I plan to always keep my sewing room door closed and the pets won't be allowed in that one room. Between pins, blades, threads, elastic and God knows what else I'll leave laying around in there (and I want to be able to relax and not have to worry about whether I put something away or not), it's a lot safer for them and I won't end up with a bunch of cat hair on my fabric. So it's a Win-Win situation.
I'm very sorry about your loss, it's so sad when we have to have one of our babies put to sleep. I still miss my beautiful blind black Persian, I loved Bear so much.