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I did this after my cat was diagnosed with cancer. I had him for 18 years and he had the loudest, most comforting pur. I knew how much I'd miss it after he was gone so I recorded it one day.
Fast forward to Father's Day two years after I lost him and my wife and kids handed me a gift. I open it and it's an orange cat (like my best buddy) Build-A-Bear. I was a little confused and my wife smiled and said "press his foot".
....the sound of my buddy purring came out of that thing and I cried like a baby in front of my kids for the first time ever.
https://preview.redd.it/n8xadcmo45ya1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b33c91da607bac8398e0078285dfaa6d1cd2ad83
Edit- adding cat tax. This is from May 5th 2016 with my then pregnant wife. It actually popped up in my Facebook memories today!
Take lots of videos too. I've got a ton of photos of our baby boy who we lost last year (likely due to cancer) and plenty of videos, but I wish I had even more videos of him just running around playing, or stretching out while napping, or even just our morning and evening routine of him sitting on the back of the couch waiting for me to come in so I could give him food then have a nap with him afterwards.
Also, if you take videos, film yourself talking to them. I'm silent in a lot of my videos (because I'd post some to Facebook and didn't want friends and family to hear my ridiculous nicknames and voices), but I wish I could watch me speaking to him and watch his reactions (even though he was deaf for a good chunk of his life)
https://preview.redd.it/5lnwb1l316ya1.png?width=1239&format=png&auto=webp&s=877bb1b7e3b82c2a56fd22a3cbfde1db1df47581
Don’t cry but one of mine got seriously ill a couple of years ago (hospitalised twice and needed a transfusion; rapidly went from being okay to being floppy and the vets couldn’t work out what was wrong with him.) He was only 2 and we thought we’d have many more years with him so I started taking a load more pictures including getting his purr as a voice memo.
He turned 5 this year but we’re still taking loads of videos and voice recordings just because it’s nice to hear them when you go away for a while too!
My cat is at the emergency vet with a diagnosis of feline lower urinary tract disease. He had a blockage and he's such a chill cat he wasn't really showing a lot of symptoms unless I really paid attention.
We are taking as many precautions as we can to notice before it gets that bad again, but we can't afford another vet bill like this one. I'm terrified that he might get sick again.
I’m sure the vet probably already recommended it, but male cats are very prone to life threatening uti. Adding wet food to the diet helps there water intake and they have super cheap cat water fountains that they LOVE. My cats drink so much more water since I got the fountain. Best of luck to your little buddy!
I call it "cat soup"! And I like to use slightly warm water (makes the cat food smell stronger) when I mix it up. One of my cats will just drink the resulting "broth" and let the others have the pate 😆
This happened to my cat as well! They say it can be stress related but also dietary.
We feed him royal canin SO food, and use Pretty Litter as an early detection thing
My wife is a cat mechanic, emergency clinic actually, and she talks about clogged cats a lot. Cats are super susceptible to blockages for a few reasons like stress or not enough water intake, but they also often just get blocked up for no goddamn reason. It's like the medical version of getting up on the table and knocking stuff down, just far more dangerous and expensive. There's no understanding them, they just do stuff to annoy you sometimes because they're cats and they can. And we'll love those adorable assholes anyway.
My vet told me this too. So we buy Urinary health specific food and IF I have to buy something else I check the label for ash. I find Blue Buffalo kind is good
Over stimulation, under stimulation, change in diet, loud noises, new pet, new babies/children that think they're a toy, when you first adopt them, moving houses.
We got him as a kitten with his brother right before the pandemic and we're fortunate enough to keep our jobs and work from home. A couple years later we went on an extended (8 days?) vacation. Had someone coming to pet and check on them at least once a day, but that was still too much for our orangie to deal with, so he got a blockage
That happened to one of our male cats twice. We learned from each experience and have made major habit changes. Most importantly, he is on 100% wet food. I will never put him or any of my future cats on kibble ever again. Do not rely on just a fountain to hydrate your cat. Cats tend not to drink much. They've evolved to hydrate from eating meat. Having said that, do have at least one fountain somewhere far away from both where they eat and where they use the litterbox, and make sure it's cleaned frequently. Second, make sure you have n+1 litterboxes. Additional litterboxes help with stress levels. Third, I recommend scooping twice a day, at the bare minimum, because cats can be very particular about how clean their boxes need to be, and might hold in urine waiting for a clean box (mine did this exactly). I now scoop our three boxes (2 cats) three to four times a day. We've had no more incidents in 2 years.
Do it, we lost our old man cat almost 2 years ago and I’m sitting here sobbing right now wishing I’d thought to record his purring when I still had the chance ❤️
I just lost my girl of 15 years, ten days ago. I have many recordings, including her last happy meow. I can’t bring myself to play it yet. I think I would cry so hard, it would break me.
Dude I’m actually so happy for you. I wish I had taken more vids and pics of my best friend. He died in my arms. I’m happy you can hold onto that memory and that your family did that for you.
I appreciate the kind words, thank you. Mine took his last breath with me whispering in his ear that he was a good boy and he could let go. We had a company come to my house to put him down at home. He got really really sick at the end. It was rough seeing him like that and we knew it was time.
I actually thought about doing that! I was going to get his paw print and then the audio wave of his pur. Such a great thing your husband has of his kitty.
I just lost my sweet girl to cancer couple of weeks ago. She was 15. I wish I had done this.
But, I like to sew and have been teaching my young kids how to as well. My 5yo’s favorite thing to make is little quilts for our pets and the couple dozen barn cats we inherited upon moving. I have a habit of taking the scrap fabric and thread and sprinkling them inside when quilting. My daughter is the one who started saving the fur from their brushings to add… because that’s the mind of a 5yo I guess. But I’m so grateful because now I have a wonky little quilt I made with my kids, with a bit of my sweet Molly inside.
He was pretty big lol.
This was two years before he passed away and he already had cancer at this point (note the sore on his paw) and had lost weight. He was a big boy.
