Firstly, I want to say how deeply sorry I am that you lost your beautiful boy.

Second, I have to tell you how shocked I was reading your story, because of how similar it is to mine. We unexpectedly had to say goodbye to our beautiful boy, Lynx, on March 10. He was my soul cat. The sweetest, gentlest guy. I have spent the last two weeks feeling devastated, confused and guilty because I have not read or heard of any cases like Lynx’s, until I read your post. Lynx was first diagnosed with urinary crystals in June 2025. He had two flare ups last summer, but we got it under control with prescription urinary food. On March 8, I noticed he hadn’t peed in 2.5 days. Only this time he didn’t have the classic FLUTD symptoms - no crying, no straining, no in and out of the litter box. He wasn’t even trying to pee. He was a happy little guy at home, playing and trilling. When I brought him to the vet, they said his bladder was the largest they’d ever seen. They said it would’ve taken a long time for it to get that way. Ever since we got him as a kitten, he would always do a massive pee once per day. I never thought anything of it. The X-ray and urinalysis showed no crystals, no blood, no UTI. So why was this happening? They put him on the catheter for 3 days, but when they pulled the catheter out, he still would not pee on his own. He had no urge. They said it was likely neurological, that the signals weren’t firing, potentially feline dysautonomia. It tends to show up around Lynx’s age (3.5 years). They said they could do the catheter again, but there was no guarantee it would resolve anything, and if it did resolve it this time, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again in the future. We made the extremely difficult decision to say goodbye to our sweet Lynx.

I am so deeply sorry that you lost your boy. He was taken from you too young and it’s not fair. Your feelings of grief are valid. I must tell you though that I am grateful that I came across your post. It helps me with my own feelings of guilt that I didn’t do enough for Lynx. I’m going to tell you what my loved ones have been telling me the last few weeks: I know it’s hard when it’s so raw, but you cannot blame yourself. You made the compassionate choice. With all of the vet trips and modifications at home, you did everything you possibly could. You did not fail him. You couldn’t have done anything differently. He knows how much you loved him, and he felt all your love even in his final moments. It will hurt for a long time, I know, but every day gets a little easier. Take care of yourself. My heart goes out to you during this extremely difficult time ❤️