After being told that they only have a few months left with their cat, her owners decide to bring her home and make every moment count; she surprises them by living two more years and still going strong: 'Never underestimate one's will to live'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Jul 22, 2026 3:00 PM EDT

"To everyone who's received unfortunate news about their best friends, don't give up."

Taking your cat to the vet is always an… interesting experience. Everyone hates it, basically. Your cat hates every second of it. You have a hard time beause your cat is stressed. And the vets have a hard time because apparently, subduing a 10-year-old chonky cat long enough to do the tests that they need is a mission that requires one vet, one nurse, one secretary, and another, more experienced vet. Actually, that might just be my cat. Either way, the whole experience is a struggle. And although not always, usually, we take our cats to the vet for reasons that are not fun, which, of course, only makes things worse. 

We hope that every vet visit will be short, that the vets will tell us our cats are totally fine and that we took our cats to the vet for silly reasons. But that is unfortunately not always the case, as is with today's story that was originally shared on r/CatDistributionSystem. Sometimes, you get bad news at the vet's that you wish with every fiber in you that you didn't get. Shushu, a 2-year-old cat, had a bad episode happen to him, something not exactly clear, but the vet said that it was a heart attack and that it was so strong, Shushu only had a few months and there was no point in operating on him because the damage done was so bad. To that, we can only repeat what Shushu's owner's said: "Never underestimate one's will to live". Because after being told that Shushu only had two months left to live, Shushu decided that it wasn't her time yet, and two years after this diagnosis, she's still living her best life, healthy and happy. 

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  • 01

    "Vet told me he’s probably got a few good months left at best. That was two years ago, and Shushu is still living his best life"

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    via Ramy_fathi
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    Cheezburger Image 10648946688
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  • 04
    To everyone who's received unfortunate news about their best friends, don't give up. Never underestimate one's will to live.
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 05
    And to those who've had to make that tough call, your cats and dogs and other pets all know you loved them.
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 06
    SkysEevee Shushu wasnt paying attention to the vet when they gave that prognosis. Nobody tell him.
    via SkysEevee
  • 07
    TrinixDMorrison OP My roommate and I would joke how the devil himself sent Shushu back cuz he's too much for him to handle lol
    via Ramy_fathi

  • Shushu had too much left to do in this universe to give up. So many high places to climb up to. So many valuable things to knock to the floor. So much human food to steal. Too much to do…

  • 08
    icecoffeedripss shushu!!! he did not understand the vet because he doesn't speak english. so he kept going
    via icecoffeedripss
  • 09
    TrinixDMorrison OP We are a Japanese speaking household so that could very well be the case lol
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 10
    SumBuddyPlays What was the prognosis that gave a 2 month estimation years ago? That drastic of a change makes me think advanced kidney disease but with proper treatment it can extend life several years (that's what happened to my void).
    via SumBuddyPlays
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    TrinixDMorrison OP So after coming home from work one day Shushu didn't run up to me like he always does. I looked around and found him under my computer chair with vomit around his mouth and almost unresponsive. I took him to the emergency vet and they told me he had most likely suffered a heart attack, which was hard to believe since he was barely 2yrs old at the time.
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 12
    He told me this is common in cats that come from breeders who inbreed cats for profit but I have no idea if Shushu came from such background (I only got him as a kitten from a friend who randomly decided I needed a cat in my life).
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 13
    So yea, vet told me Shushu is too young to survive the surgery and the heart attack really did a number to his insides so he may not survive another year. Shushu definitely proved him wrong though lol
    via Ramy_fathi

  • Honestly, we wish every bad piece of news from the vet ended up like this. We would rather they be wrong in cases like this. We hope Shushu lives many, many more years. 

  • 14
    tokobot19 "Silly vet. I used to hunt Cthulus for recreation."
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  • 15
    skogalv H I yeah Shushu you gave me and my void boy some hope today. Stay strong buddy!
    via skogalv
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    TrinixDMorrison OP One of the vets actually did joke with me how Shushu is literally too angry to di lol
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 17
    Shiefshief_93 That's because the vet is just like a regular doctor for humans, it's all about money and not the patient and they don't know what they're talking about half of the time
    via Shiefshief_93
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    TrinixDMorrison OP The emergency vet I took him to actually did recommend putting him down, saying he probably wouldn't survive the surgery and even if he did he'd only have a few months left so it would be more cost efficient to just put him to sleep. I told him I know my cat and that he can go ahead and proceed with the surgery.
    via Ramy_fathi
  • 19
    Bam_Adedebayo Shushu as in Chinese? It means uncle
    via Bam_Adedebayo
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    TrinixDMorrison OP Did not know that! I named him Shushu because when he was a kitten he'd constantly run around and scurry under furniture, and the Japanese onomatopoeia for a quick scurrying movement is ±± /shu-shu. It's fun taking him to the vet and people have a weirdly hard time pronouncing his name, like "We have a 2 o'clock for......Shoe Shoe?" lol
    via Ramy_fathi

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