Is very cute

My husband and I just moved into our house in April. We had seen the mom cat hanging around, and we decided to start leaving some food out for her. She looked like she had kittens, but we couldn’t find them.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I see a little kitten out of the corner of my eye. Naturally, my husband and I run outside to say hello. There are 6 total, and they aren’t completely feral, but definitely don’t like us yet. We hadn’t completely won over the mom, but she was slowly coming around to us. We kept treats, wet food, toys, everything on hand to make sure she was healthy for her babies.

At this point we think the kittens are about 6 weeks old. We planned to catch them and adopt them out. The mom seemed fine, but we knew she was gonna spend her whole life pregnant (she had already been pregnant 2-3 times since we moved in). So we organized a spay and release back at our house. She was moving her nest further away from the house, so we decided to catch them before we couldn’t find them again.

We trap the kittens and mom, and we decide to keep 2. The next morning they are picked up and taken to the shelter. We are so happy things went so smooth and ask to be updated when she’ll be back. We name our babies Collette and Marvin, and the mom Minerva. After checking the shelter website, we find her listed next to her kittens. A few days later, we checked and they were all gone. We were so happy because we assumed they were all adopted.

Today, we got a devastating email. Minerva and the 4 kittens had passed from a panleukopenia outbreak at the shelter. Just liked that, gone. We are absolutely heart broken. It feels like we gained their trust, and sent them to die. We did everything we could, and got the worst possible outcome. The neighbors were so happy we were taking care of her. It’s hard to not feel responsible, and I know at the end of the day we aren’t, but fuck man.

Pictures of the lovely lady and babies, with our little ones at the end. Marvin and Collette will never want or need for a single thing. We will make sure of it.

We put our 19 year old girl to sleep today. My heart is broken. We made the decision to put her to sleep before she got worse. She was so strong until the very end. My poor girl had arthritis, was blind, kidney failure, swollen lymph nodes and fluid in the abdomen. We did everything we could for her but in the end there was nothing more we could do except give her the gift of eternal sleep. Her name was Lola and my heart is broken. She brought me so much joy and so I wanted to share her picture to bring you all the same joy.

Noticed little Linc acting different recently. I thought he had an upper respiratory infection, with his runny nose and eyes. He was my 5th cat so I had already experienced that with the other 4. Had him an appointment set up today at 4pm after work. If only I took him to an emergency appointment last night or the night before, maybe he would still be here. I feel like a terrible cat dad at the moment. Just wanted to vent and share some photos of my little guy. I hope he makes new friends up in kitty heaven.

I refrained from posting photos with me in it. I just wanted to say, he would sit on my lap while I pooped, he would climb up to my shoulder when getting them breakfast in the morning. We really had that kind of bond. RIP little buddy🖤🤍

You are the smartest and the funniest cat in the world. I really hate myself for letting my parents to give a permission to that goddamn vet do anesthesia before her analysis came..

We had a difficult decision to make the other day and still reeling from it. My girlfriend found this little guy in her parents backyard back in July. He had been separated from his mother early on and we fought to keep him alive. Rather, he fought. He was a trooper. Defied the odds as a little runt, got stronger and and feistier every passing day. He reminded me of myself and my recent experiences these past couple years, having survived stage four cancer. He was a fighter like me.

We endearingly called him Stinky because for the first few weeks of his life with us he had a little bit of an upset tummy to put it lightly. But he eventually got over it and the name kinda stuck, as much as I tried different ones out with him.

I was getting ready to take him home to be my son. Bought him toys and had informed my property manager that this was happening. One week away. Then he became ill. We learned that somehow he contracted FPV, likely from our elder cat that got outdoors a few days before.

When it came down to it. We couldn’t save him. The vet gave us options and tried to work with us. But the price was not ideal. We couldn’t take out a loan to pay for the expenses. But had we even been able to, we were told the odds of him making it at best were 25% given his age and how weak he had become. Plus we had two cats at home that, while are vaccinated, would still be at risk of catching the same illness.

I’m so sorry Stinky. I was excited to be your dad. I was and always will be your dad. And I hate this feeling that there was something more we could have done. Like there was another option, though none other was presented to us. I feel this guilt, like we could have tried harder to bring him home, and maybe he would have defied the odds again… I just don’t know but my heart is broken.

He had so much life and love to give

*\\*
I’ve been trying to hold back the tears all day at work and I finally have a moment to read all these responses and sobbing. Each and everyone one of you had kind words and I’m glad anyone cared to learn who Stinky was. My heart aches but I find some comfort in knowing that he’s not hurting anymore.

