Peg, I'm so very sorry. I know how your loss of Ziggy must be tearing at your heart--just reading your post made me cry. I lost two dear old friends within ten months in the late summer of 2001 and midsummer 2002. Tossie (full name, Tosspot) was 19-1/2 and was my first-ever and much-beloved cat. Actually my first-ever pet of any kind. Losing her was wrenching. Then, 10 months later, I lost 16-1/2 year-old Misty, a lovely grey tortoise cat who had come to live with me at around age 3 or 4 when her people moved away and abandoned her. That loss was no easier than losing Tossie. Both were ill at the end, and I had intellectually prepared myself to the possibility of losing them, but nothing prepared my gut for the sucker-punch of their dying.

Ziggy was one lucky kitty to have someone who loved him so very much. You honor him in death with your grieving as you honored him in life with your care and devotion and companionship. You might want to do something special in your yard to honor Ziggy's memory. One of the things I did for Tossie was to plant spring bulbs on her grave in my side yard. That, and the little garden statues of a curled-up sleeping cat that mark her and Misty's resting places are a constant reminder of my wonderful companions.

My deep condolences.
Kathy