Thank you, Mr. Chowkwanyun
My wife was home from work one day, and doodling around on the home computer. Our cat Rocky, a tabby shelter cat, was sitting next to her on a cat platform. Then Rocky sat up and yawned, had a slight shudder -- and toppled off the platform. My wife brought him to our bedroom where we placed him on a pad on our bed. He looked at me and I literally watched the life leave his eyes.
My wife and I were just devastated.
Yes, he was "just a cat", but he was also our companion. He loved sitting on my wife's lap, and lying next to me while I slept. He was playful and loving in his own way, and I'm not at all ashamed to be anthropomorphic. He was never judgemental, never a scold (unless we were late to give him his dry food).
One moment he was alive, the next he was not. Life is so painfully short.
If reincarnation is real, I've thought for a long time that I couldn't think of a better existence than returning as a cat in a loving home.