Lost our Charlotte, and two questions

We got a phone call last night that our 2-1/2 year old black cat Charlotte, had been hit by a car. We are all grieving, especially my 8-year-old son; Char was his little girl, and she slept in his bed almost every night. All the love and support I sense here is deeply appreciated. I am also grateful that the man who hit her moved her to the sidewalk and called the sheriff, so we were able to pick her up and take her home. She looks like she is sleeping peacefully. It is a blessing that he was so kind.

I have two questions. Thanks to anyone who can help.

1. Charlotte has a sister who has been with her since birth. We adopted them together. Lucy seems pretty normal, and I don't sense that she is really thrown off or missing Charlotte. Does it make any sense to show Lucy Charlotte's body? I don't think so, but I just want to do what's right.

2. This may seem morbid, and I hope no one who reads it is upset by it. We want to do a little burial but won't all be together again (my husband, two boys, and me) until tomorrow night. That will be not quite 2 days after she was killed. She is in a box in the garage, where the temperature is in the high 40s. Additionally, I just put some bags of ice underneath the box. Can we expect that her body will stay in reasonably good shape for that amount of time?

I wouldn't be surprised if no one knows the answers to these, but thought I'd ask. Thank you.

I freeze my deceased animals until burial.
As for showing her sister the body, definitely! Animals understand far more than we know.
Show her the body, explain to her what happened and let her take her time investigating the body.

I am sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry you lost your sweet girl.

She will be in my prayers along with you and your grieving family.

God bless.

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

When we've lost cats, our remaining ones did not react other than to spend a day or so looking for the recently departed one. They all seemed to bounce back to normal very quickly. I would say that if Lucy doesn't seem distressed I wouldn't show her Charlotte's body. I didn't show the bodies to our other cats and none of them seem to be affected by that.

I am terribly sorry you lost Charlotte that way. I don't think I would show the body to Lucy, especially if she is not looking for her sister or calling for her. Just talk with Lucy and explain why Charlotte won't be coming back home. Lots of prayers as you prepare for the burial.

RIP Charlotte

I am so sorry you have lost Charlotte, it is always so hard. To answer your natural questions, I can only speak from my own experience. Cats do grieve, and it may take Lucy time to realise that Charlotte is no longer there. All her smells will still be in the house, bed, litter etc. It would be strange if eventually she does not look for her, cry for her, etc.

I lost a beloved cat, Napoleon, four years ago, suddenly of poison. I did show his brother the body as I was washing him and preparing him for burial. Wellington sniffed him and licked his ears as he lay in his box. I petted him and talked to him through my grief. But after a day or so Wellington began to look for Napoleon and went through the house crying for him. I had other cats at the time and they did not seem to care about the disappearance of Napoleon - it was his brother who needed him. This lasted nearly six weeks, and only really stopped when a new cat, Biscotte, came into the house as a stray and they adopted each other. So you do need to be prepared to give Lucy as much support as she wants, and I hope you find comfort in doing that - I know I did.

My thoughts are with you at this difficult time.

Luna and Midnight saw Lynxx's body. Lynxx was in his carrier. They went over, looked in the carrier. Sat for a minute looking at him, then walked away and didn't go back over again. They understood Lynxx was dead. They were fine with it after that because they were never close to him, Lynxx always made sure they knew how much he hated them.

Lynxx died right after midnight. We brought him to the vet several hours later. His body was ok, but I didn't look again (at least not at his face) after about a 1/2 hour or so.

Everyone's kindness here means so much. I can't stop crying today, and I feel you understand. Thank you.

I did end up bringing Lucy out to the garage to give her the chance to see Charlotte if she wanted to. Her nose was going crazy, and she sniffed and sniffed but only looked at Charlotte for a brief minute. I'm glad I did it--if I hadn't, I might always wonder if I cheated her.

It really does help me to explain to Lucy that Char's not coming home any more, and I hope it helps her in some way too.

It might seem strange, but I feel such gratitude toward the man, whoever he is, who treated our sweet girl with respect and care after he hit her. Thanks to him we have all been able to know what happened, and to pet her and see that she is at peace. But of course we're still really hurting.

Love to all who have gone through this, and thank you again.

Originally Posted by emdm154

It might seem strange, but I feel such gratitude toward the man, whoever he is, who treated our sweet girl with respect and care after he hit her. Thanks to him we have all been able to know what happened, and to pet her and see that she is at peace. But of course we're still really hurting.

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I was touched by that too. He has to be someone who loves animals and has a lot of compassion.

Hugs to your family. It's heartbreaking to lose a loved pet.

Please accept my condolences over the loss of your dear Charlotte. It is a very hard thing to take.

Rest in peace beloved black kitty.



Robin

I'm very sorry for your loss. RIP, Charlotte.

I am very sorry for your loss of Charlotte. I pray in time your memories will be sweet, not painful. Rest in peace, Charlotte. You are loved and missed.

We buried Charlotte tonight after dinner. My husband, our two boys, and my younger son's best friend (who is like a member of the family), and me. My husband had dug a hole before I got home. I have to admit that looking at it tore me up some. I had been thinking about our Charlotte in lots of different ways, but this just brought it home in a new way. Once I got used to the idea, though, it was OK. I had bought a pretty box at the craft store. It was a box she might have climbed into for a nap, and she looked peaceful and cozy in there.

We all petted her one last time, and then we stood outside under an umbrella. My husband read something he had write about her adventures and what she meant to us, while my little boy held the box with her in it. After a while his arms started to shake, so we all helped. Then we put her in the hole and each scooped a shovel full of dirt on the box. Then filled the hole and covered it with rocks. I will get a marker before long.

There were tears and some laughter. It was comforting to do this together.

Thanks again for the tenderness and support here. I will definitely stay with this site and try to pass along understanding and sympathy as has meant so much to me. And no doubt I will be checking in when the hurt for this loss comes up again as well.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Charlotte. That's so tragic that she was taken so young

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