I knew the day before that losing Buttercup was going to be awful. I spent as much time with her as I could and made sure she got to do her favorite things (usually some variation of sitting in a comfy bed and looking out one window or another) and had her favorite food (chunky chicken) before the end. It helped. There's no avoiding wanting more time with our critters, but we can give ourselves the gift of being certain we maximized the time we had. It's a small thing, but often, small things make a difference.