Do animals have any consciousness of death? Examples of elephants caressing the bones of their dead ones in a sort of funerary ceremony are well known. Other animals will stay with their dead for ages and cling to their lifeless bodies. Stories of dogs coming and staying at the grave of their dead master for years are legion. Greyfriars Bobby stayed beside his master’s tomb for fourteen years before his own death.
On December 17th last year our beloved cat Napoleon (‘Nap’ for short) went into the cat’s heaven. Only those who have suffered the loss of their four-footed friends can know that the grief of losing a pet is as great – often greater – than losing a friend of the bipedal species.
In case you ever met Nap here are some photos of him. Even if you didn’t know him you might like to see them, taken over his relatively short life, 2006-2017.
In 2012 Carlotta, the tortoiseshell (calico) with the white face, entered our lives and in 2015 Cheekie, another tortoiseshell with a black streak on her face, became part of our family. They got on swimmingly with Nap who patiently intervened to stop their female feline quarrels.
My wife arranged for a burial place for Nap just above our upper terrace wall and decorated his tomb place with stones and a little cross.
It’s mainly an hour or two before sunset every day that Carlotta and Cheekie meet up with Nap’s spirit which hovers around his last place on this earth. They love to spread themselves near him and take in the day’s last rays. (These pictures were taken on April 17th, four months after Nap left us for a better place).
You might think this is a lot of imaginative thinking on my part but I sincerely believe that both Carlotta and Cheekie feel their friend’s presence here, especially at the going down of the sun, and want to keep him a little company and let him know that one day they too will join him and again play and frolic together as they used to do.
We all have our happy places and the nearest image I can think of heaven is the happiest place which is beyond our wildest imaginations and which will be always be full of love and light…
(From left to right Carlotta, Cheekie and Nap(oleon) painted by Kety Bastiani in 2015)
Thank you for this rendering of a heart wrenching true story. Yes indeed animals are truly sentient creatures at Greenwich University I remember I had to write and give a paper on the very self same subject with naturally the conclusion that yes indeed animals are sentient beings. Napoleon was such a loving animal with his various foibles and quirks. It fell to me to prepare Nap for his final resting place which I did lovingly and we buried him on the 1st January 2018 his cat friends were supportive and followed my every move. It seemed at one point that Carlotta and even Cheeky were crying at the tomb side. There was a wonderful short burst of sunshine time enough to bury him and say our last good byes till we meet again then even as it seemed the sky’s wept as it started to drizzle rain. In the days that followed I placed a lot of stones around his tomb and even made a headstone with a portrait of Nap sealed with lacquer. Cornelia his wife was somewhat unconsolable and seemed not to visit Naps tomb and just cried and cried seeking him everywhere they were truly inseparable.
Thankyou for your heartfelt comment. There are so many times I am ashamed to be part of the human race. I just feel so much happier when I am surrounded by nature and animals who seem to know so much more about life and death than us stupid humans do.