongside their bonded brother and sister in the background