Losing Cosmo last weekend was tough, but not to the extent that I thought it would be, or maybe that it should be. It's weird to see her basket empty, or that she's not sleeping on a kitchen chair. Sixteen years is a long time. What remains of the pride is also interesting. It's like we've got a little bit of Wild Kingdom in our house with the remaining three cats.
Years ago, when I had to let go of Luna, Cosmo seemed to search the house for her continuously for a few days, even though I don't think she really liked her. Since Cosmo has been gone, I haven't noticed the rest of the pride looking for her, but they are trying to decide who is in charge.
Cosmo was the queen of the house. Even though she was the only one without claws, they moved into her house, and she was so aloof that she didn't give a shit what they thought. The funny thing is that Oliver tried to test her now and then, and I'm pretty sure she bit him hard enough that he moved on.
The next in line, in terms of age, is Emma, almost 11-years-old. She weighs pretty much nothing and she's a tiny cat, but as the remaining female, and one with previous outdoor experience, I think she leads now. This occurs partly by default, because Gideon is too much of a pussy (see what I did there?) to challenge her, even though he's twice the size, and Oliver is having a similar testing phase that he did with Cosmo. He knows better.
While cats are fantastic and all, I never want to have four again. Three are too many. I don't intend to hasten their lives, but two will be ideal.
Losing a pet is one of the hardest things to go through, especially when they have been in your life as long as Cosmo has.
My heart goes out to you, Jeff!