Oh, so sorry. Yes, you will be feeling so sad just now, and missing him dreadfully. Keep hold of the happy memories you have of Harry, and cherish the time you have been blessed with him.

Very sad to hear the news. I've been hoping that your story would have a happier outcome. It is better to know than not to I think.

I would definitely second that - always better to know - even the worst.
I am so sorry for your loss, a mum. Take time to grieve for a beloved family member - don't let anyone make you feel guilty for mourning an animal. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family - TDM xxx

I'm really sorry to hear this. Cats will be cats and while some will be content with sitting around the house, some just want to wander and we are then faced with the choice to try and restrict this urge, or to let them go and be subject to the risks that the outside world brings.

Awful as it is, I am glad that you have at least found out what has happened. I hope you will all feel better soon.

Oh, I am so sorry to hear your news, kept checking back and hoping for a happy ending. Not much consolation at the moment I'm sure, but at least you know now, even if you might not know how it happened. The very nature of cats is their independence, which is part of what we love about them, and you can't protect them all the time. Hugs to you all

My heart goes out to you. I have lost many dear moggies over the years but have never quite recovered from finding my beloved P.oo-Cat dead in the garden a few years ago.

You WILL get through and Harry WILL send you a new feline friend soon. Cats just do.

Bx

Oh no, I'm so sorry.

A mum I hope you feel supported by all the lovely words forumites have offered you. I too have been thinking about you over the last few days and am so sorry to hear the sad outcome. We have sadly lost several cats over the years all for different reasons, and I love the comment that "Harry will send you another moggie". I know it seems tough and of course it wouldn't be a replacement, no home is truly complete without a moggie, and we look forward to hearing when the moment is right for you, of a playful fluffy new arrival.

More , a mum!

Really sad to hear this news, a mum. Thinking of you and your family.

So sorry to hear about Harry.

Cats do travel much further than you may think. When we heard that one of ours had been run over, he was much further from the house than we thought he ever went - it may have been the first and only time he'd ever gone there, but he did. Please don't blame yourselves in any way

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat

Me too.

I am so sorry to hear the sad news about Harry.

Oh, I am sorry to hear what happened. Our cat, Modge, who we'd had for seven years got run over right outside our house in March. We were all devastated, I was in tears when I broke the news to my youngest son, and didn't have the heart to move her food bowl. My son wanted to get a new cat straight away, so we got one from the Blue Cross. I think it helps to have a cat around, even though she's not the same as Modge.

That's shocking! Sorry to hear about this

Car Expert

Sending you lots of sympathy, a mum. It's so hard to lose a beloved pet, especially at a young age.

Sorry for not writing this any sooner, but I have been in a bad way since then. All your comments, support and hugs have really helped. Thank you.

I find myself bursting into tears at different times during the day and strange little things trigger off his memory. He was a much loved cat, and a special one. So affectionate and loving and full of character. I can't even take the dog for a walk now as Harry used to hide in bushes and jump at us whenever we went out and always came on walks with us meowing all the way. Our daughter is trying to keep herself busy at school and trying to pretend that this hasn't happened and Harry is still at home. But yesterday, when she found herself alone in the practice room at school, it all suddenly hit her, and it seems that she stood alone in the middle of the room crying her heart out. Poor kid.

We've talked about another cat but not sure if we have the heart to love another one in the same way again and be scared of losing him/her. But, perhaps, one day.

Thank you all for understanding. Not many people do.

Oh dear, only just seen this. Sorry to hear of the unhappy ending Sympathies to all of you. We lost a cat earlier this year, and it can really knock you sideways for a while.

All pets are different. You will love the next one, maybe not in the same way, but you will. I'm pretty sure of that.

So very sorry to hear your very sad news

When we took our 6month 1 week kittens to the vet to be spayed one of them was 5 weeks pregnant We let her have the kittens and she had 5 of them. Because we had four cats already, we had to find homes for them and I thought I had found good homes, but one of them turned out to be not such a good home (well intentioned but he wasn't cared for very well) anyway the cat started having behavioural problems and eventually the lady asked if I would have him back. I couldn't refuse because I had allowed them to come into the world and I felt responsible, plus he was a lovely cat.

The first thing I did was have him neutered (I think this was a likely cause of some of his problems) and chipped and it took a little while with lots of TLC and attention and a short spell on medication but he finally settled down with our cats and became the most loving, soppy kindest cat - the whole family adored him.

Sadly he went missing about six weeks ago and two days later the local vet rang, they had traced us through the chip he had and unfortunately he had been hit by a car and had not survived

After his bad start and everything we had been through I could not believe this had happened and I still feel so bad that we had taken him back, onlly for this to happen - would he still be alive if we had not taken him back?

