Cats in Heaven

I have been dealing with a heavy heart this past month with the death of our family pet, a lovely beautiful cat named Louise. Her death hit me harder than I ever imagined was possible. She was a sensitive soul. Which made me wonder about souls.

I grew up as a Catholic and as such, I learned that animals have no soul… they just die and disappear. Can this be the truth? After Louise and I let each other into our lives, I can’t accept that there isn’t an afterlife for pets.

How can something filled with such love, that brings such joy have no afterlife? How can I have such a heavy heart and have cried enough tears to fill a bucket, for a creature that has no life?

I’ve looked at different writings and found some thoughts which I found to be quite powerful. The Episcopal Church treats animals with love and respect. Some of the churches have services for your pets, so they can be blessed. Some of the churches will hold funeral services for our fur babies. But do they recognize that animals have souls?

One theologian wrote that animals do have souls. So the first argument to this debate is that Christ came to save the soul of man… not animals. Yes, He did come to do that because man sins… animals do not sin!

Again, I can not believe that this much love means nothing. By nothing, I mean that there is no future to see Louise again. I can’t accept that. Someday, I’ll see that beautiful creature again. She’ll recognize me and meow. She’ll wag her tail, like only she could do, in love when I feed her some treats.

Louise left this world with his favourite toy mouse and a shirt with her mum’s scent. She left this world in the arm’s of my wife, while looking at me. Through it all we cried and made plans on Louise’s life with us after her death.

She is with us physically and spiritually. There hasn’t been one day where I haven’t thought about her and missed her. She was my friend, my child, and a companion. Now, tell me again how this beautiful creature doesn’t have a soul? That this creation of God’s that freely gave love doesn’t have an eternal life. Love lives for all eternity and so will Louise…