I know it's probably stupid to say in a forum like this where folks have lost their spouse, children, grandchildren and what have you . . . but I recently lost a cat that meant a lot to me.
I know in my heart it's just a cat, but this cat was really a part of my life . . . and while I realized it at the time, I never realized just how important he was to me after having lost him as it's all the little things and routines that you get into with a pet that you notice the most when they're gone.
To give you the back story . . . on the Columbus Day Weekend I went down to the Woodstock Open House and did some geocaching with some friends. However, before I left I realized that I had let out my buddy Theodore Roosevelt early one morning and he had not come home that night. This in itself is not unusual in the Summer as he tended to sometimes stay out for a night or two . . . but for some reason I was a bit uneasy.
The whole weekend I kept calling my wife and she just said that he was nowhere to be found. She made calls to the local shelters and checked in with the neighbors to no avail. To make a long story short . . . while I know miracles can happen, I honestly believe Teddy met up with either a coyote, fisher or bobcat and will not be coming home.
It may sound so lame compared to folks with real problems and dealing with real loss, but I actually wasn't eating very well and was not sleeping well either. As I said you get used to the same routine and I would be at my computer and keep looking up expecting to see Teddy sitting on the hot tub . . . I would come home from work to get the mail and expect to see him running up to me . . . it just hasn't been the same without him . . . I now shower alone (well he didn't actually get in the shower, he just would come into the bathroom for a drink from the sink) . . . I look at my camp chair which is empty . . . left-overs sit uneaten . . .
I'm feeling a bit better these days . . . I didn't want a replacement for Teddy and know that one cannot just replace a pet like him . . . but I did go out and do two things I have never done in my life. A) I drove 4 hours round-trip for a cat. B) I paid for a cat . . . kitten actually . . . a Manx/Maine coon cat mix. I will admit that I still miss Teddy, but seeing this new kitten and playing with him (Harry Truman in case you were wondering) has actually been a big help.
OK, enough of the moping . . . just thought I would share a bit . . . it's been a tough two weeks for me personally (honestly I don't think I felt like this even when my grandparents or sister died . . . which probably says something not so flattering about me I imagine) . . . but it's hard to not laugh once in a while when you have a kitten to watch.
I know in my heart it's just a cat, but this cat was really a part of my life . . . and while I realized it at the time, I never realized just how important he was to me after having lost him as it's all the little things and routines that you get into with a pet that you notice the most when they're gone.
To give you the back story . . . on the Columbus Day Weekend I went down to the Woodstock Open House and did some geocaching with some friends. However, before I left I realized that I had let out my buddy Theodore Roosevelt early one morning and he had not come home that night. This in itself is not unusual in the Summer as he tended to sometimes stay out for a night or two . . . but for some reason I was a bit uneasy.
The whole weekend I kept calling my wife and she just said that he was nowhere to be found. She made calls to the local shelters and checked in with the neighbors to no avail. To make a long story short . . . while I know miracles can happen, I honestly believe Teddy met up with either a coyote, fisher or bobcat and will not be coming home.
It may sound so lame compared to folks with real problems and dealing with real loss, but I actually wasn't eating very well and was not sleeping well either. As I said you get used to the same routine and I would be at my computer and keep looking up expecting to see Teddy sitting on the hot tub . . . I would come home from work to get the mail and expect to see him running up to me . . . it just hasn't been the same without him . . . I now shower alone (well he didn't actually get in the shower, he just would come into the bathroom for a drink from the sink) . . . I look at my camp chair which is empty . . . left-overs sit uneaten . . .
I'm feeling a bit better these days . . . I didn't want a replacement for Teddy and know that one cannot just replace a pet like him . . . but I did go out and do two things I have never done in my life. A) I drove 4 hours round-trip for a cat. B) I paid for a cat . . . kitten actually . . . a Manx/Maine coon cat mix. I will admit that I still miss Teddy, but seeing this new kitten and playing with him (Harry Truman in case you were wondering) has actually been a big help.
OK, enough of the moping . . . just thought I would share a bit . . . it's been a tough two weeks for me personally (honestly I don't think I felt like this even when my grandparents or sister died . . . which probably says something not so flattering about me I imagine) . . . but it's hard to not laugh once in a while when you have a kitten to watch.