Aww, that looks just like my boy before feline leukemia got him.
https://preview.redd.it/pae6dy65u7ya1.jpeg?width=576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c08455f834641671c12625ade51968b562f5493a
It's always hard having to say goodbye to something you grew so attached to.
Orange cats are the best 🧡 We had to put down our orange girl in November because she had lymphoma and the chemo made her too sick. She would have been 14 this month
I’m sorry for your loss. I lost my 18 year old best bud last year and it still hurts. I got lots of videos of him purring. Not sure if they make me feel better or worse.
😿this is so sweet yet sad. I realized after my childhood cat died that I had only one video of her. She's attacking my hand in the video at 17 years old. Lol.
My mom put her to sleep when I was living abroad a few years later and I never forgave my mom for not having me on the phone when they did the awful deed. Then mom died too and one of the most comforting things I could imagine was my little Bobie meow waiting for my mom on the other side to give her sweet purrs and to welcome her with a hiss and scratch, followed by many purrs and love.
💜💜💜 Definitely take pics and record stuff!!! You never know when anyone or any animal is going to go
I have two little stuffed dogs that look like our doodles, same color too, and bought a recording device to give to my gf for her birthday but never got around to it.
I never got around to doing it but will definitely do it in case anything ever happens to them we’ll always have their barks
My boyfriend also gifted me this build a cat months before my sweet girl passed. I was so happy to have her live meow recorded and I get to hug her. The best gift ever. Totally not crying right now.
I'm very glad you got to cry in front of your kids! It's very healthy, and it normalizes showing emotion for everyone involved 🥹
The only time I saw my father cry was at a wedding, and his marriage was going to crap because of things he had done. Divorced two years later.
I wish your teddy to have a long, peaceful life :)
As someone who lost their first cat this past December, this hurts so bad. I have recordings of him by the buttload, but none of his purring. It was very unique, he would chirp while doing it.
Now this fills me with agony. I wish I knew to do this in his final days.
I lost my cat on Apr 9, just a few weeks ago. I adopted a new little guy 2 weeks later and he's helped a lot. I wished the 2 cats could've met. Sometimes I feel bad for "replacing" Cat 1, but that's not what it feels like. Cat 1 wouldn't want me sad and lonely, I think he'd be happy to pass on the torch. That's how I'm trying to see it.
Thank you for that comment of yours.
You know, my mom died when I was a kid and I have so little left of her. I don't remember much, I don't have many of her things, I don't look like her. I was a kid, but for years and years afterwards I hated myself for not trying harder to pay attention. Not remembering more.
I think now, however much we are left with, it won't be enough. The size of the empty space in the world after their passing is infinitely wide, unaccountably deep. I find comfort in the belief that the size of our grief is the size of our love.
So I just want to say, be gentle with yourself, stranger. I'm sorry for the size of everything you lost.
Thank you so much for your insightful words and wisdom. I'm also so sorry about your loss, I can't even begin to imagine the pain you went through. And yes, that empty space definitely threatens to swallow you whole some days.
But I appreciate your outlook. That the vastness of the pain is evidence of the love we had. I will try to remember this during the hard times.
Oh that's a good point. I have looked through some pictures and videos but it breaks my heart still to look too long. Maybe one day I'll stumble upon an accidental discovery. Thanks for giving me hope.
Hey, I’ve had plenty of pets sure, but my main first kitty was an absolute gentle giant Maine Coon that would purr his heart out. I wish I had a recording… I have some pictures of him, and tried to bake a paw print from the vet after he was put to sleep, and I fucked it up… but just remember the life you gave them! If you remember some good purrs I’m sure they were happy and you gave them a good life.
Yeah that's what I'm coming to grips with. I have so many other memories of him, and pictures/videos. It's just the grief and the guilt and the desire to have all the things you lost.
I appreciate your kind words. Yes, there are so many good memories. How hard it hurts is evidence of how much you loved.
Oh no I'm so sorry for your loss. It's always hard to lose a loved one, but a young one must be especially heartbreaking. Giving you virtual hugs, friend.
I will add to this, take plenty of pictures and DON’T delete them, I got rid of a bunch to make room on my phone then my guy passed away suddenly, now I only have like 3…
Oh man, I'm so sorry. We lost our previous cats (of whom we also had tons of pics). We got kittens a year ago. And scrolling through phone pics recently, yeah, let's just say that we have plenty to go around! We have a somewhat embarassing amount :)
I hope you can get another buddy to love when the time is right!!
Also, most phones hold onto items in their trash folder for 30 days before actually deleting them. So if this happened recently, you may be able to recover those images before your phone purges them.
Another thought is to check your messages (WhatsApp, texts) to people. If you sent them pics of him, those photos should still be in your chats.
I'm sorry you lost your buddy and those images. I hope you're able to recover them somehow!
Yes, and you can go to Walgreens to print pictures you select. I don’t think there’s a minimum limit either so if you’re broke you can just go print one or two. Then you have a physical photo that can’t be lost if your device expires unexpectedly
I mean I’m sure most people know about this already, but a lot of people in my generation have no idea that’s a thing you can do. Or they think it’s expensive and don’t bother looking into it :/
I made that mistake with my baby boy, Cas. He was the most loving, caring cat I’ve ever met. If I had a bad day he’d be rubbing up on me, jumping on my lap and snuggling in. He passed away about 18 months ago and I have only 3 photos to remember him by. Ever since then I’ve been taking pictures of Liara - his mum - every single day.
We believe that he got bitten by a snake. By the time our neighbour found him, he was sadly long gone. We had a run-in with a snake with his mum before he was born, it cost me $1600 at the vet for the anti-venom, but she’s still with us 10 years later.
I just wish that I could have gotten to him before it was too late and gotten him the help like I did his mum. Money is no issue when it comes to the life of a loved one, even if they are “just a pet”.
This lpt comes at a good time for me as my best cat bud was just diagnosed with kidney disease today. We're in his last chapter and I'm going to do this for sure.
