Here's my companion of all my adult life, sadly I had to put her down a year ago, and it still pains me
She was almost 18, was diabetic and had stiff joints, suddenly a muscle or ligament in one of her shoulders were torn off and she lost all function of that limb. I decided it was time to let her go, as the chances of recovering from a surgery was slim.
Since I'd been without a job and steady income for a while, I decided not to get a new cat as I wouldn't be able to take it to the vet when needed, and if you can't afford that, you should not have pets. Instead my sister pointed me to the local animal shelter, they needed someone to be permanent foster parents for an old cat that had moved between families way too many times and needed somewhere permanent for his old days. Since he would still be the property of the shelter, they would cover all expenses for him. We accepted him, and have not regretted it one bit
He has a bit of 'baggage' and can be a bit aggressive, but for the most part, he's a big soppy! And I mean BIG! Biggest cat I've ever seen, I think. According to the shelter papers, he's 16.. I don't believe it.. he likes to climb all the trees and run bananas through the garden, and has way too much energy to be 'an old gentleman' lol. I'll post a picture when I find one
I also had a betta once.. didn't live for very long tho, I think we had him for a little over a year - I'll look for pics of him too
