catsareeverythinginlife

Hi, I think it’s normal for our emotions and memories of our furry friends to remain strong. I lost my beautiful ginger tom of 18 years in 2017, and to this day when I visit my mum’s home I give myself a moment to find his old blanket and cry into it as I had no siblings and grew up with him from the age of 4. He was a significant constant for me throughout childhood. I felt guilty for ever leaving home as he passed a week after I moved out. Two years later and my partner and I got two little kitten brothers. This Friday night just passed we lost one of them at just over 1 years old. Even though they had been road savvy and mainly exploring fields out back he was hit by a car out front. We live next to a road which is meant to be 30mph, but a lot of people come through at much faster speeds, so we knew there was a risk, but relied on the fact that the cats would have natural survival instincts and we’d seen other cats in the neighbourhood that look happy and healthy so that convinced us it’d be fine. Now I’m feeling guilty and thinking should I have kept them as indoor cats or even got them at all. I always thought that keeping them indoors would be cruel, especially as they became naturally curious of the outdoors as they became older. I haven’t stopped crying and I’m really struggling to eat and sleep at the moment, but I’m desperately trying to stay strong for his brother to keep him company and make sure I help him through his grieving process too. I don’t think you ever truly get over a death of a pet, as they are family members, you just learn to adapt to life without them over time. I’m just thankful that his brother is okay and here to keep us company, and to live in a time where I can take loads of photos and videos that I can keep, look at and watch on my phone. You can never blame yourself, although it is part of the grieving process. Just bear in mind that 17 years is a grand age for a kitty cat, you will have been doing a lot of things right for them throughout that time!