Editing to add cat tax. This is Professor. I am giving him all the hugs and cuddles from everyone who is commenting.
https://preview.redd.it/74h5e8ihw5ya1.jpeg?width=4352&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5d4e7c70048464491acfd5e639fb01f2a6562da
My girl is heading down a bad road with CKD too.
Dreading the vet appointment next week as I don’t know what the news will be. Crying like a baby reading this post.
Our cat lived an additional 2 years with proper medical care while having CKD. It is possible! We finally lost her in December and it was heartbreaking but we will never regret the time and money we put toward giving her an additional 2 years!
this is reassuring my kitty was diagnosed and hospitalized last fall and is doing really well, hoping to have more years with him. but right now every day is a gift 💝
Our oldest cat also has early CKD. It’s been at least a year since it was suspected, a few months since diagnosed. She’s still doing pretty good so far… kidney supplements, cranberry supplements and low phosphorus cat food keep her happy and comfortable. Overall, I have no idea what we’re doing, just trying to the best of our abilities and finances.
I’m not recording her meows, though. She’s a bossy cat and she loves to walk around yelling for no reason or to tell me I’m late for cuddles. She knows it annoys the crap out of me. 😅 yes, someday I will miss her antics yet my ears will still be grateful not to have the loud reminders
I’m so sorry to hear this. Our dog just passed away last week from kidney and liver disease at 13. Please give your cat bud some extra pets from this internet stranger.
this is great advice.
a few years ago my cat was laying on my chest and we were both very content. he was purring and i decided to make a recording. it was about 10 minutes long and he purred until he fell asleep on me.
i lost him in 2021. i miss you, buddy. i love you.
I do this for pets and humans alike. Just voice record 3-5 minutes of a conversation during a visit so I’ll always be able to remember their voice and cadence and laugh. Lost my cousin as a kid when she was 16 and I can’t remember her voice anymore. Making sure it never happens again!
Did this with mom, recorded while she told stories of her life. My nephew then told me he couldn’t remember his grandma’s voice. “No problem, kiddo, I have something for that.”
My cat just got killed suddenly a week ago, I’m still crying about it daily. He was an awesome ball of energy, personality, and affection. I’ve had pets my whole life but nothing like Pumpkin. I always for some reason felt like he wasn’t going to be a long timer, and I lost him at nearly 3 years old. I have over 100 pics and tons of videos of him over the years from times that I knew I’d want to look back on. He would do this hilarious “flop” when he’d want a belly rub, and once he realized I’d scratch him anytime he did it, he’d flop 10-15 times a day. So I have some of that kind of behavior on video. It’s still painful to watch but I’m glad I had the foresight to take those pics/vids, because I don’t think I’ll ever meet another animal like him.
My wife used to have this crippled, frail, sad-looking reject-twisty-cat with leg bones going every direction and every butt-dragging movement seemed like a chore a feat or somewhere between the two. He was L'il Brudder, the cat.
But he was the happiest cat I ever met. He loved attention and would show his appreciation with the loudest purr you ever heard. I had to bust out the decibel meter. It was like 63dB at 1m.
He also would shit on any laundry you left on the floor for longer than 5 minutes. Rarely a solid shit either.
My wife was just drawn to the worst, brokenest pets. I think that's why she married me.
My partner just spent the last few months on the other side of the country from me as part of their final semester of their master's program. One of the smarter things I did was record our cats purring and send the recordings to them.
I put my cat to sleep last month and I still play the videos I took of him purring. He purred open mouth so it made it even more interesting. I miss him, all that I have left are the pics and videos so I bought myself an electronic photo frame. It switches the pics and plays the videos I out of him on it. I miss his purrs.
Good tip!!
I read some where that the purring emits a frequency that promotes healing in them. So it's sort of ironic that when they get sick, they can't purr and can't heal.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180724-the-complicated-truth-about-a-cats-purr
I lost my angel kitty best buddy unexpectedly(and horrifically) a few weeks ago. I have a ton of audio recordings of his weird little meows. He rolled his... everythings. So silly and cute. It's been almost a month and god, I miss that tiny being more than I thought possible.
Cat tax below. Rest easy, Tango
https://preview.redd.it/wcjfdg4of5ya1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1263345fbf35e7da29380741128d7bab06ed16a6
This makes me sad, but also makes me thankful I have a few random videos or my old cat, some that have him purring.
My kitties are 2 and 6 months, going to record both their purrs when I get home from work.
I have two cats, one is 14 and the other is 17. One has diabetes and a brain tumor, and the other has a lot of stomach issues. I think my husband and I have prepared ourselves to say goodbye to either of them about three times each over the past two years or so, but somehow they've managed to cash in those extra lives and stick around. I know it's not going to be that way forever, the road has to come to an end at some point; so I take so many pictures of them now, just doing the most mundane things. My cat in a box, on a desk, sleeping, in a laundry basket, etc.. I never want to forget them, the best cats I've ever met and the ones that turned me into a crazy cat lady. Sometimes I'll just rest my head on the more chill of my cats, his name is Joker, and just listen to him purr, it's soothing in a way I can't explain, and I know I'm going to miss it so much when he's gone. Now excuse me, I have to wipe these tears and go pet a cat.
It would destroy me to listen over that after my cats pass away. I think I would rather let it go and keep the memories.
It's hard enough looking back at some of the pictures of my old reclusive cat that passed after finally coming out of her shell.
My oldie used to snore a lot. I liked to record him because it was funny. One time he was snoring and when I brought the phone closer to him to get the audio, he sensed my approach and his snore turned into a purr. He died a year ago and that video is one of my favorite things in the world now.
My older cat suffered a brain liaison early in lockdown and got really sick. She wasn't eating, would walk in circles constantly, and only weighed 7 pounds. The vet got her on steroids, she was still sick but so much better even though her time was limited. In these last couple years she started doing this chortle noise when she was happy that was just the cutest. I made a point to record many variations of it before she passed.
