My heartfelt sympathies - I lost my 15 year old cat in March this year. As a family we were all knocked back by the grief. We very much wanted to do the best for our cat - we did not want him to be in pain and we did not want to prolong his life if he wasn't enjoying it.

We knew when the time had come - he did not show any interest in anything apart from sleeping. He could not climb the stairs.

We decided to have him put to sleep. However i would now do this differently.

I would pay extra for a home visit.

I would check with the vet if there was an easier way of doing it than the quick literally heart stopping injection - I had my hand on my cat when she injected him and I could feel the accelerated beating and to be truthful the shock. Posters here have said gas helps this. i would ask for that.

When I was a child the cat was literally 'put to sleep' - the cat went to sleep first and died about 5-10 minutes later. Far, far gentler.

We opted for crematorium with ashes back to us. I don't know how the vetinary surgery did it but we also got a black and white card which was a photo but like a drawing of our cat. I found that really helpful and have it in my kitchen as a reminder - it is really lifelike.

I still have the ashes on my mantelpiece - I can't quite bear to part with them though one day I will let them flow in the wind......


I still cry even now - am now.


But we adopted 2 Maine Coons - never a replacement - they are their own personalities and completely different from my old cat. But we love them and they have filled the physical hole left by his passing.