We found him when my girlfriend started to foster kittens that were appearing in her backyard. Never intending to grow attached. For the most part we didn’t. But there was something about Stinky that made me fall in love with him. While I think her and I both agree to take a break from fostering, we will return and rescue as many as we can. They all deserve to be loved and safe. We’ll do it for you little buddy.

I have had my little Milk since he was a kitten who couldnt open his eyes. He was a rescue, I found him at work. His foot and tail got crushed by something metal, so he has a stumpy tail and back paw. Hes my baby. Yes I have four kittens. But so what? Theyre MY kittens. I have raised two since they had UMBILICAL CORDS and the other two were found less than a week later, les than 24hrs since the first two lost their cords.

Moms been stuck in bed for over a decade, I moved back home to take care of her, and she gave away my baby as a wedding present to my cousin. So now I gotta choose between being the bad guy saying my cousin cant have the kitten he was promised, or giving up my little Tripod. Just wanted to vent. And yeah, im moving out. Someone else will be taking care of my mom now. Im done.

Has anyone ever seen a cat with this hair? Our four month old kitten has this alfalfa-esque hairdo. The vet thinks it’s permanent which we’re hoping it is 😂

Just got the call at work this afternoon from my dad today that we lost my princess, my sunshine, my sweetheart ❤️

She was 18 and lived a long life for a kitty that had such a rough start. I apologize in advance for my rambling but I just need to get it all out.

I remember vividly how we got her. I was in 3rd grade and we were watching America's Got Talent on TV as a family when I looked out the window and saw our neighbor putting a box out in front of the curb in the road. He walked away, and not more than 10 seconds later, a little kitten managed to flip the box over and go scurrying out into the road. I got my mom's attention and told her I needed to go find the cat and she let me. I spent 2 long hours biking around the neighborhood trying to find her until it got dark and my mom told me I needed to come inside. I felt bad for the poor kitty, stuck all alone outside overnight.

One week later, my brother and some of our friends were playing outside in the yard when lo and behold, what should appear but the kitten I had just seen the week before. She was thin as a rail now and her ears literally had burn marks from the scorching heat she endured during that week. We borrowed a litter box and litter and cat food from a friend and set her up in the bathroom for the night.

Now, at the time, it had only been 6 months since we had lost our family dog, and that dog was my dad's GOODEST girl. When she was getting towards the end, my dad laid on the floor and slept by her side the last week every night before she passed and he had said he wasn't ready for another pet, and pointed out that we were set to go on a family vacation the following week and we would have to find someone to watch a BRAND NEW cat for 2 weeks while we were gone. So the next day after school, a bunch of us kids piled in the minivan with mom to see our furry little friend off to the humane society.

3 days later, my dad came home with her because he felt so bad for her and was worried nobody would adopt her because she was in such rough shape. Our neighbor has since moved away, but we always joked that we would have relished the opportunity to introduce him to her one day and talk about how well she has done despite her tough beginnings.

She was a feisty girl and it took time to build up her trust with us, but she was also the most loving cat a boy could've asked to grow up with and she loved every ounce of attention she could get, straight up to her passing today. Even this morning, she wanted my attention, although now I realize it may have been because of how she was feeling 💔

She always had some mobility issues (the vets thought perhaps due to the week she spent baking in the sun before we found her or possibly a nervous system issue) and they worsened greatly in her last few years of life. She spent the last year of her life unable to walk, but despite that, still demanded attention. We kept her mostly in her bed in the living room which is in the center of our house, but she went where we went. Watching a movie downstairs? Grab Bailey and bring her down to sit on your lap. Doing some work in the office? She wants in. And you could never walk by that living room without her noticing and demanding pat pats. Her favorite thing in the world was when I would put my head down by her and for whatever reason, she just LOVED to lick my ear. Nobody else's, just mine. Nobody understood why I let her do it, but I was happy to let her. We used to joke if we thought she wasn't feeling well that I needed to get my head by her for the lick test. If she licked my ear, all was well, and if she didn't, it was time to take her to the vet for a check up 🤣

Some of her favorite things when she was still mobile:

- Chasing our younger cat around the house (he passed away this March) and antagonizing him. She would always start by licking his head, which slowly turned to nibbling, and before you know it, she was tackling him.

- Seeing kids. She adored kids and no matter how much they antagonized her, she would just keep being affectionate to them and loving on them

- Climbing all over anything you were trying to do in her vicinity did not involve petting her

- Playing with her fuzzy toy balls

- Finding whoever was eating ice cream, no matter how hard you tried to hide it from her

- Climbing all over your bed in the middle of the night until you gave her the love she demanded

The house has never felt quieter than it does right now without her meow to fill the void.

She was loved from the moment I first saw her and will be missed for all eternity ❤️ Thank you to anyone who read all of this and I pray that you'll all be blessed with the kind of relationship I had with our beautiful Bailey ❤️

Last week:
I was at work, when my wife called me frantically that she thought our random rescue girl of 5 years was having a seizure and was taking her to the emergency vet. I left work quickly and might my wife there. Our little street fighter was stressed and scared after getting blood tests and an xray. I opened her carrier to pet her and she immediately began to appear to seize and lose consciousness.

“Catastrophic Cardiac Event” is what the vet decided. Maybe congenital heart/aortic defect, possible chance of saddle PE.

5 years ago:

This cute girl entered our life on a random day when my wife was leaving work. She got to her car on the 5th story of a 8 story parking garage and saw some woman chasing a small tuxedo kitten! No way was my wife going to let that cat get hurt, so she helped corner her, and after some discussion with the other woman, decided she’d keep her and take her to the vet.

My wife called and started explaining this to me. We already had two rescue dogs and two rescue cats, I was adamant that “We do NOT need another freaking cat” (oh boy was I wrong). As the cat distribution system does, this insane tuxedo tornado chose ME as her solitary person, somehow they ALWAYS know!!!

We had our fist cat, a female Siamese, who passed a year ago at 21! I was sure we’d have decades with this sweet rescue girl. When a cat picks YOU, the loss just hits so different than other pets.

We haven't named her yet, BUT IM SO HAPPYYYYYYYY

Had to put my sweet girl out of her misery today. She had a stomach blockage, pancreatitis, and various other ailments. She couldn’t keep food down and was so, so weak.

I just hope I did the right thing. I hope she knew how much I loved her. Goodbye Mona.

I’ve had Dexter most of my life, I’m 24 and he’s got to be about 22. When he was only a year or two old, he was a stray riddled with worms and fleas, drinking from puddles. My mum took him, had him treated and chipped, and we’ve had him ever since. He’s always been the most loving cat I could’ve asked for. Full of mischief like flattening his ears at the dinner table to try to steal leftover chicken, or the time he ripped open a pizza box and ate so much pepperoni he got diarrhoea 😂

If I left to get the bus, he’d sit down the alley from the bus stop shouting at me. If I went round the shops, he’d follow me and wait for me at the door, one time even coming in after me. If I leaned on the kitchen counter, he’d climb on the counter for attention, and if I stopped stroking him, he’d climb on my back and curl up asleep.

I lost one cat last year, Daphne. She wasn’t well for some time and my neighbour found her curled up in his garden, he helped us bury her but I don’t think that’s an option this time. Aside from limited space, our gardens are full of gravel and stones under the soil.

For the past year or two, Dexter has been on a steady decline. Going blind and developing dementia. We were able to care for him for a long time, he was still able to get around, even now he has a strong appetite and is still full of love. But he can’t see a damn thing, he’s losing weight, losing his balance, walking in circles and managing to pull a large bin away from the door, unlock the cat flap and sit outside howling. It’s no way for a cat to live, and even if we had all the money in the world, we’d only be prolonging the inevitable. It’s time for him to go. We’ve been cuddling him all morning, he’s had all his favourite treats (I’d have given him some freshly cooked chicken but he can’t eat this close to the appointment).

I’m proud of how all my animals turned out. All so loving, gentle and full of personality. He’ll be with his adopted daughter soon. Those two would quite often curl up together.

Here’s some photos of my big rusty boy.

A local delivery guy knocked on my door tonight and handed me this kitten who was soaking wet in a box. I never had a kitten this small and i don’t have money for a vet visit or cat food, but I figured this baby was better off with me than outside. This is the second kitten that shows up on my doorstep this week btw. I have also been feeding a local stray mama so I have some kitten kibble that has helped.

I softened some kibble with water, but she doesn’t understand how to eat yet. She clearly needs milk and a bottle. I feel terrible that i don’t have the means right now and. How can i help this little baby with what i got? Any tips? Any videos i should watch? Thanks for any advice.

Btw I live in the caribbean and theres not any shelters near me. Apparently people here think that i am the shelter. It’s getting overwhelming.