Ben my old faithful dog died on the 24th March 2009 and even after two weeks he is still really missed and we all expect him to twang through the dog flap after one of his many visits to the back garden sometimes to relieve himself other times just to keep the cats in order as the two ginger cats Cookie (male) and Biscuit (female) were always having a go at each other, but Ben the ‘dogfather’ would run in between them with an authoritative air telling them off.

Even though Ben was the boss in the house, he would always allow Cookie time in his dog basket. I don’t know why Cookie wanted to share Ben’s basket but every opportunity that Cookie could get he would slip in as soon as Ben virtually stood up to go on one of his scouting visits to his garden.

Even when Ben was so ill I had to literally turf Cookie out of Ben’s basket so he could rest in comfort.

The day that Ben went to the vets hospital to stay overnight for his treatment I washed all his quilt and furry rug which was used to line his basket and this made it very comfortable in deed. I wanted to wash it all so that when Ben came back he would have a clean and comfortable bed to sleep in. I did this quite often as Ben being old did have the ‘old’ dog odour about him.

Sadly Ben never came back to test his new clean bed, and since that day not one animal has ventured onto Ben's basket not cat or dog has touched it and it still lay’s empty just as Ben left it.

How strange? Cookie now sleeps outside on the floor on a cushion that he knocked onto the floor from the outside settee; Cookie won’t even stand on Ben’s bed.

I find this really strange now the cat has the opportunity to steal Ben’s basket it lies empty……………… OR DOES IT?

So sorry to hear about Ben x
Animals are funny, if they're anything like my two dogs, they only want what the other one has at that moment.... given the choice of bed, they'll go to their own, but if they're both in the kitchen at the same time, they get into each others. also, the dynamic has changed, the boss is gone and they have to establish new boundaries. If Cookie is the more dominant cat, getting into the big bosses bed could be to show Biscuit that he has the same status as Ben. Or it could be the fresh smell, or it could be that he knows Ben is gone. Either way, they will adjust to the new set-up in time. Maybe replace Ben's bed with a new cat bed?

Cats are funny creatures. I wash my cat's blankets from time to time and they are always wary of the 'fresh' smell afterwards. Silly blighters! