He was a healthy albeit stalky little cat. One day we had noticed that he had lost a little weight and that he was less social than normal. These are two very distinct signs that there is something very wrong with your cat. When we brought him to the vet it was determined that he has FIV. He was no risk to the other 3 cats I had because they never fought with one another. This guy would never fight with anything. All he ever wanted was love and affection.

After visiting the vet it was also noted that he was suffering from anaemia which made the situation a lot worse. The vet has told us that so long as he was eating and trying to fight it that we should give him the benefit of the doubt and help him out. We were giving him medications and some of the most fatty and delicious cat food a cat could want. This was to help him increase his red blood cell count. And he did much better for a while until two days ago. Over the last two days he stayed hidden in the bathroom and didn’t come out. When we brought him out to be with us he would go back. He completely stopped eating. This is how we knew his time had come. He could no longer fight the good fight and we helped him pass surrounded by those who loved him.

One of the worst things I see people do is keep a loved one (pet or person) around for much longer than should be. We could have force fed him. We could have done this or we could have done that. The point is that we would have done nothing more than extend his suffering. While it might have made us feel better to have him here and not to say goodbye, it would have been for OUR good and not his. One of the most selfless things you can do for your companion, whom you love, is to love them enough to say goodbye. It’ll hurt like a bitch but you take comfort in knowing that their suffering is no more.

I miss you already, my little buddy!

Edit: I forgot to answer your question. Yes, they do have a way of telling us. You just need to know what to look for.