Originally Posted by
tngal22
When my sweet Thelma passed away, I asked our vet what to do for her sister Louise. They said to be sure to give her extra loving and just keep an eye on her. She would come around. Louise did well but I think she got to say her goodbye because Thelma passed while I was at work. It was a surprise and very heartbreaking to me. It has been 1 1/2 years and I still miss her. I also think Louise did well because we had a smaller dog so he kept her busy.
I know cats are different from dogs...as we have 4 cats! I do hope your little Man gets through the loss without too much issues. Give him some extra snuggles tonight.
When our female dog's male companion passed away at 15 (they had been together since both were less than a year old) she moped around for about 3 months and we got the same advice from our vet. I didn't know this at the time, but it's very important that animals have closure just like us, that they get to say goodbye. We had the male home on a sort of hospice for a week and the female stayed close by.
After the 3 months we got a kitten, we didn't expect the female dog to bond with the kitten, but we thought another furry body was a good idea. As an adult, the cat was very protective of the dog, running interference for her when we had company and walking with us in the evenings. If the dog went outside, the cat went outside, he never let her get too far out of his sight. When she passed at home, the vet told us to be sure the cat was around and to put him near the dog, because animals need closure just like humans, so we did. Our female dog passed away just 1 month shy of her 19th birthday. The cat required extra attention, but he did pretty good overall.
Also, don't be alarmed if the cat (or dog) changes somewhat in their habits, or in just their general behavior. That's not unusual. After our female got over her mourning period, she was less demanding of our attention. She preferred sleeping in her bed vs. on our laps and things like that.
My avatar is Floppy, our female.