Meet Philia/Philly! She’s 7 months old and may or may not have already been a mother. (Shelter had some mixed info, so was uncertain! Poor baby.)

She’s my first cat, but my husband grew up with both cats and dogs. <3 I’ve always loved both, but my mom was allergic to cats.

We lost our dog, Noa, on May 7th and every day has been a struggle. We miss her so much; she was our baby, my soul dog, for 19 wonderful years until heart and kidney disease claimed her. She survived cancer at 15, even. She was a fighter. We didn’t think we’d be ready for another furbaby, but things happened that pushed us in this direction, and we decided that love and grief and missing Noa, and new love, can coexist. We had space to rescue someone. And Noa rescued me when I was grieving an incredible loss, so…

In some ways, it even felt like Noa nudged us this way—we always joked that Noa was cat software in dog hardware because she was very cat coded in so many ways, and Philly has a few little behaviors that were so unique to Noa. So it’s all very bittersweet. <3

Anyway, here’s Philly! I saw her and just knew. There were two cats I was debating between, one who was very in-your-face and demanding attention, and then Philia, who was just playing by herself in the background. Philly was who I was most drawn to and felt that instant connection with, but I was nervous and thinking that maybe the super social one would be easier for a first time cat owner? Maybe the the one playing by herself would be too much high energy kitten to handle? Well. The other one got adopted before we could meet them, and I’m so happy she did! Philly was SO shy once we got to meet her and hid—but we knew she was the one. Noa was shy, too, but came out of her shell around us. Of course we’d take her! But I guess she’d been there for a while because of that shyness. ):

Anyway, the shyness didn’t last long and she’s a very chatty, social kitty who demands love and attention. <3 And she is so incredibly sweet. She plays without claws, gives gentle love bites, likes belly rubs, and we’ve already exchanged slow blinks! 😭 She’s still recovering from her spay so she’s in the bathroom for now as she settles and heals, and she wants OUT! But we already have a nice set-up for her once she’s healed enough to be crazy!

Not pictured: a cat fountain on the other side of the room that she is still trying to decide what to make of. xD

I decided to adopt a cat, and got everything ready for it. I saw an association on Facebook who do that, loôs good with some good reviews. Went there asked a lot of questions and asked to be sure that the cat is healthy.

Well, I go back home and noticed that he walks weirdly. Bring it to the vet. And that was the x-ray I got.

Well the vet told me that it's like 2000US dollars to fix it. And also they say the cat is more like 6months old and not three like they told me. I contacted the association because I am not able to spend that much. They got the cat back and now they are debating if they will do the operation because it's also a lot of money for them.

I'd love to keep that cat but I am not sure if I can trust them and there vet. I feel very bad to think that I shouldn't get it even if they do the operation. I feel like a bad person.

I don't really need advice but they are welcome. I just feel bad.

My sweet Mimi passed away at 20 years old on 17/08. We were together for 18 years. She was my everything.

Almost two months have passed and I feel like it’s only getting more difficult. I feel so empty without her. My whole life revolved around her, and now she’s gone and I don’t know what to do.

When there’s a moment that I don’t think of her or when a day passes where I haven’t cried, I just feel guilty. Like I don’t care enough about her. I know, it’s stupid.

I guess I just wanted to know how any of you deal with feeling like this. I know she’s not here anymore, but somehow in my head I haven’t fully accepted it. It feels like she is somewhere, and it doesn’t feel like she’s gone.

Small update (I also left a comment but in case it gets lost I’ll also put it here):

Hi everyone, if you’ve commented and you’re reading this, I want to let you know I’ve read every single comment here.

It was just one of those days, I missed her more than normal it was just overall really hard to get through the day.

Reading all your lovely comments was overwhelming, in a good way. Thank you for your support and kind words. It helps knowing people understand what I’m feeling, it helps me to not feel so alone in this. Thank you ♥️

I’m so happy and excited and grateful I wanted to share. My sister (18 years older than me) took in a cat for a friend who became ill and then essentially surrendered “R” to my sister. It was supposed to be temporary and “R” was intended to kind of be cared for among several of the ill woman’s friends until she recovered.

My sister grew up with barn cats and such but she never wanted “real” animals (her kids had 2 fish from the carnival that lived like 15 years and my sister did gave a small bird for probably 8 years - which are pets for sure). She was retired and like traveling and never felt a desire to have anything that required much maintenance.

