Am so sorry about your cat. I used to have nothing to do with cats, and now have 5. We lost 3, I live in the country and have let them outside and think that the coyotes got them.
Just got two to replace them. Guess I will make them house cats.
My cats and dogs keep my bp down. Leftists drive it up.
I was a dog lover. My last dog got old and died some 15 years ago. In the meantime, some feral cats started visiting my back yard and I started feeding them and playing with them. A couple had kittens and brought them, and I took a liking to some. They've come and gone over the last decade, and I similarly think coyotes got them, if not car accidents. My wife won't let them in the house, although I let them in the garage or my workshop toolshed where a couple keep me company.
There are currently 5 cats on my deck, 4 from one litter. The 5th one is my favorite, was part of a litter of 3 and a mother until the mother and a kitten disappeared, and I raised the 2 remaining kittens. One of those 2 cats was the one that got sick and died. We have raccoons, skunks and possums visiting our yard most nights, but they don't bother the cats. Lately a coyote has been spotted in the neighborhood and cats are disappearing, last spotting of a coyote was two blocks away in someone's back yard. We're in a residential suburb of SF with lots of wooded yards but wildlife is coming from parklands a couple miles away.
Anyway, like you, the cats calm me and make life good, especially when I'm doing my woodworking or gardening. And they also make me forget about leftists!