Beginning Again After Loss: The Complexity of Welcoming a New Cat

There’s no prescription for when to welcome a new pet family member into your home after a loss—a week, month, five months, a year, more. It is as individual a decision as it was to bring your former beloved home in the first place. Others can offer insight but no one can tell you what or when is right—only you will know. This is sound advice, given our own recent experience welcoming a new cat, Mica into our home and then making the painful decision to return her to the shelter not long after.

Pet LossKristina PepelkoMay 31, 2025Pets, Pet Loss, Pet Lost Grief, Grief, Cats, Pet Adoption, Cat Adoption, Pet Surrender, LossComment

In Memoriam: An End-of-Life Reflection

There’s this alternate reality where Stella and I have more time together—where she lives into her senior years of 14, 16, 18. These thoughts have offered comfort as I’ve struggled to hold onto memories of her regular movements, mannerisms, and better days. Diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome) only six weeks ago, a sudden onset after a period of not eating, we’ve been in the throes of intensive caregiving.

Pet LossKristina PepelkoMarch 28, 2025Pets, Pet Loss Grief, Pet Loss, Grief, Cats Comments