So yesterday I held my cat GiGi in my arms until she passed away.

So Sorry for your loss. I know what its like. I wish I could tell you it gets better but the pain from losing them really just subsides into something numbing that is hard to come to terms with. The thing thats kept me going is to think about how many people rely on you and that your furbaby wouldnt want you to crumble.
Staying busy and surrounding yourself with supportive understanding people is the best. Finding special ways to remember them by also helps.
So sorry :(

>>2030429
When my dog died I was out of town studying, so my mother told me over the phone. I just sat down and looked at my pictures of him, then I cried and went to bed at seven in the evening. Was down about it for a long while, but now I just remember the walks, playing and training, and almost none of his sick time.

Poodle, likely died from inbreeding, he had one problem or another all his life. Mom eventually had him put down after he stopped eating. Was probably for the best, but it was still very sad for us.

>>2030435

My best friend thinks I'm over-reacting for being so emotional about my loss since to him "it was just a cat".

How the hell can I deal with people like that, they don't know where I'm coming from because they just don't understand the love i had for her. He has a dog, but he doesn't seem to be very close with her, where as me and GiGi were inseparable. She slept in my bed with me every night like in my OP picture.

Last night was particularly hard for me since it was the first time I slept in my bed without GiGi by my side softly purring as I petted her. Just thinking about it makes me want to break down again. She was such a good girl.

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My girlfriend's cat died in September of last year. Obviously she was much more hurt by it, but it hit me hard too.

I pretty much did nothing but cry for the first few days. It was weird, like he wasn't really dead, just gone on vacation somewhere or something. The worst feeling is expecting him to walk around the corner to bug me when I'm cooking dinner.

It really helped me to just keep thinking about what a great cat he was. For a very long time, and still now sometimes, I would think about all his little stupid quirks. I wrote down everything I could remember about him. I constantly reminded myself that while it was horrible he was gone, I was lucky to have known him and to have helped give him some happiness in life.

Pic related, him from a few years ago. His name was Byakko, which is East Asian mythology, is the white tiger, the king of beasts.

>>2030753

Aww, what a handsome boy.

Thank you for the words of advice, I think it will help to write down everything I remember about her. I will be getting GiGi ashes back when they give me a call(whenever that is). I want to have her forever, because she is a cat that I will never forget.

Also how long is acceptable to grieve? It's only been two days, but I feel like this is going to affect me for a long while.

Another pic of GiGi being sleepy. She would do this all the time. She loved sleeping on my arm or on my hand, it's like she just wanted to be close to me when she slept because she would do this every time she was on my bed with me.

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>>2031103
>Also how long is acceptable to grieve?
Not that guy, but don't worry about this, if for no other reason than because there's no consensus. There will always be people like your friend who think grieving over a pet at all isn't acceptable or normal. There will always be (much less visible/vocal) people who spend the rest of their lives periodically re-experiencing their grief over the same losses. Everyone's different, everyone is affected by and copes with loss differently.

I was a fucking wreck for the first ~6 months after my 18-year-old childhood cat died. I didn't wash my bedsheets that entire time because her fur was on them and I felt like washing them would be throwing her away somehow. I still fluffed "her" pillow for her every night, the one she'd always sleep on next to my head. I truly felt like I had lost a piece of myself.

All that really helped was time and the realization that the only thing we really lose when someone we love dies is their physical presence. The memories are still there, and the love they have for you (and you for them) doesn't go away either. The last page has been turned, and it's sad that there will be no more, but that doesn't mean the story is lost or meaningless. The impact GiGi had on you and ways in which she helped me grow and change are still with you, and in that way she will never truly be gone.

This bereavement poem gets posted on this board occasionally. Maybe it'll help you.

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>>2030429
I try to not think of it and cry when i do for any amount of time that is not short. It's been one year. I'm sorry for your loss...

>>2030442
If your best friend cant understand that then truly they are not really concerned with you. A true best friend would be understanding and compassionate during this time for you.

>>2031103
It's acceptable to grieve until you are done. There is no 'too long' even if people say that. You can't rush things like that. You just lost a family member. Take all the time you need.

>>2030442
Fuck him, some people will never understand. I lost my childhood cat seven years ago and I still sometimes want to cry when I think about her. Take as much time as you need. I'm so sorry for your loss.

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>>2030429

get a new one....just like getting over ex...get a new one or mourn for eternity.