So, “R” started at my sister’s house and was skittish and freaked out. But my sister was patient (and called me constantly for advice) and after a while he spent some time outside of her bathroom and eventually found her bedroom and couch where she got swindled into possession via purrs and biscuits. She couldn’t see a reason why “R” should stay anywhere else so they acclimated and she was starting to enjoy all the attention he was giving her. Annnd she kinda started liking getting him treats and toys.

I asked her if her friend asked for the cat - what would she do … she quickly responded with “give him back of course” …. I was a little concerned about this - she claimed she was just doing her job to “give him a good life” …

Well I’ve been a cat addict. Reasonable one - I always only had one except my twin Siamese …. Anyway

Fast forward- “R” can’t poop. Then he can’t eat. My sister keeps calling me in tears 😭 …. She ends up taking him twice to the ER. Both doctors tell her he has a mass causing a blockage and an operation would have low success rate and high risk for permanent disability. My sister was flat.

She had to either let him die or put him down or risk an expensive surgery that seemed to be more detrimental than helpful. She spiraled into indecision.

When she called me, I really felt like the ER and vet office veterinarians weren’t understanding what exactly she was trying to figure out. So, I asked if I could call one on her behalf but she declined, feeling like it was her responsibility and she needed to make that decision.

Well …. I’m stubborn. And I’ve dealt with cat offices a lot so I actually found a surgical center near Milwaukee that does one thing : complex surgery.

I called them and explained that this was pretty much going to end in tragedy unless someone who had some deeper understanding of “R”’s situation saw him like NOW. They agreed to see him in 2 hours. All other vets were unavailable and she would either have to continue ER for poop extraction or risk waiting 4 ish days for deeper evaluation.

My sister is fortunate that she had an emergency thing set aside for her or her husband’s health care so when I told her she had an appointment with a surgeon and it might be xxx plus the consultation … and that I was really sorry I took control and kind of strong armed the situation… she was ecstatic ! (Phew)

My sister just really needed real information on “R” to make a choice.

As it turned out, he was found to be a very healthy cat except this and they had full faith of an excellent outcome. They got him in the next day (or maybe 2 days later) … and yes it was xxx but he turned out fine and is happily making biscuits and hanging out in his “camper” …. OH and even better - the mass turned out to be non-cancerous and they believe it was possible he had a prior injury there. He poops great now and my sister is just so happy…

This is true love. I’m grateful he came to be with my sister, that I’m so hard headed, and that she is so compassionate. His prior owner would have never had the stuff or strength to do this.

Look at him now!! I bought him a banana to celebrate!!

This happened two months ago and since then my mental state has been very bad. I don't know what to do. Do you suggest that I get another cat or what?

Tree days ago, I found this little kitten. According to a neighbor, she and her sibling had been living under their car. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find her sibling.

I took her to the vet, where she was given deworming medication and treatment for ear mites. Today, she developed horrible diarrhea, but thankfully, she isn’t lethargic and is still eating well. The vet recommended a bland diet (cooked meat with broth) and probiotics.

Wish us luck! I really hope this little girl makes it. We’ve named her Toffee Cream. 🐾

We found my cat dead this morning. He was 2 years old, and seemed perfectly healthy. I’m not looking for sympathy I’m just genuinely confused what could have happened.

This is Apollo. He was an orange boyo we found on the side of the road the same day my cat of 20 years passed away. (2 years ago this month, ironically enough). We brought him to the vet and got him all his shots.

About a month ago he started acting weird. Really lethargic and not wanting to play with his little brothers anymore. (He had grown up with our one eyed pug. And we just adopted a kitten). We took him to the vet a couple weeks ago and they said he was fine, just an infection most likely. So they gave him antibiotics

He hadn’t gotten better, but he was eating again. So we figured he’d recover soon. I just don’t understand what could have happened? He was an indoor cat aside from the few times he would escape.

I need to rave about how great cats are.
Genuinely no other species of animal compares to them in my eyes.
They are soft, precious looking tiny creatures that require hardly nothing from you, they are essentially almost self sufficient little things that sit around looking so freaking cute, hardly making any disruptive noise.
The kitty pictured here makes little chirpy noises when she jumps onto / off of things.
Look at her little salmon coloured nose.
My other cat becomes so affectionate specifically only when I am sad and want comfort.
I wish I could have a warehouse or something just to create a cat mansion.
Go appreciate your cats.

