My dog has been depressed since my cat died.

I always believed that cats and dogs don’t get along.

That’s simply not true.

I received my little cat buddy in 2015. He was already 10 yrs old. His original owner works for an animal hospital and when she had to change housing she asked us to take her cat.

It was an obvious choice because the cat spent more time with me than her. He simply didn’t like her. Cats are like that. But he chose me. The first time I met the little guy I was napping on a hot day with the back screen door open. My little buddy curled up and slept next to me. When I woke up I realized he was well fed and well cared for though I let him sleep there.

In the following weeks he would pace around my house and then nap on my doorstep.

We bonded. It reached a point where he would wait for me to get home and greet me in the parking lot. I literally mean this cat spent his whole day waiting to greet me after work or cuddled up on my off days.

When it came down to adopting him it was an obvious yes.

So about a year later my wife and I decide to move. My cat buddy came with us. He loved the new environment. There were more trees and a garden and he could do his bathroom business in an out door litter box. We even customized a little soggy door so he could come and go.

We eventually ended up adopting a puppy who’s mother died during delivery. The puppy was the only survivor from the litter and was found in a back lot behind an apartment complex. My sister in-law was the one to nurse her back to life and of course we were first choice to adopt her.

The cat and dog lived side by side for 3 years. I was so shocked that my cat would lick out her ears and clean her eyes and take naps with her. It defied my conventional understand of cats and dogs.

Anyway, this compassionate mutual behavior continued for years until my cat got diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer. We had to put him to sleep when he reached the stage of Renal Failure.

Ever since that day my dog stopped playing with toys, wanting to go for walks and just wants to sleep all day.

I take her out twice daily and she just seems uninterested in everything. The vet checked her out and she is fine. I think it’s depression. Of course I was tremendously sad too, but it’s difficult to move on when my dog is so depressed.

Every little creaking sound causes her to roam the house looking for the cat. It’s a daily occurrence.

I played old videos of the cat and she started crying.

Does anyone have advice for depressed dogs?

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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/n9lay3/my_dog_has_been_depressed_since_my_cat_died/