I am sad this evening because I know that a really nice person has lost his pet friend, a beautiful cat, today. He came home from work and the neighbours greeted him with the difficult and tragic news that they had found his cat, dead in their garden. There were no marks on the cat and no visible sign of injury and the animal was young. So there is no explanation. I know that this just happens sometimes as I remember when I was working in the vets that someone brought the body of their young beautiful Bengal cat in. That loved animal died just as suddenly.

When I hear that someone’s pet has died it brings the sadness back from when I lost some of my pets. When I say “I feel for you” I really do. I know what it is like. Our pets are a part of the family and are just as important as anyone else. They have personalities and they make us laugh and we tell stories about them, which live on in the family history.

I remember when we lost the first family cat , a tabby called Sandy. I ws about 6 years old. We came home from shopping on a Saturday and I saw Sandy in the middle of the road. He had been hit by a car. My Dad was horrified that I had seen him. He told me that he had died as a car had hit him. I noticed that Sandy’s eyes were glassy and I thought that this was the glass from the windscreen in his eyes. Funny how children try to make sense of things.

We moved home  and got another cat, a ginger and white one called Tibby. I used to talk to him and play with him as children do. One sad morning Dad told me that one of our neighbours had knocked on the door and that Tibby had died during the night. Some cruel person had put a piece of string around his neck and he had jumped over the fence and got caught and hanged. I was devastated. For weeks I cried myself to sleep as I felt so guilty. Dad asked me why I felt guilty when Tibby’s death was nothing to do with me. I said that what was torturing me was that he must have got stuck on the fence and been calling out to me, miaowing for help and I had not heard him. Dad had to explain to me that Tibby would not have hung there for ages. He had probably died instantly.

I have lost a few animals since then, a budgie called Jimmy, a cockatiel called Oscar, cats called Pebbles, Snowball, Leo and Fish(Echo) he actually just vanished and we do not know what happened but it was years ago now, hamsters called Chloe and Snowy, horses called Prince, Sonny and my Mother’s last one Lady.

My heart goes out to the friend who is grief stricken tonight and I wish his pet a safe passage. When he feels better I am sure he will provide a beautiful, loving home for another lucky cat.

Just like our human relatives, our departed friends will always live on in our hearts. The bond is strong and unbreakable.

Rose Dixon