Soul Comfort for Cat Lovers: Coping Wisdom for Heart and Soul After the Loss of a Beloved Feline

Helped with easing the stress of saying goodbye to a beloved cat. Well written

My 17-year-old feline-companion died just a bit over a year ago. Since that time, I've read several books (and articles) about grieving an animal companion as well as books / articles about grieving the loss of friends / family. (I also experienced the death of 2 friends over this past year.) The process of grief follows the same pattern, whether it is a human being or a well-loved animal. As for many others, the death of my cat was more devastating than the death of my friends, altho I certainly grieved them as well. W/our animals, they are w/us 24 / 7 in a relationship of mutual unconditional love. My cat was unexpectedly diagnosed w/inoperable cancer -- maybe it's always an "unexpected" diagnosis -- and his symptoms / status led me to euthanize him as the best option to keep him from suffering (more) after an amazingly active life. Two different vets concurred that euthanasia was "a valid option" for my wonderful, spirited cat. Such a difficult decision to make...After a year of a devastating journey thru grief and sorrow, I cautiously say I've made it thru the early despondency into some light. My advice is read about grief, seek support and know you are not alone. I read this book in one sitting and it will be one of the last ones I read about grief as I may have moved to a place of greater peace now. This book covers much info, in a simple form, that is accurate about grieving the loss of your feline companion. I give this a 4-star review rather than a 5-star review as for a couple of chapters the author goes off into a "woo woo space" about communing with the dead etc. Maybe that will comfort some readers but I just skimmed over those chapters. This is a good book for early in grief, IMHO. As a fellow griever of my beloved cat's death, I hope other readers will find this book helpful. May you be at peace.

This book, although only 125 pages, took me six weeks to read. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it WAS. I so craved affirmation and validation after my cat Phoebe died that I wanted to savor the experience of, as far as I can tell, one of the only books on the market written specifically for grieving a beloved cat.“Soul Comfort” is self-published, but it is self-publishing at its highest calling, fulfilling a need that mainstream publishers seem to mostly ignore with a high-quality offering. The book is accessible and well-written, with a clean, consistent layout and is virtually error-free. Growing out of the author’s own grief after a beloved cat died, she shares her experiences as well as information from grief counselors and animal experts. The first part of the book validates the experiences of grieving after pet loss, and then moves into ways that you might honor your deceased pet and integrate your grief more fully. I especially liked her idea of choosing “continued connection” over “closure,” because it helped me reframe the way I’ve been addressing my own grieving process. In the beginning, it felt sort of frantic — like as soon as I got all Phoebe’s photos and videos together, as soon as I got her urn, as soon as I wrote her a goodbye letter, then I would have “closure” and be ready to “move on.” I did all those things and simultaneously started writing in My Pet Remembrance Journal, so then that journal became a proxy for my journey, and I started to feel anxious about finishing it so I could have “closure.”But that chapter made me realize there really is no “rush” in my attempt to remember and honor Phoebe, and I’ve taken a more relaxed approach to putting together her mementos so that I can treasure that time rather than have it feel like “one more thing I have to do” instead of moving on.The final third of the book explores the spiritual side of grief and the possibility of a loved one’s “essence” continuing to connect with you after they are gone. For me, this was the part that lagged the most, partly because it didn’t have a lot of “cat-specific” reference points but also because it felt as though the author tried just a little too hard to reassure the reader that life does continue after death. Even though she didn’t push any one religious agenda, and even though I do believe that mortal life is not all there is, something about it still rubbed me a bit the wrong way.Still, I’m so glad that a book like this exists, and that Liz gave her project the time, effort, and professionalism it deserves. I will be holding onto my copy for a possible reread when I have to take this journey again (hopefully not for many years) or to lend to friends when the sad time comes for them to say goodbye to a cat companion.Works referenced in the book that are now on my reading list: My Cat Saved My Life by Philip Schreibman Cat Body, Cat Mind by Dr. Michael Fox Dogs That Know When Their Owner is Coming Home by Rupert Sheldrake

My sweet 17 year old little pumpkin passed unexpectedly and I was devastated! I am convinced she guided me to this book to help me with my grieving process. Big thank you to the author for putting this together. I’ve never felt so heard and validated by my feelings of loss. Thank you and I do recommend this book for all cat lovers !

For the price it served it's purpose.

This lovely book is helping me through a very difficult loss. Death and grief is not a positive thing, and the author fully acknowledges the pain and suffering we are going through. But she writes with a sense of hope, of believing that death is not the end, and with a kindness and compassion that sees our grief for what it is. Grief is born from love, for we would not grieve to the extent that we do unless we had loved. Liz Eastwood does a marvellous job of saying ‘I see your pain, I feel your grief, and I am here with you’.This is a book I will return to many times during my grieving process. Thank you Liz, for writing.

I bought this book one month into grieving the loss of our much-loved cat, after 15 years of her being with us. I read the entire book in about an hour and didn’t really get much out of it. The chapters are very short and don’t really offer much in the way of concrete examples for moving through grief and recovering. There is often reference to something that will be covered later on, but when the reader gets to that bit, there really isn’t much there. Even the promised poems in the appendix amounted to just two of the most well-known poems recited at funerals. It struck me after reading this how few times the word ‘cat’ is actually used. Much of this could be a generic grief-advice book which, while driven by the author’s own loss of her beloved Bastet, does not specifically address the loss of a cat. Personally, I do not believe in an afterlife or ‘spirit’ and I find the idea of using a medium, or Tarot-like cards, to communicate with a cat’s spirit laughable. I don’t think I will benefit from ‘researching’ the afterlife or belief systems, as the author suggests. However, if you are a more spiritual person, you might find comfort in these types of things. The author presents some ‘science’ about grief, and the existence of an afterlife, but this is not particularly good quality or really helpful.Quite understandably, the author describes what helped her when her cat died, including what she did immediately afterwards, but doesn’t seem to have considered that most people looking for this kind of book will be people who have lost a cat and are grieving. Description of what the author did the day her cat died will come too late for most people. There is no consideration really for the different circumstances that affect people, such as having to make the decision about euthanasia, and it just seems to me that the author hasn’t really taken the time to reflect that not everyone will have the same situation that she experienced.Overall, possibly worth a look for some fairly unoriginal ideas, but I wouldn’t think it’s worth more than the £4.44 I paid for it.

This is a really nice little book. It's a very simple and quick read. It doesn't go into a lot of depth with things, but covers most of the things grieving cat parents are thinking about: the nature of a grief that others don't "get", a reassurance that you are not alone, suggestions for dealing with the grief, taking care of your health, remembering and honouring your cat with ritual, and whether or when to get professional help or consider adopting again. I especially liked that she included a chapter on the possibility of spirits' continued existence beyond the physical. She includes other recommended books and a few websites, and a couple of well-known poems which could be read as part of a memorial ceremony. Probably what readers will like most is the sense that, in a world where often people don't understand grief for a soulmate pet, or worse, belittle it, that this author does indeed "get it" and has been where you are. She describes how the loss of her own cat led her to write the book because she felt much of the pet-loss literature was more dog-oriented, and she wanted to do something specific to other cat lovers. In this, I think she has succeeded.

The form a soulmate comes in can be a surprise. The cat I lost some months back was exactly that and this book was such a comfort because it understands, where those around me don't. That in itself is a huge help. The author comes across so well, she is like a lovely, concerned friend who genuinely wants you to get through this and knows all too well what it's like because she's been there herself. I struggle to believe these days in an afterlife but always strive to keep an open mind: just because I can't believe doesn't mean it's not true and I liked the author's idea to 'choose wonder'. That's something I will keep trying over the usual cynicism that tends to rule me. I'm so glad the author wrote this book and I was able to find it on Amazon.

If you are grieving deeply after the loss of your cat, this book will help. It is sensitive, raw and honest. Recommended.