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You've all been looking at a young version of him for the last 5 years.
Rio was actually 18 and becoming very frail, had gone deaf and I think was developing dementia.
It would appear he lost a fight and came home with a pierced eyeball and a section of the iris protruding through the cornea to the outside world.
The vet said the eye would have to go and involve a long, slow recovery process at his age including being stuck indoors for at least 2 months post op. Plus it was doubtful in his frail state that he would actually survive the anaesthetic.
He'd had such a wonderful life I just couldn't put him through that sort of trauma, followed by incarceration, and the idea of him dying on the operating table was just too dreadful so he had a dignified and controlled death.

Mrsb, so sorry you had to make that decision! It is hard when we have to do things like that. We had to make that same decision with our Molly in 2009. Your memories will always be with you.
Hugs!

I’m so sorry to hear that, it sounds like a really hard thing to do. He really was a beautiful boy, I hope you’re doing alright!

Sorry to hear of your loss Mrsb- he is a beautiful cat. 18 years is a long life and a long friendship, so hard to say goodbye to a beloved companion. Its very loving and courageous to put an animal down when their quality of life has gone. Yes, I would not want an animal to die on the operating table either. I would want to be there at the end. Wishing you much comfort and happy memories.

Our wonderful dear terrier dog 14yrs died in Dec 2018 of cancer. I noticed it was such a physical loss. I missed all the petting, holding, walking, and felt it on a body level. In Feb of this year I was reading about a group that rescues homeless and sick dogs from the streets of Mexico and brings them into California. I should never read those stories! Because within a week I had adopted one of their Mexican mutts. She is one year old, 8lbs/3.6kg named Paola, she is very amusing and into everything. I'll put a photo in my profile pic.

"Listen carefully
you will hear the soft purrrrr
of angels wings."

mrsb I am so sorry for your loss - Rio was a handsome gent and I know he was loved to pieces!! You made the right decision, bless you! We lost our Killian, who you see in my profile, 10 years ago at the age of 12 years & 1 month. I still miss her - we called her The Queen of Everything [and the vet called her The Queen].

Thank you all for your wishes /pet pics.
I shall miss him dreadfully.
I am retiring from work in 4 weeks, then having a week away. After that I will be doing a Posey and looking for a rescue dog. We have several dog rescue centers within 30 miles. I am under strict instructions from my 6 year old granddaughter that it must be a little dog.

We lost Molly in 2009 and Sasha (dog) in 2012 and have been pet-less since. In March of this year, we inherited an 8 year old cat from friends of ours. Willow looks a lot like your Rio, Mrs.b.
Unfortunately, she is a one-cat pet and where we live we can't have dogs.

Sorry for your loss Anne. I'm sure Rio appreciated you as much as you did him. Fur babies hold a special place in our hearts.