Hi, i`m new to the cat site.My name is Alex & i live in Melbourne, Australia.I am still struggling at times with the loss of my female cat who was 11 years old & passed away in August last year. We got her when she was very young, about 4 weeks old , just a handful she was & over that period from december 2001 until about august 2013 she was a very sweet cat though she was very timid around strangers, probably because we got her so young.Over the years she would have caught countless mice & rats & she loved eating them which amused my parents, sister & i.In mid 2012 , our winter down here she broke her leg somehow.As she was an outdoor cat more than indoor we wern`t sure what happened.Summarizing what happened , we paid $1500 for the operation,medicines & care to get her better which she gradually did but in august last year she started to lose weight,then started to have an elevated heart rate & despite taking her to the vet multiple times they just told us to make her eat more by focusing on food she really liked for eg sardines & the like.For a few days she was eating better but one day my mother saw her drooling & later we saw her not walking but dragging herself by her back legs.We wern`t sure what was wrong & as it was sunday i was going to take her to the vet the next day after work but at night i brought her in but she seemed quiet & a short time later she started convulsing.We took here to an emergency animal hospital but she passed away about an hour later.I was devastated.I took her home in a cloth bag the vets provided & looked at her for a while staring death in the face.i was very upset & cried that night but picked myself up the next day & after work went to my mums place where i grew up & after kissing her a few times i buried her behind our old brick bbq.Since then i`ve thought about kitty a lot & dreamt about her being with my dad who passed in 2009 & loved her a lot & that thought comforts me a lot.Sorry if this post rambled a bit long but i wanted to share this experience with fellow cat lovers out there,Alex.