I’m so incredibly sorry. Reading this broke my heart, because I know that particular kind of pain all too well. I’ve had to say goodbye to six kitties over my years on this rotating rock we call Earth, and no matter how many times you experience it, there is absolutely nothing that makes it easier. What you wrote about Ares growing up alongside you really touched me. He wasn’t “just a cat.” He was a constant. He was there for the little girl you were, the woman you became, through unimaginable loss, happiness, heartbreak, change, and all those ordinary days that somehow become the most precious memories when they’re gone. And please don’t feel selfish for not being ready. Of course you aren’t ready. How could you possibly be ready to say goodbye to someone who has been part of nearly half your life? I also smiled through the tears at the thought of him knocking things off your nightstand at 3 AM because he had apparently decided that starvation was imminent. ❤️ Those are the moments you’ll miss the most someday—the ridiculous, annoying, completely ordinary things that only Ares did. I want you to know that I said hello to him. I told him he’s handsome, that he is very clearly loved, and that he has done an extraordinary job being his person’s little shadow, companion, menace, comfort, and family for almost 11 years. And when that awful time comes, remember this: you are not giving up on him. You are taking the pain onto yourself so he doesn’t have to carry it anymore. That is one of the hardest and most selfless forms of love there is. Six times I’ve had to let one of my babies go, and every single one left a hole that never completely disappears. But neither does the love. Somehow, they stay with us—in photographs, in memories, in the empty places they used to sleep, and in those ridiculous little habits that we once wished they would stop doing and would now give anything to experience one more time. Ares existed. He mattered. He was deeply, ridiculously lo...

Such a beautiful tribute! Hello Ares! I’ve had to say goodbye to 4 cats in the last 20 years. It never gets easier. Each one is so loved and so special. I always have more than one cat so although I’m heartbroken, my others are there to help me through the difficult time. Open your heart and home to another cat, ofc after some time passes.

OK, well now so I’m doing everything I can not to cry for you and sweet Ares. I have a very strict rule about crying. I don’t do it because it gives me sinus headaches!! However, this is one of those situations where I will make an exception. I can’t tell you how many cats I have had and also I have had dogs and I have had to make that terrible decision and once I found out that I could sit with them as they were being put to sleep, I started sitting with them and regret not doing so for my previous pets… and feel immense guilt for it!! It is a TERRIBLE, heavy weight to be in such a position!! …But what you must know… meaning… the thing that you must understand… is that when you make such a decision, you are choosing to end the suffering of the best friend that you’ve had for all of these years… you are not choosing a path of cruelty you are choosing a path of love. It truly is a due to others thing if you were suffering so you would wish someone to help you…. So you will know when it is time as long as you look carefully at the situation with the same loving eyes that you have looked up upon Ares with for all of the splendid 11 years you have given him… and know that both of you are very fortunate to have been in one other’s lives even in these last moments and these final decisions, they don’t feel like fortune. They are purely agonizing torture. I know I’ve been there many times (and I will be there many more times as I have a houseful currently and mine are all about the same age so when one goes probably it will be like a set of dominoes). But remember in these torturous moments, you are helping you are making it better. You are making the suffering go away. You are sharing your love and you’re still taking care of Ares in the same loving and protective way that you always have!! I am so sincerely sorry for your current situation, but I’m likewise sincerely happy for you that you’ve had such a wonderful companion who has gotten you through some really tru...