anyone experienced this before? 2 brother cats, 1 just died

[rosanagh]

They are both 6 years 7 months old and very close twin brothers, Teddy had to be put down yesterday after discovering he had a very aggressive form of cancer that had spread from his abdomen to his lymph nodes, Matty is left, he has been sniffing everywhere and scratching doors, to us it still doesn't feel real, they are both the most loving, docile ragdolls and Teddy is very missed, what can we do to help Matty? We've been keeping him close by and giving him lots of hugs. Is it just a 'give it time' thing? Would really appreciate hearing your thoughts.

I think you'll just have to give it time, sorry. For your loss.

Have you buried Teddy?

Cats Protection recommend you let the living cat see the body of the dead one, they seem to understand, shrug and move on.

If you can't do that, then lots of hugs is the best you can do.

Hi rosanagh I am so sorry to hear it, hope you are ok. I had this, many years ago - inseparable sisters (litter mates). One dies aged 28 months, went off her food, was clearly very affected.

It took about a month before she found her feet again and started to get back to normal. She loved to the grand old she of 17 in the end, a lovely happy life do it all worked out ok in the end.

It was a horrible time though for her and us - somehow you just get thought it and the old cliche about time healing is true. Hope the lad improves soon

I had a brother and sister pair, Thomas and Molly. Molly died at home 4 years ago after being ill for a while. I wrapped her body in a blanket and let Thomas come and see her. He sniffed at her and 'said goodbye'. After that he was a little clingy but has been fine. He is now 16, has a daily pill for thyroid problems, but is otherwise ok.

You need to give him time, and then see if he is a cat that actually needs the company. We had the same situation and after several weeks it became clear that the remaining cat really needed a friend to play with. So we ended up with another cat and the first is now happy again.