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Well quite a sad evening for me.
Had to have our family cat put down of 10 years or so years.
He was battling kidney disease, very young for his age.
Of the past few weeks his condition had deteroriated, stopped eating.
The photo taken here was probably him 1.5kg lighter than he used to be (he was quite an overweight cat normally).
Will be sad to see him go.

Anyway on Monday I decided to take a few photos of him to remember him by.
This is one of them. Still trying to get used to Linux. Might try to run Nikon Capture and Photoshop under wine as I'm pretty sure the WB is off and I blew a few hightlights.

Sorry for your cat, Darryl

Except mentioned WB and highlights, very good captured portrait with quite nice depth of field

Awww, that is very sad news Kipper but at least your cat isn't suffering anymore..it would have been worse to see him suffering any longer. You definately did the right thing by having him put to sleep, painless and effortless he would have just drifted off into a beautiful sleep...and he will be dreaming of you guys in pet heaven and all the wonderful times you had together!!
Have you given any thought to getting a new kitten? Might be too soon to even contemplate but a new cat would help take away the sorrow you are experiencing now. I remember having to put my 14 year old dog to sleep at the vets and I know a user on this forum who had a pet duck who recently died. It's amazing how close we get to our animals, nice too! Think of all the wonderful photo opportunities too you could capture with a new kitten!? Our thoughts are with you mate!

Sorry to hear mate, i know what it is like, i had to have 1 of mine put down and i loved that cat, but yeh i have her son and well he doesnt want to know me now, has taken residence 3 houses down the road at the local catery=freakychic with a million cats.

Deeply sorry to hear about that, Darryl. It's not an easy thing do, putting an animal down, especially when you've had such a great companion for so long. Even if it is quite short in cat years.
The shot you took is great IMO, and is a lovely memory for you to cherish.
Hope your grief passes quickly and you can move on to another bundle of joy soon. Take care.
Cheers, Jase.

Very sad news!
We had to put down one of our cats a few weeks back, as her kidneys were finally conking out.

Sorry to hear that Kipper

Darryl,

As a cat lover: small and big, I would like to pass on my condolences

Thanks guys. It's sort of an end of an era for us. We started off at this house with two cats, which progressed to four, The starting two were Tigger and Misty. Tigger was a cat I bought when I was 11 with some birthday money, and Misty was a cat we rescued (he was being beaten up by other cats) from Pets Paradise. Both cats grew up together and were the best of friends, Tigger was our favorite as he had a very loving nature. Then a big grey stray cat (Boofy) came along and decided to make our house home. During this time, Tosca (as photoed) came in on the scene and saw our place was cat heaven and started feeding from leftovers. The cat (a kitten at the time) looked abandoned and was scrounging for food, very wild. We managed to corner him one day on the roof of the garage. I was positioned on a ladder and my Dad managed to steer him down to me. I caught the cat in mid flight as he lept off of the garage roof. He bit me on the thumb the little bugger. Anyway for about 1-2months we had to keep him caged up because he was so wild. We fed him, and gave him as much love as we could. We then brought him in the house while he was still a kitten. He spent most of his time curled up on a bookshelf in my bedroom. As time past by, Boofy moved on to neighbours up the street. Then our eldest cat Tigger died from a combination of old age and liver disease. Then Misty died for some reason during an extremely cold day, and then Boofy had to be killed by our neighbour because it looked like he was poisoned. This was the last of our cats, and unfortunately will most likely be the last of our pets for quite some time. I think my family just wants to be not tied down to any pets for a while. We always found it difficult to go anywhere as we'd have to find somebody to look after the cat (he was very nervous and didn't like the cattery). So now we don't have these limitations we can go away when we want.

I know not everyones a cat lover, but I'm sure some of you are animal/pet lovers and know how hard it is to lose a family pet. I'm neither a cat lover or a dog lover, but an animal lover in general. So thanks for all the kind comments.

Kipper - so so sorry to hear of your loss.
Hugs & 'good iggies'
Rel

Very sorry to hear, Darryl. I come from a family of cat lovers. WE currently have two.

Alex

I must admit that I am not a cat lover but I can understand fully anyone losing a pet. A friend has gone

Darryl

Sorry for your loss. While it's inevitable, the passing of a much loved pet leaves a big hole in anyone's life. Take solace in the fact that you did the right thing by Tosca rather than dragging his life on for your own comfort. Having lost a number of cats of my own over the years (two to kidney disease) I know the feeling you have at the moment. Treasure the photos you took and the fun times you had together. Move on with your life and at some time in the future you'll know when it's right to replace him with a new member of the family.

Darryl,

Deep condolances regards to your pet. As a family of pet lovers we know the feelings that you are now having. Just remember the pleasure and the time you had together.

