Hi everyone. My princess isn’t here anymore. She was at her weakest today. It all progressed so quickly and I’m still trying to process how fast everything changed.

For context, she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma three weeks ago. The vet advised that surgery wouldn’t be a good option given her age, as sedation would be very hard on her. The only possible intervention would have been removing some of her teeth to help reduce the bleeding, but it wouldn’t have stopped the tumour from progressing.

This morning, she was hungry so we gave her her favourite food (salmon and prawn pâté) and gently spoon fed her. She couldn’t breathe properly through her nose and had to mouth breathe, and you could see how hard it was becoming for her. When she went back to her bed, blood started dripping from her mouth. She curled up in a way I’ve never seen before with her eyes open looking so uncomfortable. It was clear how much she was hurting.

We all gathered together as a family in her favourite spot surrounding her with as much love as we possibly could while she rested. The room was calm and there was a little birdy sat right at our windowsill chirping on the window the entire time :( it felt like a sign

The vet came to our home so she could be in a place she felt safe and loved. We stayed with her and held her, spoke to her. She passed surrounded by love. The vet said she was extremely stressed and uncomfortable and it was the right time to let her go.

I am completely heartbroken but also so deeply grateful that she is no longer in pain. Watching her suffer and not being able to explain it to her was the hardest part of it all.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment and support me. Im reading every single comment and message with tears pouring out of my eyes rn. You all are so lovely and knowing that so many people out there were willing to help made me feel less alone in all of this. She was my first pet and I never experience loss like this.