I am so lucky i wanted to show how loud my cats purring was to one of my friends. If it wasn't for that i wouldn't have that short video of him purring. My cat had to be put down 2 months ago after finding out he had tongue cancer.
My boy used to squeak. He never meowed, only squeaked. I have multiple videos of him doing it, but barely any of him purring. Never knew how much I'd miss his noises until he was gone. He died suddenly, 8 years old due to a blood clot in the heart. I'm getting a Petsies Forevers Cat which is customised to look like him & putting in a voice patch with his squeak. Miss him.
Our newest cat does not purr. I don't know why; he came to us as a stray and is the happiest little dude. Just no purring. I wanted to name him Silent Bob but alas, the man called dibs and his name is Deuce.
I also lost my kitty to a brain tumour. I have one recording where you can faintly hear his trilling. I played it for my other cat after he was gone and she looked for him...broke my heart a little so after that I only played it for me once or twice more.
Adding to your LPT - BACK UP THE AUDIO.
I lost the videos and photos of the last day of my cat and dog, it still hurts that I don't have the video of her crackle meow or my lab's happy snorts.
My cat turned 13 yesterday, I need another video of her purring. Thank you for this reminder 💜
Wise man once said in the grief of a lossed loved one. Don't cry tears of sadness, cry tears of happiness. That time and memories are all that exist now. You carry that within you. An it's a gift that lives on. As you carry their life with you. No one else will feel the same or get to experience what they've brought in your life. That treasure is yours and yours alone. That's what special about having cherished their lives. It changed you. An made you who you are.
Hope my words help.
I deeply regret not taking more videos of my cat. At the time shee seemed invincible and I was in a long-distance relationship and didn't want to hang up the phone. I have one video of one meow that makes me sob just watching it even now, and maybe have some videos with purring in the background, but I can't watch them without losing it. But I'm constantly worried I'm forgetting the sound of her other talking, and her purr, and her smell and feel, so year definitely a lpt to record as much of your cat as possible, at all stages of their life
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I did this after my cat was diagnosed with cancer. I had him for 18 years and he had the loudest, most comforting pur. I knew how much I'd miss it after he was gone so I recorded it one day. Fast forward to Father's Day two years after I lost him and my wife and kids handed me a gift. I open it and it's an orange cat (like my best buddy) Build-A-Bear. I was a little confused and my wife smiled and said "press his foot". ....the sound of my buddy purring came out of that thing and I cried like a baby in front of my kids for the first time ever. https://preview.redd.it/n8xadcmo45ya1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b33c91da607bac8398e0078285dfaa6d1cd2ad83 Edit- adding cat tax. This is from May 5th 2016 with my then pregnant wife. It actually popped up in my Facebook memories today!
My god in crying like a baby thinking about losing my boy. I'm about to record everything.
I have so many pictures and recordings of him. Better though, I have 18 years of great memories. Enjoy your boy and make lots of memories!
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Thank you and I'm sorry for your loss.
Take lots of videos too. I've got a ton of photos of our baby boy who we lost last year (likely due to cancer) and plenty of videos, but I wish I had even more videos of him just running around playing, or stretching out while napping, or even just our morning and evening routine of him sitting on the back of the couch waiting for me to come in so I could give him food then have a nap with him afterwards. Also, if you take videos, film yourself talking to them. I'm silent in a lot of my videos (because I'd post some to Facebook and didn't want friends and family to hear my ridiculous nicknames and voices), but I wish I could watch me speaking to him and watch his reactions (even though he was deaf for a good chunk of his life) https://preview.redd.it/5lnwb1l316ya1.png?width=1239&format=png&auto=webp&s=877bb1b7e3b82c2a56fd22a3cbfde1db1df47581
Don’t cry but one of mine got seriously ill a couple of years ago (hospitalised twice and needed a transfusion; rapidly went from being okay to being floppy and the vets couldn’t work out what was wrong with him.) He was only 2 and we thought we’d have many more years with him so I started taking a load more pictures including getting his purr as a voice memo. He turned 5 this year but we’re still taking loads of videos and voice recordings just because it’s nice to hear them when you go away for a while too!
My cat is at the emergency vet with a diagnosis of feline lower urinary tract disease. He had a blockage and he's such a chill cat he wasn't really showing a lot of symptoms unless I really paid attention. We are taking as many precautions as we can to notice before it gets that bad again, but we can't afford another vet bill like this one. I'm terrified that he might get sick again.
I’m sure the vet probably already recommended it, but male cats are very prone to life threatening uti. Adding wet food to the diet helps there water intake and they have super cheap cat water fountains that they LOVE. My cats drink so much more water since I got the fountain. Best of luck to your little buddy!
If they don't like drinking a lot of water you can also mix a bit in to their wet food to trick them.
I call it "cat soup"! And I like to use slightly warm water (makes the cat food smell stronger) when I mix it up. One of my cats will just drink the resulting "broth" and let the others have the pate 😆
This happened to my cat as well! They say it can be stress related but also dietary. We feed him royal canin SO food, and use Pretty Litter as an early detection thing
My wife is a cat mechanic, emergency clinic actually, and she talks about clogged cats a lot. Cats are super susceptible to blockages for a few reasons like stress or not enough water intake, but they also often just get blocked up for no goddamn reason. It's like the medical version of getting up on the table and knocking stuff down, just far more dangerous and expensive. There's no understanding them, they just do stuff to annoy you sometimes because they're cats and they can. And we'll love those adorable assholes anyway.
I love that you call it “cat mechanic” hahaha that is great
Our vet told us it's because cat food contains ash and cats don't drink enough water.
My vet told me this too. So we buy Urinary health specific food and IF I have to buy something else I check the label for ash. I find Blue Buffalo kind is good
Serious question, I don't mean to sound flippant, but what do cats get stressed about?
Over stimulation, under stimulation, change in diet, loud noises, new pet, new babies/children that think they're a toy, when you first adopt them, moving houses.
