diff --git a/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsCache.cs b/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsCache.cs
index d737b34..080adbc 100644
--- a/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsCache.cs
+++ b/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsCache.cs
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public async Task SetAsync(
         {
             // todo: remove cast after https://github.com/nats-io/nats.net/pull/852 is released
             await ((NatsKVStore)kvStore)
-                .PutAsync(GetEncodedKey(key), entry, ttl ?? TimeSpan.Zero, CacheEntrySerializer, token)
+                .PutWithTtlAsync(GetEncodedKey(key), entry, ttl ?? TimeSpan.Zero, CacheEntrySerializer, token)
                 .ConfigureAwait(false);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
diff --git a/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsExtensions.cs b/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fcea59a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NatsDistributedCache/NatsExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using NATS.Client.Core;
+using NATS.Client.JetStream;
+using NATS.Client.KeyValueStore;
+
+namespace CodeCargo.Nats.DistributedCache;
+
+public static class NatsExtensions
+{
+    private const string NatsTtl = "Nats-TTL";
+    private static readonly Regex ValidKeyRegex = new(pattern: @"\A[-/_=\.a-zA-Z0-9]+\z", RegexOptions.Compiled);
+    private static readonly NatsKVException KeyCannotBeEmptyException = new("Key cannot be empty");
+    private static readonly NatsKVException KeyCannotStartOrEndWithPeriodException = new("Key cannot start or end with a period");
+    private static readonly NatsKVException KeyContainsInvalidCharactersException = new("Key contains invalid characters");
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Put a value into the bucket using the key
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="store">NATS key-value store instance</param>
+    /// <param name="key">Key of the entry</param>
+    /// <param name="value">Value of the entry</param>
+    /// <param name="ttl">Time-to-live value</param>
+    /// <param name="serializer">Serializer to use for the message type.</param>
+    /// <param name="cancellationToken">A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> used to cancel the API call.</param>
+    /// <typeparam name="T">Serialized value type</typeparam>
+    /// <returns>Revision number</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// TTLs should only be used when the store is configured with a storage type that supports expiration,
+    /// and with history set to 1. Otherwise, the TTL behavior is undefined.
+    /// History is set to 1 by default, so you should be fine unless you changed it explicitly.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public static async ValueTask<ulong> PutWithTtlAsync<T>(this INatsKVStore store, string key, T value, TimeSpan ttl = default, INatsSerialize<T>? serializer = default, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    {
+        var result = await TryPutWithTtlAsync(store, key, value, ttl, serializer, cancellationToken);
+        if (!result.Success)
+        {
+            ThrowException(result.Error);
+        }
+
+        return result.Value;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Put a value into the bucket using the key
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="store">NATS key-value store instance</param>
+    /// <param name="key">Key of the entry</param>
+    /// <param name="value">Value of the entry</param>
+    /// <param name="ttl">Time-to-live value</param>
+    /// <param name="serializer">Serializer to use for the message type.</param>
+    /// <param name="cancellationToken">A <see cref="CancellationToken"/> used to cancel the API call.</param>
+    /// <typeparam name="T">Serialized value type</typeparam>
+    /// <returns>Revision number</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// TTLs should only be used when the store is configured with a storage type that supports expiration,
+    /// and with history set to 1. Otherwise, the TTL behavior is undefined.
+    /// History is set to 1 by default, so you should be fine unless you changed it explicitly.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public static async ValueTask<NatsResult<ulong>> TryPutWithTtlAsync<T>(this INatsKVStore store, string key, T value, TimeSpan ttl = default, INatsSerialize<T>? serializer = default, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    {
+        var keyValidResult = TryValidateKey(key);
+        if (!keyValidResult.Success)
+        {
+            return keyValidResult.Error;
+        }
+
+        NatsHeaders? headers = default;
+        if (ttl != default)
+        {
+            headers = new NatsHeaders
+            {
+                { NatsTtl, ToTtlString(ttl) },
+            };
+        }
+
+        var publishResult = await store.JetStreamContext.TryPublishAsync($"$KV.{store.Bucket}.{key}", value, serializer: serializer, headers: headers, cancellationToken: cancellationToken);
+        if (publishResult.Success)
+        {
+            var ack = publishResult.Value;
+            if (ack.Error != null)
+            {
+                return new NatsJSApiException(ack.Error);
+            }
+            else if (ack.Duplicate)
+            {
+                return new NatsJSDuplicateMessageException(ack.Seq);
+            }
+
+            return ack.Seq;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            return publishResult.Error;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Valid keys are \A[-/_=\.a-zA-Z0-9]+\z, additionally they may not start or end in .
+    /// </summary>
+    private static NatsResult TryValidateKey(string key)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(key))
+        {
+            return KeyCannotBeEmptyException;
+        }
+
+        if (key[0] == '.' || key[^1] == '.')
