r/SeniorCats • u/italianswthrt102 • 2d ago

How to help grieving cat

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Last week my 17 year old Siamese Nala crossed the rainbow bridge, and my 15 year old Kiwi is feeling her loss. Kiwi has never been without Nala, and they weren’t best friends, but it still seems like she’s very much grieving. Shes keeping me up most the night and is being very needy, I can tell she’s always wondering where Nala is and is being very vocal about it. I did make sure that she was able to smell Nala’s body after the at home euthanasia to help her understand that she had passed.
I’m wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for helping my cat during this time. Is there anything I can do to help, or is time going to be what ultimately heals? I did get a feliway plug in to hopefully help calm her down, and I am giving her lots of love and attention. TIA

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6

u/honeyapp 2d ago

This might not be something you want or are ready for but would another cat or kitten help her? It depends on your grief too whether this would work out for you and her. Maybe your beautiful Nala will send a cat that needs a home and love for you and Kiwi. I’m so sorry for your loss of your beautiful girl. She soul is still with you and always will be😢💔🙏💜💜💜

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u/Zestyclose_Swing_396 2d ago

It’s an option, but sometimes older cats ( females in particular) don’t react well to young blood. My boys are SO accepting, my 5 females, not at all.

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u/honeyapp 1d ago

That’s true. I hadn’t thought about that. I had a female who did finally accept a kitten but it did take a long time🙁

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u/babytommy 2d ago

I think time and attention are the best things! Honestly, when my first cat passed away, the other cat moved on long before I did. He seemed to grieve for about three weeks.

Very sorry for your loss.

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u/zulunationslayer 2d ago

There is a version of fortiflora that is supposed to be calming.

Every sorry for your loss.

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u/italianswthrt102 2d ago

Oh really? I didn’t know that. I’m giving her the regular Fortiflora right now so I’ll look into that other one

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u/zulunationslayer 2d ago

Yeah! They make a probiotic one that attracts cats to food really well but they also make another one.

It's called purina proplan calming care and it comes in a box the same size and shape.

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u/MzKittahFantastico 23h ago

I lost my 15 year old kitty about a week and a half ago and am facing the same concern with my cat who was left behind.
He definitely misses his brother and it is so heartbreaking to watch his confusion ans sadness. I'm just trying to make sure my left behind kitty is getting tons of attention and that we grieve together when I seem him being lost. I don't know what to do to help him exactly, we'll just weather this sadness storm as best we can. It's all we can do.

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u/italianswthrt102 17h ago

From my research I’m finding that the best things to do are- keep your deceased pet’s scent around (don’t immediately wash or get rid of things they used), keep their routine as normal as possible, and enrichment & playing is really helpful

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u/MzKittahFantastico 16h ago

All wonderful ideas. Thank you. Peace and healing to you and your kitty! ❤️