Last Sunday evening my neighbor accidentally hit my little guy Fuzzy-bob. I got Fuzzy when he was only a few weeks old, his mom had been dropped off near my home when she was pregnant. She gave birth outside and I noticed the one long-hair had a major eye infection so one day while he was sleeping on our sidewalk I quickly snatched him up and brought him inside. The vet said he had an upper respiratory infection so we put him on antiobiotics and gave him milk from an eyedropper. He was so sweet and outgoing right from the beginning. The first night we brought him in he meowed so loudly and clawed up a huge piece of carpet. I feel as though he always knew I saved him, he always seemed so grateful. He was my shadow and I miss him so much. His kindness and loving spirit was infectious. He taught me so much about forgiveness and love. Fuzzy had several physical ailments even after his respiratory infection but he never seemed to let any of them get him down. I miss so much coming home from school to see him laying on the bed or in the closet and hearing his little squeak. It's so hard to even be in the bedroom lately. I hope he knows how much he was loved and how much he is now missed. I love you Fuzzy.

I am so sorry for your loss its so hard to lose one of our beloved pets. We have all been through that heartache on this site.
Take care of yourself.

Cleo !

I am so sorry for your Fuzzy. Take comfort in knowing that you gave him the best life he could ever have had, bless your sweet heart and know that Fuzzy will be in your heart forever, keeping a little part of you warm throughout your life. Take care and come back to talk about Fuzzy we are here with you.

My heart goes out to you. I am deeply sorry. I know & have felt the terrible grief that totally darkens your entire world at this very moment. Please look after yourself, be extra good to yourself right now and please come back to us. We will be waiting for you.

My heart goes out to you. You need to take care of yourself, eat right and get your rest. It will help your body stay strong through the dark grief that you feel. We are all here because we lost a petchild we adored and we know your grief all too well. I will say prayers for you and Fuzzy-bob, know that our beloved furchildren are never far from us and that one day you will be walking across the Rainbow Bridge to meet Fuzzy as he scampers into your arms. Our Orion started life just as your Fuzzy did, with an infection from the day we brought him home and we christened him our son from that day. My heart is with you and please keep coming here to post your feelings about Fuzzy. We will be here with a shoulder for you, and arms to hug you.
susan

I am deeply sorry for your loss of Fuzzy. He sounds like he was a very sweet kitty. He was so lucky that you saved him and now he is an angel watching over you.

I want to thank everyone so much for their kind words during this difficult time for me. My husband has been less than supportive and I really needed to get everything out. So thank you for letting me do that.

Fuzzysmom, I'm very sorry for your loss and the pain that you are in. I'm sure Fuzzy knew how much you loved him. How could he not, you took care of him so well and gave him so much love. Sending you my sympathies Take care k9pal

I know how it is when it seems like the only one in the home who wants to hear your pain is yourself. Just like others have said here, come back here and write whatever you feel and know it is shared and understood by others who have gone through, are going through, and will be going through the same pain and emptiness. I just posted some pictures of my cat Little Guy in the tribute section. That was the suggestion of some members and I found it felt good to see my boy kind of living on, on the Internet. If you have some of your kitty, we all would like to see those also.

This is one group that seems bound by love and pain, understanding and sharing, and are always here for you. It helps me to come here and read and offer helpful thoughts when I can. I am sorry about Fuzzy. There are no real words that can ease the pain but sometimes knowing others really care about trying to ease it, helps.

Take care and maybe someday you will try again to share your love because there are so many who need it as much as we need to give it.

Hi fuzzysmom,
I'm so sorry that it was his time to go. I feel your pain. Don't be too disappointed with your husband. some people just don't have the capacity to love animals like we do. I'm not sure if it is a gift or a curse sometimes. I know some people who could never love a person like they love their pet...

I'm not sure what that has to do with anything but I wanted you to know that things will get better in time. You are in the deep despair stage. things will ease up so that you are able to function without having to put forth a lot of effort. Quite frankly this stage is the pits! Just let it all out no matter what anybody thinks. It is good for you to not bottle anything up. Don't let yourself feel guilty about anything, because there is nothing you could have done...and try to only think about the good times you had with Fuzzy. Negative thought will do nothing but keep you in a perpetual state of sadness. Fuzzy would want you to stay there for too long.

Take care
John B

John B
How frustrating it must have been to lose Sadie like that. One of the greatest comforts I have found through all of this has been how sorry our neighbor that hit Fuzzy was. For me, to know that his life meant something to someone else who didn't know him (other than when he would play in her yard) made me feel like he was missed and important to others as well. To lose your pet by tainted food, when you're trying to do the best you can, would be so difficult. Do you feel angry towards those involved? I think if I were you I would be so angry that people knew what could happen and still acted irresponsibly. I guess I will never understand how people can not love animals, they have always been so loving and I feel sorry for people who don't feel that in their lives.