Regards

Tony

I can feel some retail therapy coming on of the lens kind.

My condolences, we had to get our previous cat put down at the age of 16, (we'd had him from 8 weeks old) because of kidney failure. We now have two, a brother and sister. Retail therapy is definitely part of the 'healing' process. Bob.

Kipper,

I can empathise with you, last night I took both cats, 1 x 16yo & diabetic, the other 17yo (the "inheritance") to the vet for a check up etc, these days I wonder who is not going to come home. The family before me, with three girls, had to go through what you did. When they came out after saying thier good byes, well, everyone in the waiting room was crying with them.

Love the pic, you have a lovely memory there.

Take care,

Andyt

I was a sook. Had to wait out in the carpark.

My Dad took the cat in, Mum stayed home.....too much for her.
The Vet came and took my Dad in, and when she came out she was crying too.

Andy, I hope your sugarcat stays well!

We've had an insulin-dependent cat who eventually died from perinephric psuedo-cysts on his kidneys (well, he was put to sleep before they actually killed him).
Our most-recent loss had been hyperthyroid (undiagnosed for the first ~5 years of her life before she adopted my mother-in-law) but that was treated with radioactive iodine years ago. She was eventually put to sleep due to chronic renal failure.
My sister-in-law's cat was hyperthyroid and had the same radiation treatment. He's doing fine.
Our other current cat was diagnosed as FIV+ years ago, but she's doing fine and will hopefully live to a ripe old age (she's 14 so far).

We call them The Endocrine Cats: I wonder who will decide to adopt us next... So cats for us are not a cheap proposition.
Other nature photographers often get a bit of a shock when they learn I'm a cat person. But they tend to relax when they learn our garden is netted in and the cats don't have access to the outside world.

Losing a pet is very hard (we collected Four Paws' ashes from the clinic yesterday - they'll get planted with a rose in the garden) but you need to remember them for all the joy they've brought to your life!

Very sad news Darryl, it's always a horrible thing to have to go through, but sometimes it's better to do this and end their suffering. I have always grown up with cats and they make wonderful companions. Unfortunately, all have suffered similar fates due to kidney disease. Currently, we have a 9 year old chocolate brown fluff ball named Sambucca! She's beautifully natured and loves the kids. Will be a very sad day when she is no longer with us, but that's part of life!

Chin up, Darryl, and yes, retail therapy works wonders!

Darryl, as you can probably tell from my avatar, the cat has an important place in our lives. Very sorry to hear that your Tosca has gone.

Definitely go and buy stuff, it really can't hurt!

Sorry to hear about your loss Darryl. Even though I'm not a cat person I can understand how sad it must be to lose a pet that has been part of the family for a long time.

Keep your chin up and retail therapy always helps I think you should contact our resident retail psychiatrist Dr. Birdie and look into the D2x

G'day mate,
Sorry to hear of your loss, regardless of whether each of us is a cat person or a dog person etc. it's still a loved member of your family.

It's surprising how close we get to our loved pets, I still miss my old dog that passed away a few years ago, I remember a few weeks after he left suddenly getting a shock, seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, thinking he was in the doorway, watching me... I've always been a sucker for animals, but to this day I still think of him...

I'm the same Mudder, I love all animals. Although some dogs can err on the unfriendly side - so those ones I don't really care about

But yeah, I've grown up with dogs (labradors - the best breed and cats so love them equally as much.

Just read this thread Darryl and wanted to offer my condolences.

I had to put down my best mate last year, Rommel, my 9-yr-old Rottweiler, who had been like a third child to us. He was riddled with cancer and had already been through a couple of operations that were merely prolonging the inevitable. One morning, he suffered some massive haemorraging and we knew he didn't have much time left.

I didn't want to be one of these fathers who go off and arrange the 'deed' and explain it to the kids later so I made sure they each had some quiet time with him that morning before I took him to the vet. It was horrendously sad but I don't think they would have forgiven me if I had robbed them of their chance to say goodbye. They were both old enough to know exactly what was happening.

I sat on the floor with him and held his head as he slipped away. He held my gaze through the whole examination, the discussion about our limited options and then the final procedure. Although I felt like a murderer, I still to this day believe his calm, determined look meant that he understood what was going on and that he was thankful for me relieving his agony. I was amazed at how human he seemed to be at that moment. It was utterly heart-breaking and upsets me to think about it even now.

I guess what I'm saying is that your grief is real and is very understandable. We who have lost our dear friends in this way can certainly relate to how you're feeling. You'll move on, but there'll always be that piece of you that went with your beloved pet.

Sorry to hear that, they become members of the family, a sad passing.