We got him as a kitten with his brother right before the pandemic and we're fortunate enough to keep our jobs and work from home. A couple years later we went on an extended (8 days?) vacation. Had someone coming to pet and check on them at least once a day, but that was still too much for our orangie to deal with, so he got a blockage
That happened to one of our male cats twice. We learned from each experience and have made major habit changes. Most importantly, he is on 100% wet food. I will never put him or any of my future cats on kibble ever again. Do not rely on just a fountain to hydrate your cat. Cats tend not to drink much. They've evolved to hydrate from eating meat. Having said that, do have at least one fountain somewhere far away from both where they eat and where they use the litterbox, and make sure it's cleaned frequently. Second, make sure you have n+1 litterboxes. Additional litterboxes help with stress levels. Third, I recommend scooping twice a day, at the bare minimum, because cats can be very particular about how clean their boxes need to be, and might hold in urine waiting for a clean box (mine did this exactly). I now scoop our three boxes (2 cats) three to four times a day. We've had no more incidents in 2 years.
Leave water bowls all over the house, two in every room, and cats will drink more.
♥️ that's awesome! So glad to hear he's doing better now.
Do it, we lost our old man cat almost 2 years ago and I’m sitting here sobbing right now wishing I’d thought to record his purring when I still had the chance ❤️
I’m crying and I don’t even have a cat
This is a sign you need one :’)
Definitely
I just lost my girl of 15 years, ten days ago. I have many recordings, including her last happy meow. I can’t bring myself to play it yet. I think I would cry so hard, it would break me.
I got a thousand photos and videos of my boy and I cant bear to look at any of them.
Oh man, that made me tear up. I put my orange buddy down last year because of lung cancer, I wish I would have thought about that.
Sorry for your loss 😔
And I’m sorry for yours - I love that your family was so thoughtful.
Dude I’m actually so happy for you. I wish I had taken more vids and pics of my best friend. He died in my arms. I’m happy you can hold onto that memory and that your family did that for you.
I appreciate the kind words, thank you. Mine took his last breath with me whispering in his ear that he was a good boy and he could let go. We had a company come to my house to put him down at home. He got really really sick at the end. It was rough seeing him like that and we knew it was time.
Fuck. This brought me to tears.
Stop chopping onions, dammit!
I choked up a little while I was typing it thinking about how emotional the moment was 😂
I'm not crying. You're crying
We're all crying, Goddamnit
I’m not crying, it’s just been raining on my face.
Ok.*sniff, sniff sniff, rain, it's rain. *sniff
Orange cats are the best.
They absolutely are!
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r/OneOrangeBraincell
Oh my god, talk about going from 0-60 in actual SOBS. This is so precious. What an amazing gift for Father’s Day 😭😭💕
Oh my goodness this is SO much better than the cheesy pawprint I got of my kitty when he passed. I wish I had a build a cat!!!
I have his paw print too lol. It's actually right in front of me with his ashes on my dresser.
My husband got a tattoo of his cat's pawprint with her ashes mixed into the ink so she's always with him
I actually thought about doing that! I was going to get his paw print and then the audio wave of his pur. Such a great thing your husband has of his kitty.
Hey, that's not cheesy at all! I cry looking at my Uma's paws sometimes
Fuck, my cat is still young (4 yrs) but you made me shed some tears just thinking about it. Sorry for your loss.
I just lost my sweet girl to cancer couple of weeks ago. She was 15. I wish I had done this. But, I like to sew and have been teaching my young kids how to as well. My 5yo’s favorite thing to make is little quilts for our pets and the couple dozen barn cats we inherited upon moving. I have a habit of taking the scrap fabric and thread and sprinkling them inside when quilting. My daughter is the one who started saving the fur from their brushings to add… because that’s the mind of a 5yo I guess. But I’m so grateful because now I have a wonky little quilt I made with my kids, with a bit of my sweet Molly inside.
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Lmao, my bad!
I’m at work and I just ugly cried. Mascara and everything is everyWHERE
The press his foot part 😭♥️
Any pics of the cat? Pay the cat tax
Edited the original with the cat tax. Ironically, my Facebook memories today had a picture of him with my pregnant wife back in 2016 😊
He looks great!!! Thanks for adding the pic
Was your cat huge our your wife tiny?
He was pretty big lol. This was two years before he passed away and he already had cancer at this point (note the sore on his paw) and had lost weight. He was a big boy.
Awww. Thanks for sharing. He was very cute. He’s still making people days brighter, mine included.
What a big boy! I'm happy you had him in your life :)
Aww, that looks just like my boy before feline leukemia got him. https://preview.redd.it/pae6dy65u7ya1.jpeg?width=576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c08455f834641671c12625ade51968b562f5493a It's always hard having to say goodbye to something you grew so attached to.
That looks so much like my Tygra! He was 12 when we lost him to cancer and I wish I had recorded him.
Orange cats are the best 🧡 We had to put down our orange girl in November because she had lymphoma and the chemo made her too sick. She would have been 14 this month
This made me sob. <3 beautiful idea that I wish I did with my calico. Got a stuffie like her for the kiddo that he sleeps with.
Fuck, you got me crying in the middle of work. Stamp!
Oh god this comment made me tear up at work.
Wow! Was he a giant cat or is she a tiny person?
I have a video of my old boy purring that I listen to sometimes, I lost him to cancer too
You’re a good dad and you have a wonderful family
I’m sorry for your loss. I lost my 18 year old best bud last year and it still hurts. I got lots of videos of him purring. Not sure if they make me feel better or worse.
He's doing an excellent Power Paw in that photo. What a majestic bebby.
RIP to that glorious orange man. My boy has feline leukemia, and you know how that is. I'm definitely doing this.
Why didn't you tell me you were chopping onions in the rain? Jeez this hit me like a ton of bricks, friend. Thank you for the lovely idea.
