<p>LJE62----I really connected with your description of breaking down at a store check out. I had a personal loss a few years ago, felt I was strong and sublimated my feelings until I got to the check out (at a Victorias Secret of all places). I completely lost it in front of three very sweet check out girls who sat me down in one of the fitting rooms and did a group hug. One of the more bizarre/touching events I have ever experienced. Grief can really take you by surprise.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear about your loss. We’re a kitty family, too, so I know how they can be so adorable, entertaining, and in"fur"iating (all at the same time - how do they do that?!) Sounds like your kitty went peacefully and without suffering and that is a blessing. My heart goes out to you and your family.</p>
<p>Oh, lje - I know exactly how you feel. We are a cat family, too, and this past summer my daughter’s favorite cat died. He was only 8 years old. My daughter found him, partially paralyzed, and drove him to the vet’s to have him put down. The whole thing was over before I could even drive home from work (even though I was driving at 80 mph.)</p>
<p>So, I felt awful that he died, awful that my daughter had to handle the whole thing by herself, just awful the whole way round. Just thinking about it again makes me want to cry! We adopted two more kittens this fall, and even though they’re great animals I still miss that big old fluffy cat.</p>
<p>Just last month my daughter said that in a way, she was glad it was just her and her cat “at the end.” She was able to say good-bye to him and give him peace.</p>
<p>My oldest daughter, who is doing her internship in LA does not know yet. Because of the time difference, we usually talk when she is either on her way home from class or work and she is driving.
I don’t want to give her this news when she is driving for obvious reasons. He was her favorite and she was trying to coax her sister into letting her take him out to LA to live with her once she has a more permanant living arrangement… She will not take this news well either.
He was one of four, and he had a strong bond with one of the others. They were really buddies…he used to cry for him when he couldn’t find where he was sleeping…he didn’t get the fact that his buddy is deaf , but we always knew what he was crying for.</p>
<p>Oh I’m so sorry. I know your house will be feeling especially lonely.</p>
<p>You have my heartfelt sympathy. </p>
<p>I had a very similar situation about two years ago with a somewhat older cat. Completely out of the blue, and I was obsessed for some time with wondering what might have caused it, and whether I had done anything to contribute to it. </p>
<p>A few months later, a young vet told me that the same thing had happened to her while she was catsitting for a friend when in vet school. She had to call the friend and let her know the cat had expired, for no apparent reason.</p>
<p>Having had other pets that hung on in old age and were probably better off to have been put down, (but we couldn’t do it), it is still debatable to me which situation is the lesser of bads.</p>
<p>lje, I do not want to alarm you, but if your surviving cats were especially close to the deceased kitty, they might develop signs of depression. According to several vets, cats are unique animals that can starve themselves to death due to “grieving”. If you see signs of odd behavior in your three cats, call your vet.
My heart still aches when I think of my kitties who passed away last year. My sympathies to you and your family.</p>
<p>lje62–so sorry to hear that! What a shock and so sudden.</p>
<p>I feel for you: we lost our beloved 8 year old rabbit just last week. so sad</p>
<p>Cat Heaven by Cynthia Rylant is a lovely children’s picture book that might be helpful to you and your Ds. It has wonderful illustrations and ideas of what heaven might be like for cats. Maybe you could send it to your out-of-town D a little later with a framed photo of your cat?</p>
<p>I am a bit worried about my daughter ( age 12 ) She seems so melancholy and unwilling to discuss the matter…maybe it is too much , considering her workload from missing so much school lately…but I worry about how she is processing this…and Rufus’ buddy does not want to eat, BunsenBurner…alll the pets seem a little off , even the one cat who really kind of bullied him…argh ! Why do I have pets on top of children ??</p>
<p>lje62 - I am so sorry. I finally had the courage to click on this thread and it made my <em>cry</em>.
Rufus’ buddy is mourning too.</p>
<p>Sorry for your loss. I still keep photos of our beloved dog and a cast pawprint along with his nametag sitting on a shelf in the den. Pets are loyal and loving. We need them, and miss them when they are gone.</p>
<p>lje - please keep an eye on the cat who desn’t want to eat.</p>
<p>I keep the pictures of my old kitties in the living room. My new kitties have the same names and even look somewhat like my beloved departed cats - they fill the void left in my heart when my old kitties died.</p>
<p>So so sorry! One of my worst days was when my pet died. 3 years later (yes. It took us that long) we have a new wonderful dog, whom we love and adore. Time helps.</p>
<p>It was 10 years ago, but I still remember our cat’s death as if it were yesterday. Getting a new cat was the best thing we could have done for our kids and ourselves</p>
<p>Lots of love and hugs to the OP.</p>
<p>I am so very sorry for your loss. I hope in time the fact that your kitty went over the rainbow bridge (and please look up rainbow bridge site, it’s a very comforting site) without pain or fear, and being well loved and fed will comfort you. I did not have pets as a child and when we lost my first cat due to a heart attack at 15 1/2, my family grieved terribly. My son was nine at the time, and we were devastated.
We now have three tuxedo cats, all rescues, one stray, and an outdoor striped tabby cat.
The giref we experience when we lose one of our furry babies is the price we pay for their loving company.
My sympathies to you and your family.</p>
<h2>I went to the Rainbow Bridge site and copied this for you. Hope it helps</h2>
<p>Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. </p>
<p>When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. </p>
<p>All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. </p>
<p>They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. </p>
<p>You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. </p>
<p>Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together… </p>
<p>Author unknown…</p>