So very sorry to hear what has happened to Harry, thinking of you and sending you hugs xx

We've talked about another cat but not sure if we have the heart to love another one in the same way again and be scared of losing him/her. But, perhaps, one day.

Thank you all for understanding. Not many people do.


Very Sorry to read this. Losing a pet is devastating, but Harry was much loved & was fortunate to spend his life with you. Do take care & one day you will be able to enjoy the memories without so much pain XX

and from me. So sorry.

This post really hit home to me.

This is exactly how I felt when we lost our darling Fluff back in 2008. After she died I thought I would never have enough room in my heart to love another dog.

Then just over a year after Fluff died, my wife really took to a little dog who had just come into the animal shelter where we were volunteering. We then adopted two dogs Oliver and Enya, who we simply adore. They haven't replaced Fluff (they never could) but the penny has dropped that it's not about us - rather it's all about giving two elderly dogs a good home.

When we took them, Enya was 10 and Ollie 8. Ollie needed major surgery for a constantly dislocating kneecap and a lengthy course of Hydrotherapy followed. He is now fantastic and runs quicker then any dog I have ever seen (OK maybe proud dad is a bit biased!!). Enya, a nervous little collie/corgie cross has settled really well and just soaks up the love.

We light a candle to Angel Fluff most every night and she is always in our hearts.

As they say, time is a healer and hopefully one day another kittie looking for a good home will find you.

All the best,

Kind Regards

Thank you very much for your very kind words. I can understand what you mean. We have started looking at rescue centres for another dog or cat, to give an animal a loving home, especially as we realised that our dog has begun to miss Harry. It's so sad that he can't voice it or understand what he's missing but just feels the absence of a little furry companion, and looks around for him all the time.

Time is certainly a healer. I especially hope this for our daughter who is distraught and finds it surprising that most of her peers cannot understand why she is sad about losing a 'cat', and has been making silly jokes to her about it. I don't understand it at all.

Yes, giving a home to another pet when you are ready, will at least mean some good has come out of this very sad situation. I suspect Harry would be pleased to see that someone else would be able to enjoy his former home, rather than having a good home unoccupied.

Here's a poem by Thomas Hardy, which although sad, beautifully describes the feelings when a much loved pet has been lost.
LAST WORDS TO A DUMB FRIEND



Pet was never mourned as you,
Purrer of the spotless hue,
Plumy tail, and wistful gaze
While you humoured our queer ways,
Or outshrilled your morning call
Up the stairs and through the hall -
Foot suspended in its fall -
While, expectant, you would stand
Arched, to meet the stroking hand;
Till your way you chose to wend
Yonder, to your tragic end.

Never another pet for me!
Let your place all vacant be;
Better blankness day by day
Than companion torn away.
Better bid his memory fade,
Better blot each mark he made,
Selfishly escape distress
By contrived forgetfulness,
Than preserve his prints to make
Every morn and eve an ache.

From the chair whereon he sat
Sweep his fur, nor wince thereat;
Rake his little pathways out
Mid the bushes roundabout;
Smooth away his talons? mark
From the claw-worn pine-tree bark,
Where he climbed as dusk embrowned,
Waiting us who loitered round.

Strange it is this speechless thing,
Subject to our mastering,
Subject for his life and food
To our gift, and time, and mood;
Timid pensioner of us Powers,
His existence ruled by ours,
Should - by crossing at a breath
Into safe and shielded death,
By the merely taking hence
Of his insignificance -
Loom as largened to the sense,
Shape as part, above man?s will,
Of the Imperturbable.

As a prisoner, flight debarred,
Exercising in a yard,
Still retain I, troubled, shaken,
Mean estate, by him forsaken;
And this home, which scarcely took
Impress from his little look,
By his faring to the Dim
Grows all eloquent of him.

Housemate, I can think you still
Bounding to the window-sill,
Over which I vaguely see
Your small mound beneath the tree,
Showing in the autumn shade
That you moulder where you played.

October 2, 1904.

That is a lovely poem, Hardying. Sad but lovely.

Thank you so much for sending it through.

My cat, Sparky is very dear to me and my kids, and I'd be distraught if something happened to him. Sorry to hear of this. Thoughts with you!

What a lovely poem, thank you for taking the time to post it.

My son's friends joked about his cat dying too, being a teenage boy, it didn't really bother him, but he did say that those of his friends who had cats were sympathetic and the rest didn't really understand.

I think it's good to get another cat, you miss that presence around the house, otherwise.

I am so sorry to hear about Harry. It's really tough when we can never know what happened. If you need to talk to someone the Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Support Service can be really understanding -
Blue Cross PBSS

I volunteer for a cat charity and we often meet people who wonder if they can ever love another cat as much as they loved the one that was lost, but they always find that there's more than enough love to go round, and so many needy cats and kittens just waiting for an opportunity to be one of the loved ones.