As a pet owner, it is important that you are able to assess your cat’s quality of life in order to prevent suffering as they get older, or if they become ill.
For many people the loss of their cat is as traumatic and emotionally challenging as the loss of any other family member.
Understanding the options available to you after your cat has died may be helpful when making decisions about what to do with their body.
A child’s experience of pet loss can help them to build positive strategies for coping with loss in later life.
Although grief in animals is not very well understood currently, you may recognise changes in behaviour in your cats which may be attributed to grief.
Dr Finn Mackay, a senior lecturer in sociology, explores the subject of pet grief in this article from The Cat magazine.