+        {
+            return KeyCannotStartOrEndWithPeriodException;
+        }
+
+        if (!ValidKeyRegex.IsMatch(key))
+        {
+            return KeyContainsInvalidCharactersException;
+        }
+
+        return NatsResult.Default;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// For the TTL header, we need to convert the TimeSpan to a Go time.ParseDuration string.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="ttl">TTL</param>
+    /// <returns>String representing the number of seconds Go time.ParseDuration() can understand.</returns>
+    private static string ToTtlString(TimeSpan ttl)
+        => ttl == TimeSpan.MaxValue ? "never" : $"{(int)ttl.TotalSeconds:D}s";
+
+    [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+    private static void ThrowException(Exception exception) => throw exception;
+}
diff --git a/test/IntegrationTests/Extensions/NatsExtensionsPutWithTtlTests.cs b/test/IntegrationTests/Extensions/NatsExtensionsPutWithTtlTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..193eaf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/IntegrationTests/Extensions/NatsExtensionsPutWithTtlTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+using NATS.Client.Core;
+using NATS.Client.KeyValueStore;
+using NATS.Net;
+
+namespace CodeCargo.Nats.DistributedCache.IntegrationTests.Extensions;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Integration tests for NatsExtensions.PutWithTtlAsync
+/// </summary>
+public class NatsExtensionsPutWithTtlTests(NatsIntegrationFixture fixture) : TestBase(fixture)
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task PutWithTtlAsync_StoresValue()
+    {
+        var key = MethodKey();
+        var value = "test-value";
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var revision = await store.PutWithTtlAsync(key, value);
+
+        Assert.True(revision > 0);
+
+        var entry = await store.GetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.Equal(value, entry.Value);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task PutWithTtlAsync_WithTtl_ExpiresAfterTtl()
+    {
+        var key = MethodKey();
+        var value = "test-value-ttl";
+        var ttl = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2);
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        await store.PutWithTtlAsync(key, value, ttl);
+
+        // Value should exist immediately
+        var entry = await store.TryGetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.True(entry.Success);
+        Assert.Equal(value, entry.Value.Value);
+
+        // Wait for TTL to expire
+        await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+
+        // Value should be expired
+        var expiredEntry = await store.TryGetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.False(expiredEntry.Success);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task PutWithTtlAsync_WithoutTtl_DoesNotExpire()
+    {
+        var key = MethodKey();
+        var value = "test-value-no-ttl";
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        await store.PutWithTtlAsync(key, value);
+
+        // Value should exist immediately
+        var entry = await store.TryGetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.True(entry.Success);
+        Assert.Equal(value, entry.Value.Value);
+
+        // Wait a bit
+        await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
+        // Value should still exist
+        var stillExists = await store.TryGetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.True(stillExists.Success);
+        Assert.Equal(value, stillExists.Value.Value);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithEmptyKey_ReturnsError()
+    {
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync(string.Empty, "value");
+
+        Assert.False(result.Success);
+        Assert.IsType<NatsKVException>(result.Error);
+        Assert.Contains("empty", result.Error.Message, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithKeyStartingWithPeriod_ReturnsError()
+    {
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync(".invalid-key", "value");
+
+        Assert.False(result.Success);
+        Assert.IsType<NatsKVException>(result.Error);
+        Assert.Contains("period", result.Error.Message, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithKeyEndingWithPeriod_ReturnsError()
+    {
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync("invalid-key.", "value");
+
+        Assert.False(result.Success);
+        Assert.IsType<NatsKVException>(result.Error);
+        Assert.Contains("period", result.Error.Message, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithInvalidCharacters_ReturnsError()
+    {
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync("invalid key with spaces", "value");
+
+        Assert.False(result.Success);
+        Assert.IsType<NatsKVException>(result.Error);
+        Assert.Contains("invalid", result.Error.Message, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithValidKey_ReturnsSuccess()
+    {
+        var key = MethodKey();
+        var value = "test-value";
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync(key, value);
+
+        Assert.True(result.Success);
+        Assert.True(result.Value > 0);
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("simple-key")]
+    [InlineData("key_with_underscore")]
+    [InlineData("key/with/slashes")]
+    [InlineData("key.with.periods")]
+    [InlineData("key=with=equals")]
+    [InlineData("MixedCase123")]
+    public async Task TryPutWithTtlAsync_WithValidKeyFormats_Succeeds(string key)
+    {
+        var value = "test-value";
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var result = await store.TryPutWithTtlAsync(key, value);
+
+        Assert.True(result.Success);
+
+        var entry = await store.TryGetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.True(entry.Success);
+        Assert.Equal(value, entry.Value.Value);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task PutWithTtlAsync_WithInvalidKey_ThrowsException()
+    {
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        await Assert.ThrowsAsync<NatsKVException>(() =>
+            store.PutWithTtlAsync(string.Empty, "value").AsTask());
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task PutWithTtlAsync_OverwritesExistingValue()
+    {
+        var key = MethodKey();
+        var value1 = "first-value";
+        var value2 = "second-value";
+
+        var kvContext = NatsConnection.CreateKeyValueStoreContext();
+        var store = await kvContext.GetStoreAsync("cache");
+
+        var revision1 = await store.PutWithTtlAsync(key, value1);
+        var revision2 = await store.PutWithTtlAsync(key, value2);
+
+        Assert.True(revision2 > revision1);
+
+        var entry = await store.GetEntryAsync<string>(key);
+        Assert.Equal(value2, entry.Value);
+    }
+}