I lost my cat Phoebe in August. She was almost 16 years old. She was with me for the last 9 years of her life. I've put a few photos of her in my Profile album here if anyone wants to see her.

She was half-Himalayan with hair that was in between short and long.

Oh, she was very cute, with a nice face.

I can really sympathize with you as we lost 3 old cats over a 2 yr period just recently. I still ache for each of them now and then.

I've decided to do some drawings of them from photos I have, to
help with this closure.

We have two young new black cats now, and they are lots of fun.
Not a day goes by we don't laugh at their antics. But still I find myself thinking of the 3 who are now gone. Sheba was 24 yrs old (kidney failure) and that is a long time to have a cat. Tippy was 20...died suddenly of a stroke in her spine. And poor Oreo (14) had a rare cancer and eventually had to be put to sleep as well.

Each cat we have learned has a special personality and really are unique so getting new cats, do not fix the grief, but just displace it somewhat. I am hoping over time, I'll be better ...I have some nice photos to work from, and I hope that helps.

Your cat Phoebe is so beautiful. I'm sorry you lost her. I've lost three cats so far. My first was a calico named Josh and he was put down after a year old because of a rare form of cancer, my second cat was a tiger strip Harry and he was died at around six years old from unknown causes, they thing it was something toxic he may have eaten, but all my cats are indoor cats and I'm always very careful with what I have lying around especially on the floor. They did a biopsy but couldn't determine what it was. My last cat was a torte Amber and she was put down after living 21 years with us. She had kidney failure. I now have two new kitties Cali a calico and Snickers a torte. They are about 4 years old and are doing fine and I love them all. They can never replace the ones I lost but they all bring joy in different ways. I miss the ones I lost, but try to enjoy the ones I have. I hope you can find peace with your loss and maybe even get a new furry kitty someday to love. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Take care.

mrsD and RSDRENEE, thanks so much for your kind words. It's probably a bit odd for me to be posting about my cat here when (a) it's old news by new and (b) I haven't been around here much.

But I've actually met one person on the MS board in person and have "known" quite a number of others online for many years and, just in case anyone remembers me, I thought a few cat photos and even an announcement about them might not be a bad idea.

I've almost always had a cat in residence. Phoebe was diagnosed with an inoperable cancer in May, and I could do nothing for her but watch her fade out. It was sad.

I've always believed that the best way to get over a lost pet was to get another one--though not if you still expect to get your previous pet back because that certainly won't happen.

This time, though, I'm having to realize that the strain of caring for an ailing pet was almost too much for me.

I'm still going around my place expecting to see Phoebe in one of her usual places or to hear her saying something. I've busied myself with collecting all my photos of her into an album where I can look at them. I do have wonderful memories of my time with her, and I was very lucky to have been the housemate of such an affectionate and basically healthy cat.

She's a beautiful cat. They live on in our hearts forever.

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Agate
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Sorry you lost your kitty. Watching a friend fade in such a way can enhance our feelings of powerlessness.

Kitty, thank you. I enjoyed watching her. I think she knew she was fun to look at. Every once in a while she tried to make a jump but she'd miss and fall. She really didn't want to call attention to that fall. It was as if she was afraid it didn't look very graceful.

Sparky, you're so right. My feelings of helplessness were turned up in recent years as I realized that I wasn't able to care for Phoebe as well as I wanted to.