DEAR AMY: We recently had to put our cat down. It came out of the blue. We had no idea that he had health problems, and we woke up early one morning to the cat crying out painfully. We immediately rushed him to the vet's where the vet said that at best treatment might lengthen his life by two to three months. We did not want to see him suffer, so we chose to kill the cat in a painless way.  I am having a rough time! I cry when I am alone. I cry when I see pet commercials on television. I put away everything that reminds me of the cat. But the last sight of seeing the cat in pain plays over and over in my head. My kids seem alright with what has happened, but why am I struggling? It has only been one week since his passing, so I hope things will get better. Do you have any suggestions?  Yours,  Sad  DEAR SAD: There is no loss quite like the loss of a pet; these animals keep us company through important life passages and are beloved witnesses to our human lives. I understand your instinct to put away all of your cat's things, but it may help you now to memorialize your pet by using these things. Each family member can write down favorite things about him or memories of him; read their memories aloud and put the papers inside his bowl. The idea is to replace those painful last memories with much more lively memories taking place over the most of the animal's life. Time will then do its job, which is to affect your feelings. And then, when you're ready, I hope you will adopt another animal and give it the opportunity to share your life. Yours,  Amy The author cried when seeing pet commercials on television because     .
she was alone at home she thought of her lovely cat she didn't like to see the things of the cat her children showed no feeling over the cat's death