Lost my best buddy ever a couple years ago. She was 18. I still think about her daily. When I find myself thinking about the sad time near and at the end I look at the cute 8x10 headshot of her I have on the wall. It's my favorite pic of her, it was made 8 years ago and perfectly captures her spirit and personality. Everyone I know swears that dog could read my mind and understood every word I said to her. I often said she was my true soulmate.
I too have a cat born in '89. Despite still getting chased by dogs and a habit of lying in the street she is still pretty fiesty and has a good chance of living to be older than my dog was.
As far as quickly getting another pet, I had decided it would be awhile before I would think about getting another dog (I never use the word replace
) but as it turned out shortly before she died I ended up taking in the "one too many" my sister had accumulated and a couple months after she died I saved a little girl dog from going to the pound. The boy dog is a behavior problem that hates me half the time and the girl likes to play and has her affectionate moments, but combined they aren't even remotely close to the loyalty and love of my old buddy. They are both hyper... I put them in a doggie door and doggie-proofed the fence so they can come and go at will and they
do make excellent guard rats
You'll know if/when it's time to get another (unless as in my case another or two come get you first
).
You can't hold on to the guilt thing though. Hindsight we want to think, "Maybe if I had done this/that...", we can't keep them forever. Here's to celebrating you and your kitty's 18 lucky and wonderful years
