Hi Kitty Mittens. I almost missed this post last night. I had shut down for the night before you arrived.
Yes, it's so sad and it would be nice to be able to believe that they followed some kind soul home and they lived a long happy life, but........*sigh* we know that it isn't likely that was their fate. :-(
It cheers me up to hope that, maybe, our Lord will give them back to me someday, in Eternity. I'm not aware of any Scripture to back it up, but I don't think there's anything wrong with 'hoping,' because our God is such a Loving Savior. :)