Our sweetest best boy Booker is 8yo and unfortunately it’s now confirmed his FeLv is progressive and he’s dealing with really bad hypercalcemia, this likely means that he has cancer.

My girlfriend and I are dealing with it the best that we can but he is her soul cat, just an absolute gem and it’s been beyond difficult to watch him struggle with a chronic cough, and now he is just very weak and not very interested in eating. Because he’s so young we are hail-marying some fluids and diuretics this week to try and get his calcium low enough that he will eat some food, but if there is cancer or evidence thereof on imaging we have to let him go peacefully.

This is one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve had to go through. 8 years old is just so young to wrap my mind around as someone who has been with several cats who’ve passed away, but all in their late teens or 20’s. It just feels unfair, like it was meant to be different. I don’t think I need advice or guidance, I just needed to vent about a situation that is borderline irreparable and feels like it shouldn’t be happening. I appreciate anyone who reads this and I’m so sorry to everyone who has gone through this before or is going through it presently.

Im not going into details but no matter how smart you think your cat is, and how they would "never" slip if you live in a high floor apartment, they can, dont make my mistakes

Anyway this was my absolute angel of a cat, Maggie, only had her for about 7 months and she died so early. I'll miss her forever and I dont think I've will ever find another one like her.

Hello, this sweet girl has been coming around my house the last few days. She’s very tiny and a kiddish but today she ate a whole bowl of friskies primavera. My question is this, is it safe to let her inside with my two other healthy cats? She looks like something is wrong with her. Her inner eyelids are a bit closed in both eyes. Both my cats don’t seem to mind her they don’t go up to her but they also aren’t hissing at her like they do with other stray cats. I would like to try to catch her but she doesn’t trust me enough yet. I just don’t want my other cats to get sick if I let her inside. Her ear is clipped so I know she is spayed and stray. I let her inside for a few today but other cats were in my room.

Wilbur is the fussiest cat I’ve ever met but this photo made my day and I hope it brings you some joy

He loves doing this. I looked it up and apparently cats do this when they have been taken from their mother’s too early. I’m starting to think I should make him his own baby blanket bc he always tries to drag this one off of the couch when I’m trying to relax.

I’ve lived with cats my whole life and today I had to say goodbye to the first cat who undoubtedly called me their person. Her name was Raven and what started out as unusually labored breathing turned into a quick trip over the rainbow bridge. She was too strong to show me she was battling cancer until it was too late. It was so unexpected, cats really are masters of hiding their pain. She was 13 and she was my little RaeRae. I miss you more than you’ll know.

This kiddo has nothing in his brain. BUT I am in the middle of what I hope is only going to be a health scare, and I have to do all of these diagnostic tests to find out what’s going on. I have felt so alone and so frightened.

And this guy, normally skittish and independent, has not left my side. He constantly pesters me in a way he hasn’t before and is never out of eyesight. He demands I love on him and he loves on me.

Smart? No. Instincts? Dead on. Love? Abundant.

I always said I wasn’t a cat person, I was a dog person with a lifestyle that only fit a cat. But Coda here has changed everything for me.

Sending gratitude into the world for this fluffball who is saving my sanity. Someone is getting treats tonight. ❤️

Tearing up making this post because we recently found out that she has cancer. It’s the most devastating thing because I never wanted to believe this day would come. Praying it’s something that can be treated. We are being referred to oncology soon. She’s grown up with my brother and I and she’s extremely special. Can’t imagine life without her. Animals should get to live forever. It’s not fair. Just had to share these precious photos of her 🖤

Just adopted this little guy! The shelter said he’s a Snowshoe. Named him Skelly because of his nose pattern (Looks like a skull) and spooky season. He’s super loving and very chill!

Said goodbye to my best friend yesterday. He went out purring in my lap. My heart is so heavy. R.I.P. Pow.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your kind words. You’ve made a tough time just a little bit easier.

Hi everyone!

This is my new baby Laszlo! (What We Do in the Shadows fans unite). He is 3 months old and weighs 4.5 pounds. Unsure of exact breed, we adopted him from a local shelter. But he seems like he will be a big boy!

What are your favorite toys for your kitties?!

Unique odd-eyed look of a street cat from Izmir, Turkey. I’m not quite sure is it Turkish Van or Turkish Angora cat but either way it looks beautiful.