I am so grateful to find this site. I thought we were crazy to love our cat so much, and it's such a comfort to find people who share the same passion for their pets.

Our 7 month old kitten disappeared almost a month ago. We have advertised, asked neighbours, searched, checked the animal shelters, etc. No sign of him. Our kitten was feral when he followed us home 6 months ago, and it seems insane that he would have survived the big bad world for a few days on his own and now something should happen to him when he was so loved, protected and cared for. He came into our lives like a miracle -- we had no pets and had just moved into our first home, and our kitten seemed like a blessing on our new lives. We are childless and had also been undecided whether to move ahead with adoption, but we fell so completely in love with our kitten that we knew we had a lot of love to give, and started adoption procedures. He seemed like an angel in our lives (OK, an angel that hunted birds and lizards!) I think I prayed more in the 6 months that he was with us than in the decade before, so many prayers of thanks that he came into our lives, and so many prayers to keep him safe. He taught us what is truly important in life. Now I don't know what to pray for...I feel like it's been some terrible cosmic joke: "Now that you have discovered joy, I am going to take it away".
We have adopted two kittens from the RSPCA because the house was unbearable without our baby. These new babies keep us smiling and busy, and are saving us day by day...but I don't think I will ever get over this loss and the feeling that when one finds such pure love, it can just be snatched senselessly from you.
Jane
 

Dear Jane,

I'm so sorry about your kitten. He sounds wonderful, and it sounds like he brought so much love in to your life in a very short period of time. I know it doesn't matter if you have a pet 3 months, 3 years, or 20 years, when they're gone you miss them more than words can describe. I only had Shiloh for 5 years, but she was my constant companion and I miss her so much. She's been gone for a little over 8 months now and I still have bad days when I miss her terribly, but the emptiness is starting to be replaced by all the happy memories she and I had. You're still very young in this grief process...give yourself time and be patient and kind with yourself...healing does happen.

You're in my thoughts.
Kathleen

Dear Jane,
I understand your loss in missing your kitten so much. Your story reminded me of my first sadness, then joy with my black cat named Velvet. My mother never allowed us to have any pets, but she took a likeing to Velvet. We had a hard time training him to use the litter box verses the bathtub and one day my mother went to visit family in South Miami and decided to take Velvet with her to find a new home. My heart was broken, more so as I was a child and Velvet was my first and only pet I grew up with during that short period of time. Several weeks past and one evening as I was resting in bed, I heard a scratch on the door in the laundry room. I went to the door and was shocked to see that Velvet was there. Back in those days the house was built were you could climb under the house and through the concrete openings to get into the laundry room. Needless to say, everyone in my family were happy to see our Velvet, but amazed that he traveled over 100 miles to come back home. As a child this experience was a miracle to me and ultimately, Velvet became a special part of our family.
Keep thinking positive thoughts as you never know what happiness is in store for you and your sweet little kitten.
Happy to hear that you you have two new kittens to love and nuture, as you have so much to give and they are wanting to receive.
I will keep you and all your kittens in my prayers.
With Love,
Litebrez

Thank you both, that's a great story about Velvet. I keep hoping that our kitten is off somewhere and will find his way home, but several cats have disappeared in our neighborhood and not returned so we suspect that they have been killed. Unfortunately I didn't know about this before or I would not have let him out. He bonded with a feral cat that looked like him and whom I suspect was a relative (our cat was feral when he adopted us). The stray is still coming to our house for food, but if our cat had wandered off or gotten lost, they would be together. I do know if he has been picked up he will try to find his way home. We look outside every day hoping to see him...then the realisation hits, it's been nearly 4 weeks, and I just lose it.

Thanks for your kind words

Jane