I lost my cat early superbowl sunday 4:50am and it was by far the hardest most painful experience I ever had in my 38 years.  I guess im looking for comfort, im on antidepressants and I lost over 25 pounds since he started to go downhill...  My uncles passed away 5 months ago and im liquidating his estate, my dad is on hospice from terminal liver cancer.  The pain was so intense I thought I was going to go absolute crazy, I have no kids so smokey really was my boy.  I quit work 4 years ago so almost everyday it was just me and my boy.  Mornings are absolute horrible, today is the first day I didnt have a break down, I buried him in my backyard.
 
I know im a man and ive never cried since I was a boy, the emotions go haywire
 
His death was on replay in my head for days...   :(
 
I would love to hear some of your storys to feel that im not alone
 
http://www.catforum.com/forum/50-over-rainbow-bridge/314434-i-love-you-smokey.html
 

Reading your post , I can tell you have a lot of love for Smokey. Our pets are like family. He lived a very long life, you had many good years together. He was a great looking cat, I like the black mark on his nose. There have been many people share their grief here, hopefully it helps. I think it does, in ways. You are going through a lot it sounds with Smokey and family too. You need to take care of yourself, and maybe visit with friends or family. R.I.P. Smokey. I think blacksapphire is right, maybe not immediately. But a new friend, not as a replacement but a new friend would be good.  

Really sorry to hear that, for both your uncle, and your cat. :(
Your Smokey was definitely a handsome guy... Love the face pattern! I don't think I've ever seen that before.
 
As you can probably tell from my picture of a Khajiit, I like felines! I know how good of friend a cat can be and how hard it is to lose that. :(
 
 
 
I adopted a cat that was 2 years old, also a gray and white, although different pattern than Smokey. He was literally my best friend for 13 years would always follow me around and was always purring and being vocal, always nuzzling...
Minutes after I lost him due to a fairly sudden, unknown illness on a Saturday when he was about 15, as I was walking out of the Vet's office, I saw someone had a Tuxedo cat in a carrier. I rarely see any cats at the vet, but I had a very brief passing thought of how I liked that type of cat.
 
I had a rough week, but I do believe in afterlife (am Christian) and don't see why it doesn't apply to friends that are animals too, which helped. That and I was happy that I had such a nice feline for 13 years when I'd almost given up on having pets. The house still felt empty, though... I know that you can't replace someone like that as they all have such different personalities, but it was worth seeing what other cats were out there. So, I called up the lady from the animal shelter group that I'd gotten my friend from and she brought over 2 kittens on Friday. I was almost about to get the tabby Kitten...
 
However, the next Saturday morning I opened the door from the house to garage and had gotten it open about an inch, in pops a white furry paw! It was a Tuxedo cat that somehow snuck in! A really, really thin one (it was a rough winter) but a very nice and also vocal one! I gave him some food and litter and the next morning, was able to take him to the only vet open. He had a chip in him, but there was no luck in contacting the owner. Amazingly, the besides being a thin fellow, he had 0 issues from apparently being outside for quite some time in the winter and he was registered from 40 miles away, but we could never locate the the people.
 
So, I have had Mr. Tux (one of about 10 names) since! He's much more playful (and a little bit more mischievous) than my previous feline friend, but he's every bit as full of purrs and he follows me around all of the time. There's no puppy that has anything on him, and he can fetch too!  I still can't fathom how he'd found me, exactly 1 week after I'd become all alone and had that passing throught of a black and white cat. What are the chances??
 
So, you just never know what will happen, including what good...
 
I sincerely hope you will be presently surprised as well :)
 
 

I feel your pain my friend. Fathers day 2014 I lost my poodle after 18 years of companionship. I would cry every day when I would round the corner and head to the house. This went on for months, there was a piece of my life that was gone and its real and it hurts. It took three months and a lot of searching but I got another little puppy not as a replacement but a new friend. I still miss my old friend but to have a new buddy to come home to has erased the hole that was in my life. 

After our last pet died we decided not to get another because it is too painful a process to bear each time they pass on.

i lost my best friend lola about a year ago....it was devastating to me. we are very animal oriented at my house 8 cats 2 dogs 9 chickens 3 horses and a donkey, we had 5 horses but one was getting old and was very gentle so we donated him to the special needs program that uses horses to help people with recovery from many things. and we lost one due to cancer. pets are not just animals they are family....

Ninjas! Ninjas cutting onions around the room.....!!!!!
 
I am so sorry for your losses. Just thinking about losing our cat makes me tear up... I can't imagine life without him! He's almost 2 years old as of today, our sweet Ebony
 

stiltz85
Nice angle, looks like he has an epic beard, Cute!

I LOVE kitties! That really sucks. My oldest cat is getting up there and he is having trouble doing his usual stuff and I feel bad. My oldest dog has cancer and we are just waiting... We bring her inside every night and she sleeps beside our bed. That's going to be tough. We asked about getting her cancer removed and they said it would just come back so we are just going to enjoy the little time we have left. That is the one thing that sucks about pets. I am sorry to hear about your loss.

Sounds like you have had a rough year, and sorry for your loss. Loosing an animal truly is like loosing a loved one(they are loved aren't they!). I've told myself over & over "no more pets after x passes away". I've always lied to myself & never regretted it. If you're lonely, attempting to fill the void can only help. Perhaps find a new animal puppy/kitten that can grow around you. You will always have your memories of your cat, nothing can take that away. Sadly it's the world we live in, we all know our doom, just not the hour.
 
P.s. This little guy hopefully will help left your spirits
 

Wow, lost another cat last night.. I have the worst luck, I swear.
My roommates cat Passed away due to having too big of a heart. Go figure, he was the sweetest little guy on the planet.
Sad thing is, we never knew about it because it was never an issue, but he caught a cold and I guess sneezing and coughing caused his lungs and esophagus so beat up his large heart causing it to swell up and stop working all together. My other roommates cat had the same cold, caught it a few days earlier and got through it in about 2 days time. 
Poor Kitkit caught it and never got better..
 

So I've done some thinking, I am 29 years old and have yet to go to college. I spent most of my college years overseas serving my country and now I sit on my rump all day waiting for my disability to process after years.. But I am getting off point, I am very interested in the Serval/domestic hybrid breed of cats known as Savannah's. 
I have been looking into getting one and very quickly realized that they are very expensive, up to  $30k for a first generation Kitten. Yikes!
But then I did some research on the ancestral African Serval species and now I really want one of those! haha, I am a sap for beautiful animals!
So I gots to thinking, in my state you need a special license to own exotic cats such as Servals. so I thought, well I guess I could get the licence? That idea was almost immediately followed by deciding I could just get a breeding licence and breed Servals and Savannahs.
Yep, but my mind kept rolling in new ideas like, well I should go to school for zoology or something so I'll know what to do! Sounds good, right?
Well as I was looking at zoology degrees I though to myself, Well I have had issues with cats and genetic health problems. So I decided to elevate my idea to veterinary medicine.
So yeah, I went from thinking of getting a cute Savannah to getting a masters in veterinarian medicine.
 
Crazy, all these years debating on what I want to do with my life.. it all came down to one cute fuzzy little face.
 
So I plan on using my GI bill to become a veterinarian and breeding Savannahs. lol
 
A Veterinary Veteran!
 
Oh and a picture of the cute 4th generation Savannah kitten I will be picking up tomorrow!