I feel so angry with myself for not paying more attention to Fuzzy the day he died, I was too busy studying that I made him get go away several times that day. Although he loved being outside I feel guilty about letting him out, I should have been outside watching him. I'm also so angry with my family, they don't understand why I've been upset for the last week and a half. I guess they had no idea how much I loved Fuzzy, I feel stupid crying about Fuzzy in front of them. I wish I could hear my little guys squeak as he jumped up on my lap. I keep picturing him in the backyard, and I'm the only one who cares that he's gone. My family doesn't understand why I've been upset for the last week and a half, how can they not know? I feel so angry that my family who says that they loved Fuzzy seems to have forgotten him within a day or two of his death.

He knows, you will be his torch, you alone will make sure no one ever forgets him by keeping his memory alive through you. Take care Fuzzy's mom, bless you and may he light up your life in his own way for you.

I had to come back today after not writing here for a couple of weeks. I hadn't cried about Fuzzy for almost a week but today I received a Petsmart credit card that I had put Fuzzy's picture on, and it has brought up all these feelings again. I look at that picture and I keep screaming over and over in my head, Fuzzy why aren't you here with me, you didn't deserve to die so young, you were so sweet. I miss him terribly, I wish he could come back for one day so I could hug him, we would play with his string, and I could tell him how much I love him. That's what hurts so bad, I didn't spend a lot of time with him the day he died. He was my best friend and I wasn't there for him while he died.

My husband and I made him a memorial, we took a nice piece of wood and engraved it, then we put a picture of him on it and covered it with epoxy. We have it sitting on top of our T.V. and I think about him everyday, but up until know they have mostly been happy thoughts about all of the good times we had with him. I'm so happy we made it he deserved to be remembered like that.

I guess I'm having a hard time knowing I won't have a pet for awhile, I am moving and my mom wants to take my other cats which I agreed to because I will be living in an apartment complex that wouldn't be comfortable or safe for them. I know my mom loves them and will give them a lot of love and a good home but it feels like too much loss in a short period of time. I have had them all since they were stray kittens and they are as much a part of my life as anything else in this world.

Getting a card like that would have set off my tears also. I'm sorry you have to move where you can't have your other babies. Take lots of pictures of them so if they can't be with you in person, they can still surround you.

That card has upset you so terribly (and quite a normal reaction I would say) that I read a lot of you hitting yourself over the head with a guilt hammer. You cannot change the past good or upsetting.

What might help is for you to tell yourself all of the things you DID DO for your baby. Focus on the positive, the loving things you did and shared with each other. Those are the things that truly have the most meaning. Those are the memories that last forever. Those are what will help you to make your grief manageable. It won't go away cause it is part of everything also. But it is better as you said you were doing...thinking of the happiness he gave you and you gave him. I'm glad you made that memorial...it sounds really special and it is a way of keeping him with you always.

You may not be able to live with your other babies at this time but there is a difference.. if you ever HAVE to absolutely be with them and hug them....they will be there for you and you will be able to do that. It's still lonely to be separated but this is for a different reason and one that is easier to accept when you look at both ways. It is and will always be very hard not to be with those so much a part of your life. I hope you all won't be apart too long. Take Care.

Hello Fuzzy's mom

I'm so sorry about your kitty. My Zita was an orange tabby too - there is something special about them, isn't there?

I have felt all the guilty feelings you talk about. I had a busy day the last day of Zita's life and I didn't see much of her. My husband fed her and I don't even remember if I picked her up or petted her. I don't even remember clearly when exactly I saw her last before she disappeared that night. We were out all day and then all evening, which is normally not the case. (And normally I cuddled with her every day!)

I also know that if I hadn't let her go out that night she wouldn't have died, and that is such a huge regret. But I can't turn back time, and as someone else pointed out, how do you know something couldn't have happened inside the house that night - like something could have fallen on her or some other tragic accident. You can't really know if it was just their time to go. I'm not sure really, it's just that when you miss your special pet and you can't get them back, it is a totally helpless feeling. All our problem solving skills are of no good when the problem can't be solved. I think that's why guilt comes in, because our minds try to solve the problem, but then we remember that we can't. All I can say is that I know your pain.

My Zita was only 3 - I used to tell her she had to live to be at least 18 years old! My cat Missy died in 2004 of liver cancer at age 12 and last year our 3 year old cat Tiffany was killed by a dog. So I would say to Zita - you have to live a long life! I really believed she would. But this is not so.

I think about her a lot, but I am not waking up so much with that nightmare feeling that I had every day for weeks; that feeling of disbelief, like this can't be real, change it back! Though I still think of her constantly I am able to find room to think about other things too.

A friend of mine's fiance died tragically and drowned in a boating accident 10 or so years ago. They were newly in love and had just moved in together. I asked her recently how she coped. She said that of course you must grieve, but when you feel moments of happiness, allow yourself that happiness. I think we can tend to think that happiness is a kind of betrayal to our lost loved one. I have realized how important it is though. Just to let the happiness through from time to time.

I hope that helps you too.

Jan