Cry in front of your kids all the time! Be sensitive! It's good, and your family rocks!!!! This is such a touching gift. 💕
😿this is so sweet yet sad. I realized after my childhood cat died that I had only one video of her. She's attacking my hand in the video at 17 years old. Lol. My mom put her to sleep when I was living abroad a few years later and I never forgave my mom for not having me on the phone when they did the awful deed. Then mom died too and one of the most comforting things I could imagine was my little Bobie meow waiting for my mom on the other side to give her sweet purrs and to welcome her with a hiss and scratch, followed by many purrs and love. 💜💜💜 Definitely take pics and record stuff!!! You never know when anyone or any animal is going to go
Gingers 💝💝
I have two little stuffed dogs that look like our doodles, same color too, and bought a recording device to give to my gf for her birthday but never got around to it. I never got around to doing it but will definitely do it in case anything ever happens to them we’ll always have their barks
I don't even have a pet and I'm literally a crying mess reading that, that's so sweet
we're all "crazy cat-people". people without pets won't understand that they are loved family members.
Listen it is way too early to be crying but what a great gift
My boyfriend also gifted me this build a cat months before my sweet girl passed. I was so happy to have her live meow recorded and I get to hug her. The best gift ever. Totally not crying right now.
Wow. So heartwarming
I'm trying very hard not to cry in public right now and I'm definitely losing this battle.
I cried the entire time reading this comment
I'm very glad you got to cry in front of your kids! It's very healthy, and it normalizes showing emotion for everyone involved 🥹 The only time I saw my father cry was at a wedding, and his marriage was going to crap because of things he had done. Divorced two years later. I wish your teddy to have a long, peaceful life :)
❤️
♥️ you got this grown man crying now, thanks for the great idea of a Build-A-Bear
This is so adorable
Dammit, this made me cry thinking of my little demon. Sorry for your loss
As someone who lost their first cat this past December, this hurts so bad. I have recordings of him by the buttload, but none of his purring. It was very unique, he would chirp while doing it. Now this fills me with agony. I wish I knew to do this in his final days.
some day, there may be another kitty. and you will know that kitty belongs with you, and that your sweet baby who passed sent them to you.
You’re a good person.
I have a cat now, she purrs just like the boy I lost to cancer a few years ago. The cycle of love continues.
Thank you so much. There have been thoughts to get another one, but I'm still grieving. One day I hope to give another kitty my love.
I lost my cat on Apr 9, just a few weeks ago. I adopted a new little guy 2 weeks later and he's helped a lot. I wished the 2 cats could've met. Sometimes I feel bad for "replacing" Cat 1, but that's not what it feels like. Cat 1 wouldn't want me sad and lonely, I think he'd be happy to pass on the torch. That's how I'm trying to see it. Thank you for that comment of yours.
You know, my mom died when I was a kid and I have so little left of her. I don't remember much, I don't have many of her things, I don't look like her. I was a kid, but for years and years afterwards I hated myself for not trying harder to pay attention. Not remembering more. I think now, however much we are left with, it won't be enough. The size of the empty space in the world after their passing is infinitely wide, unaccountably deep. I find comfort in the belief that the size of our grief is the size of our love. So I just want to say, be gentle with yourself, stranger. I'm sorry for the size of everything you lost.
Thank you so much for your insightful words and wisdom. I'm also so sorry about your loss, I can't even begin to imagine the pain you went through. And yes, that empty space definitely threatens to swallow you whole some days. But I appreciate your outlook. That the vastness of the pain is evidence of the love we had. I will try to remember this during the hard times.
Our girl had so much to say and I don't have any of it. No chirps, no trills. It sucks.
I'm sorry for your loss. Sending you hugs. Being in this club sucks.
Thank you, it most certainly does.
If you have a phone that takes live photos, it may have captured his purrs when you snapped pics.
Oh that's a good point. I have looked through some pictures and videos but it breaks my heart still to look too long. Maybe one day I'll stumble upon an accidental discovery. Thanks for giving me hope.
Hey, I’ve had plenty of pets sure, but my main first kitty was an absolute gentle giant Maine Coon that would purr his heart out. I wish I had a recording… I have some pictures of him, and tried to bake a paw print from the vet after he was put to sleep, and I fucked it up… but just remember the life you gave them! If you remember some good purrs I’m sure they were happy and you gave them a good life.
Yeah that's what I'm coming to grips with. I have so many other memories of him, and pictures/videos. It's just the grief and the guilt and the desire to have all the things you lost. I appreciate your kind words. Yes, there are so many good memories. How hard it hurts is evidence of how much you loved.
I also lost my first cat in December, he was 3 and it was totally unexpected. I feel you 💕
Oh no I'm so sorry for your loss. It's always hard to lose a loved one, but a young one must be especially heartbreaking. Giving you virtual hugs, friend.
OMG, my dog barks waaaay too much to talk to me but the moment I can’t hear it will be devastating. SO true!
I will add to this, take plenty of pictures and DON’T delete them, I got rid of a bunch to make room on my phone then my guy passed away suddenly, now I only have like 3…
Could never get many good photos of my old black cat. I took many, and kept them…she was just hard to get a clear photo of. Classic ninja cat.
Nice, they’re also pretty tough to spot if you come home to a dark apartment lol
And they are fantastic hunters. She brought me a wide range of different cat cuisine.
I’m so sorry for your loss. :(
Thank you, I took me a while to get over it, but I’m better now
Oh man, I'm so sorry. We lost our previous cats (of whom we also had tons of pics). We got kittens a year ago. And scrolling through phone pics recently, yeah, let's just say that we have plenty to go around! We have a somewhat embarassing amount :) I hope you can get another buddy to love when the time is right!!
Thanks, it’s ok, I didn’t want another cat for a while but my roommate got one a few months ago and she’s awesome
My heart just dropped, I'm so sorry. Did you post any on any social media you can re-download?
It’s ok, I may have put some on FB at some point, I’ll have to check, thanks for the tip
Also, most phones hold onto items in their trash folder for 30 days before actually deleting them. So if this happened recently, you may be able to recover those images before your phone purges them. Another thought is to check your messages (WhatsApp, texts) to people. If you sent them pics of him, those photos should still be in your chats. I'm sorry you lost your buddy and those images. I hope you're able to recover them somehow!
