Losing a pet I think is worse than losing all but the closest family or loved ones. They are there for you no matter what, and love you unconditionally. I lost my cat about 5 years ago - I had just moved out of my parents' house. The cat (hippo was her name) had what appeared to be a stroke - my parents took her to the vets, and had her put down, and didn't tell me until the next day, so I never got a chance to say goodbye - they never even gave me the choice.
I miss her constantly. Going through years of school bullying and loneliness, my grossly overweight cat was always there, no judgement. That's worth more to me than any family member has ever done for me. I'd say that thinking about Buddy after all this time is only human. Dwelling on the past isn't a bad things if your time with Buddy was a good memory.
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Hippo looks like the Calico we had—Clawdette.
We lost all three of our cats within about a year of each other. I didn't get to be there for any of them. Giulia had kidney problems and my parents put her down and told me about it after. It was similar with Lucy.
Then Clawdette, who they had put out of the house when she started peeing inside (they gave her a heated bed in the garage at least) died suddenly and my parents did a makeshift cremation as it was winter and they couldn't bury her. Of course they didn't tell me until afterwards.
In the end my parents got to grieve and have their ceremonial way of saying goodbye, and I got a phone call. Not sure if I'll ever forgive them for taking that away from me. They said they didn't want to upset me, but I wanted to be upset when the cats I loved died. They had no right to take that away from me. I had no part in any of the decisions. Just shown the spot they were buried.
My parents are generally good people and I have a pretty good relationship with them. But this was one of the worst things they ever did to me.
I think about those cats a lot. When I'm in bed I imagine snuggling with them. I don't want to forget what it was like, but the memory gets weaker every time.
Giulia "Giugi" (pronounced with a ʒ sound) in her roasting pan, as we called it. Taken in when she showed up at our door after we came back from vacation when I was young.
Clawdette. My friend also called her Phoebe. A skittish stray who never really got totally comfortable around people. She lived in the garage for years before we convinced her to come inside.
Giugi and Clawdette (enemies, but sometimes near each other)
Lucy (the oldest by far) and Giugi
Lucy unimpresed by my harassment
Bonus: