Dino, my first cat. I was practically raised with him, but when I was I guess around 10, he got sick rather rapidly, if I remember right, a somewhat rare cancer that the vets were puzzled by, he died at home, in front of me and my mom. Lead to a lot of questions about life, death, and frankly my mother said he's in heaven, with his mom, who died in a fire, trying to reach my room when I was 4 years old.
Told the priest what my mom said, and he disagreed with her, he wasn't mean, but I did tell him I don't want to be in heaven without my cat. Of course, nowadays, I don't think there is a heaven. I do remember that being the first memory of my mom saying the priest was wrong about anything. At the time, I chose to believe her.
Of course, I believe we are more than just complex life forms responding to stimuli, we are more than the sum of our parts. Doesn't mean anything immaterial is there. Same for the animals we choose to share our homes with, and anyone who has cats or dogs know they have unique personalities and likes and dislikes, not to mention the unconditional love they are capable of.
Indeed, having always been raised in a household with animals, I can't really imagine having a home empty of them, even though I know that it will cause tremendous pain later. I guess it tells you something about the human condition when we learn to accept that reality, and relish in the good moments and memories of pets both current and past.
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