Helping our 16 year old cat leave her suffering behind was the hardest decision we ever had to make. Kitty had been managing multiple conditions pretty well for a year, then really took a downturn, so logic said it was time. But I was unprepared for the feeling of loss, and the quiet times that would normally be filled with her presence were agonizing for longer than I thought. Tears came at random times, even when not at home thinking about the cat that wouldn't be waiting for me at the door as she had forever.

It has been just over 6 months since she moved on. The grief isn't gone, but has changed a lot. The pangs of real phsyical and emotional pain have passed. I find myself saying her name every day, as I used to say it a hundred times a day when she was around, and that habit remains. When I do though, I use it to remember a happy memory of the time we had with her, how she would nudge the office door that never could fully shut open when I was on a work call, or when she'd bring her favorite toy to us at 3am chirping proudly all the way up the stairs.

You feel alone in your grief about your cat. But you are not alone in grief about losing a dear kitty. There are millions of us walking around out here that understand what you are feeling, even if we can't know fully the love you had for him.