My cat gizmo had to put her to sleep :(

[Tinker28]

Hi everyone I didn't know there was a pet/animal thread on here.... In May of 2012 I had to say good bye to my best friend/ I called her my baby girl she was 19 years old had her since she was a kitty. If I was sitting or laying down she was right there all the time she would never leave me. It's been a long time since and I still get really sad and cry a lot about losing her, is this normal? I miss her so much! She got sick and I had to work extra hours and missed out on her final weeks of life

[Speranza]

Yes it IS normal to miss them but like any bereavement if it is still unbearable after a long time, it is good to go and talk it through with the GP.

My baby girl (I call her that too) is Sophie. She is 18 and like your little person hardly ever leaves me. She is heading towards the end of her life I think and having loved classical music all her life, she is now totally deaf, which is very poignant. Her sister died 5 years ago and I can honestly say I cried harder and longer than I did when my mother died - but then Mum and I were never close, whereas a cat is a constant companion. All I'm saying is, absolutely - we grieve them as family members and dear friends.

I'm on Prozac - for anxiety as it happens. but of course it is an anti-depressant too - and I have noticed a significant difference in my ability to deal with thinking about 'what will happen when...' This used to reduce me to tears - now I can think about it without feeling as though my world will cave in. So I would suggest talking to the GP. There is also at least one helpline/website for bereaved pet owners but I can't think of its name unless it's Rainbow Bridge. If you google I am sure you will find it.

[meche]

Aw I'm so sorry. They bring you such love & joy but at the price of a broken heart. It's perfectly normal hun. I'm not ashamed to say that having my 17 year old baby put to sleep almost 2 years ago was the very thing that brought my anxiety to a bad place! There were other things going on but it was that one event that broke me. Having not had children she was my world & to lose her was beyond heart breaking. I cried for days & felt lost. I didn't get the chance to be with her at the end & I still carry that guilt. I vowed never to have another pet but a month later we adopted Pepper! Our house was so empty & I believe the biggest honour we could pay her was to give another loving home to a needy cat. I still miss Posy & even to this day I still have her ashes which I'm not ready to part with yet. It does get easier but you will never forget. xx

[Tinker28]

I still have gizmos aches beside my bed:(

[AuntieMoosie]

Aww I can feel your pain hun.

When my last cat passed away, a good few years ago now, I was completely beside myself with grief, the pain almost seemed unbearable at times He was 13 and, sadly, he had cancer of the liver and there was nothing that could be done.

It is normal for you to still be feeling very sad hun, people take varying amounts of time when it comes to grief and there are no hard and fast rules about it.

It does get better with the passage of time, but I still think of my Tabby even now, though it's not painful anymore


Speranza I have a Sophie cat too

[DaisyPolly]

We shouldn't have to justify how much we love our animals. They are way nicer than some people! Actually most people lol

We love them and they love us unconditionally. They are just the best.

I lost my dog 3 years ago, I have a photo of her beside my bed and I say goodnight to her.

My cat bless her, I swear she's half human.

[Tessar]

Tinker, I still miss the cat I had before my present one. In fact, I still miss all the cats that I have had over the years. It IS perfectly normal to miss our lovely friends, be they pets, human, whatever. Point is they are our friends. I am really sorry your lovely kitty passed away. It's a terribly hard decision to make but you will have had your kitty's best interests at heart always. It took a year to replace our last beautiful kitty friend. Even when we replaced her, I had doubts about whether it was the right thing. But now almost a year on, we are happy with our new kitty company. She is different in almost every way but as an individual she is still lovely. Our lovely kitty.

[Annie0904]

My cat Paris had to be put to sleep 3 years ago and it broke my heart. I have his photo on my fridge door and I sometimes talk to the photo I still miss him I buried his ashes under the tree in the garden where he liked to sit. I have another 2 cats now and I love them loads. The youngest goes to sit on Paris's grave in the garden. (I had a little stone made with his name on and 'cats leave paw prints on your hearts')

[bernie1977]

It's perfectly normal to be upset when a pet passes away. They are like family and they're our friends. Over the last three years I've lost two cats and both times it made me very ill with grief. It's normal what you are feeling

[Tessar]

My last 2 are in our garden.... And I still talk to both of them.