I lost my long time buddy, a grey male persian. we are cat people. I came back from out of town and he had not come out of his hut for anyone. He heard my voice and meowed and came out. He was tottering about confused at this point and the writing was on the wall. It was merciful and very hard to do the right thing. In your case, it is more traumatic and the impact must be severe. I'm very sorry you are having to go through with it. They mean the world to us.
What I can say is this, we adopted two more cats and one was a 7 year old female. These came from cat breeders and she couldn't breed but had been there for a long time. We got her shaved and she felt like a new queen. She follows me around, waits for me to come home and sits on my chest. She knows she's loved and is in a loving family where she gets to do things she likely may never have been able to do. There are so many cats wanting love and have none. Many cats are caged who have been turned in or abandoned and are older. Did they do anything to deserve being 'jailed'? I doubt it. Yet they can be the most loving of companions because they know you love them and they give it back gain.
As long as you live, you have the chance of helping another life feel alive. You have love to give and receive from another who needs it and may never have experienced it. I would consider grieving and remembering in a way special to you that preserves the bond. That will remain seared in your memories. Then, perhaps, consider who else needs love and will keep you grounded. My guess is that you will have more trouble deciding who to help because you can't help them all. But you can help at least one.
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I lost my long time buddy, a grey male persian. we are cat people. I came back from out of town and he had not come out of his hut for anyone. He heard my voice and meowed and came out. He was tottering about confused at this point and the writing was on the wall. It was merciful and very hard to do the right thing. In your case, it is more traumatic and the impact must be severe. I'm very sorry you are having to go through with it. They mean the world to us.
What I can say is this, we adopted two more cats and one was a 7 year old female. These came from cat breeders and she couldn't breed but had been there for a long time. We got her shaved and she felt like a new queen. She follows me around, waits for me to come home and sits on my chest. She knows she's loved and is in a loving family where she gets to do things she likely may never have been able to do. There are so many cats wanting love and have none. Many cats are caged who have been turned in or abandoned and are older. Did they do anything to deserve being 'jailed'? I doubt it. Yet they can be the most loving of companions because they know you love them and they give it back gain.
As long as you live, you have the chance of helping another life feel alive. You have love to give and receive from another who needs it and may never have experienced it. I would consider grieving and remembering in a way special to you that preserves the bond. That will remain seared in your memories. Then, perhaps, consider who else needs love and will keep you grounded. My guess is that you will have more trouble deciding who to help because you can't help them all. But you can help at least one.
Good advice.