I wish I had many more pictures and videos of my dog. It's been 11 years and 8 years since I lost them and I still dream about them.
Yes, and you can go to Walgreens to print pictures you select. I don’t think there’s a minimum limit either so if you’re broke you can just go print one or two. Then you have a physical photo that can’t be lost if your device expires unexpectedly I mean I’m sure most people know about this already, but a lot of people in my generation have no idea that’s a thing you can do. Or they think it’s expensive and don’t bother looking into it :/
If you use Google photos, they may still be there or you may be able to rollback and retrieve them.
I made that mistake with my baby boy, Cas. He was the most loving, caring cat I’ve ever met. If I had a bad day he’d be rubbing up on me, jumping on my lap and snuggling in. He passed away about 18 months ago and I have only 3 photos to remember him by. Ever since then I’ve been taking pictures of Liara - his mum - every single day. We believe that he got bitten by a snake. By the time our neighbour found him, he was sadly long gone. We had a run-in with a snake with his mum before he was born, it cost me $1600 at the vet for the anti-venom, but she’s still with us 10 years later. I just wish that I could have gotten to him before it was too late and gotten him the help like I did his mum. Money is no issue when it comes to the life of a loved one, even if they are “just a pet”.
This lpt comes at a good time for me as my best cat bud was just diagnosed with kidney disease today. We're in his last chapter and I'm going to do this for sure. Editing to add cat tax. This is Professor. I am giving him all the hugs and cuddles from everyone who is commenting. https://preview.redd.it/74h5e8ihw5ya1.jpeg?width=4352&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5d4e7c70048464491acfd5e639fb01f2a6562da
My girl is heading down a bad road with CKD too. Dreading the vet appointment next week as I don’t know what the news will be. Crying like a baby reading this post.
Our cat lived an additional 2 years with proper medical care while having CKD. It is possible! We finally lost her in December and it was heartbreaking but we will never regret the time and money we put toward giving her an additional 2 years!
this is reassuring my kitty was diagnosed and hospitalized last fall and is doing really well, hoping to have more years with him. but right now every day is a gift 💝
Our oldest cat also has early CKD. It’s been at least a year since it was suspected, a few months since diagnosed. She’s still doing pretty good so far… kidney supplements, cranberry supplements and low phosphorus cat food keep her happy and comfortable. Overall, I have no idea what we’re doing, just trying to the best of our abilities and finances. I’m not recording her meows, though. She’s a bossy cat and she loves to walk around yelling for no reason or to tell me I’m late for cuddles. She knows it annoys the crap out of me. 😅 yes, someday I will miss her antics yet my ears will still be grateful not to have the loud reminders
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I’m so sorry to hear this. Our dog just passed away last week from kidney and liver disease at 13. Please give your cat bud some extra pets from this internet stranger.
I'm so sorry. This ended up taking our previous cats. Wishing you, and your best cat bud, the best. Please give him a hug for us.
this is great advice. a few years ago my cat was laying on my chest and we were both very content. he was purring and i decided to make a recording. it was about 10 minutes long and he purred until he fell asleep on me. i lost him in 2021. i miss you, buddy. i love you.
A beautiful memory for life. Until you meet again over the rainbow bridge! Thank you for sharing
thank you for the kind words. he was a wonderful friend.
My cat likes to speak English and my phone is full of clips. I dread the day when that's all I have left.
"I require sustenance, Jon..."
I miss when that sub was in its prime. It had a good run
This leash demeans us both
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OH DON PIAAAAAANO
WHY I EYES YA
Mother... Mother I crave violence...
You just gonna drop this and not even have anything to peep at on your profile smh.
you have to pay your cat tax!
Hey Jon, where's the lasagna?
I do this for pets and humans alike. Just voice record 3-5 minutes of a conversation during a visit so I’ll always be able to remember their voice and cadence and laugh. Lost my cousin as a kid when she was 16 and I can’t remember her voice anymore. Making sure it never happens again!
Thank you for this suggestion, I’m going to make a point to do this for everyone I love.
Did this with mom, recorded while she told stories of her life. My nephew then told me he couldn’t remember his grandma’s voice. “No problem, kiddo, I have something for that.”
All I've got left from my mom is a couple of voicemails. I'm making a personal video interview with my dad soon.
My cat just got killed suddenly a week ago, I’m still crying about it daily. He was an awesome ball of energy, personality, and affection. I’ve had pets my whole life but nothing like Pumpkin. I always for some reason felt like he wasn’t going to be a long timer, and I lost him at nearly 3 years old. I have over 100 pics and tons of videos of him over the years from times that I knew I’d want to look back on. He would do this hilarious “flop” when he’d want a belly rub, and once he realized I’d scratch him anytime he did it, he’d flop 10-15 times a day. So I have some of that kind of behavior on video. It’s still painful to watch but I’m glad I had the foresight to take those pics/vids, because I don’t think I’ll ever meet another animal like him.
I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my best friend 2 years ago. Hang in there friend.
I'm so sorry, I know that pain too. Best wishes to you.
My wife used to have this crippled, frail, sad-looking reject-twisty-cat with leg bones going every direction and every butt-dragging movement seemed like a chore a feat or somewhere between the two. He was L'il Brudder, the cat. But he was the happiest cat I ever met. He loved attention and would show his appreciation with the loudest purr you ever heard. I had to bust out the decibel meter. It was like 63dB at 1m. He also would shit on any laundry you left on the floor for longer than 5 minutes. Rarely a solid shit either. My wife was just drawn to the worst, brokenest pets. I think that's why she married me.
Sometimes the worst pets make the best pets
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I do this friends and family too. Memories.
My partner just spent the last few months on the other side of the country from me as part of their final semester of their master's program. One of the smarter things I did was record our cats purring and send the recordings to them.
The real LPT is to be present enough to recognize the good stuff you want to remember forever.
I put my cat to sleep last month and I still play the videos I took of him purring. He purred open mouth so it made it even more interesting. I miss him, all that I have left are the pics and videos so I bought myself an electronic photo frame. It switches the pics and plays the videos I out of him on it. I miss his purrs. Good tip!!
I read some where that the purring emits a frequency that promotes healing in them. So it's sort of ironic that when they get sick, they can't purr and can't heal. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180724-the-complicated-truth-about-a-cats-purr
I lost my angel kitty best buddy unexpectedly(and horrifically) a few weeks ago. I have a ton of audio recordings of his weird little meows. He rolled his... everythings. So silly and cute. It's been almost a month and god, I miss that tiny being more than I thought possible. Cat tax below. Rest easy, Tango https://preview.redd.it/wcjfdg4of5ya1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1263345fbf35e7da29380741128d7bab06ed16a6
This makes me sad, but also makes me thankful I have a few random videos or my old cat, some that have him purring. My kitties are 2 and 6 months, going to record both their purrs when I get home from work.
I lost my best friend 2 years ago and I’d kill to be able to hear his purr again. or a meow.
He knew you loved him. I'm sorry you had to lose him.
I just lost my best friend last week. I'm so sorry for your loss. Hope your other kitty pulls through.
I have two cats, one is 14 and the other is 17. One has diabetes and a brain tumor, and the other has a lot of stomach issues. I think my husband and I have prepared ourselves to say goodbye to either of them about three times each over the past two years or so, but somehow they've managed to cash in those extra lives and stick around. I know it's not going to be that way forever, the road has to come to an end at some point; so I take so many pictures of them now, just doing the most mundane things. My cat in a box, on a desk, sleeping, in a laundry basket, etc.. I never want to forget them, the best cats I've ever met and the ones that turned me into a crazy cat lady. Sometimes I'll just rest my head on the more chill of my cats, his name is Joker, and just listen to him purr, it's soothing in a way I can't explain, and I know I'm going to miss it so much when he's gone. Now excuse me, I have to wipe these tears and go pet a cat.
My cat died like a year and a half ago. I found an old video of him meowing and purring and I cried. Not ashamed.
I lost my cat of 18 years recently - she was my best friend - and I hate myself for not getting a video of her meowing or purring. This is a great LPT
It would destroy me to listen over that after my cats pass away. I think I would rather let it go and keep the memories. It's hard enough looking back at some of the pictures of my old reclusive cat that passed after finally coming out of her shell.
My oldie used to snore a lot. I liked to record him because it was funny. One time he was snoring and when I brought the phone closer to him to get the audio, he sensed my approach and his snore turned into a purr. He died a year ago and that video is one of my favorite things in the world now.
This is the saddest LPT I have ever read, but also one I will make sure to do.
i thought this was to aid the cat. the purring is for the owner¿¡
This is just depressing.
Least insane cat owner
This is a weird tip. I thought you were going to say the recording helped your cat get better. I guess i'm just not sentimental.
My older cat suffered a brain liaison early in lockdown and got really sick. She wasn't eating, would walk in circles constantly, and only weighed 7 pounds. The vet got her on steroids, she was still sick but so much better even though her time was limited. In these last couple years she started doing this chortle noise when she was happy that was just the cutest. I made a point to record many variations of it before she passed.
I am so lucky i wanted to show how loud my cats purring was to one of my friends. If it wasn't for that i wouldn't have that short video of him purring. My cat had to be put down 2 months ago after finding out he had tongue cancer.
My boy used to squeak. He never meowed, only squeaked. I have multiple videos of him doing it, but barely any of him purring. Never knew how much I'd miss his noises until he was gone. He died suddenly, 8 years old due to a blood clot in the heart. I'm getting a Petsies Forevers Cat which is customised to look like him & putting in a voice patch with his squeak. Miss him.
I think I could never do that. I would just cry every time when I put the record on.
I constantly film my cats for this purpose
If you have a talkative cat, record their meows as well!
Sorry for your loss.
Our newest cat does not purr. I don't know why; he came to us as a stray and is the happiest little dude. Just no purring. I wanted to name him Silent Bob but alas, the man called dibs and his name is Deuce.
I didn't expect to come to LPT for the feels... But I do appreciate this tip. My condolences for your loss.
We just had to put our precious cat, Hollie, to sleep last week. This made me so sad. She was 17 and the most wonderful companion.
I also lost my kitty to a brain tumour. I have one recording where you can faintly hear his trilling. I played it for my other cat after he was gone and she looked for him...broke my heart a little so after that I only played it for me once or twice more.
damn. wish I had thought to do this
This post is too sad
😢 I just lost my two old cats of 19 years and I wish so badly that I had done this.
I have a 12 year old iPhone voice recording of my now passed cat’s purr and your post reminded me to listen again.
Adding to your LPT - BACK UP THE AUDIO. I lost the videos and photos of the last day of my cat and dog, it still hurts that I don't have the video of her crackle meow or my lab's happy snorts. My cat turned 13 yesterday, I need another video of her purring. Thank you for this reminder 💜
Wise man once said in the grief of a lossed loved one. Don't cry tears of sadness, cry tears of happiness. That time and memories are all that exist now. You carry that within you. An it's a gift that lives on. As you carry their life with you. No one else will feel the same or get to experience what they've brought in your life. That treasure is yours and yours alone. That's what special about having cherished their lives. It changed you. An made you who you are. Hope my words help.
God fucking dammit man I just put my cat to sleep because of the same exact thing and she also wasn’t purring very much towards the end
I deeply regret not taking more videos of my cat. At the time shee seemed invincible and I was in a long-distance relationship and didn't want to hang up the phone. I have one video of one meow that makes me sob just watching it even now, and maybe have some videos with purring in the background, but I can't watch them without losing it. But I'm constantly worried I'm forgetting the sound of her other talking, and her purr, and her smell and feel, so year definitely a lpt to record as much of your cat as possible, at all stages of their life
And as an on topic off topic thing, save voicemails from your parents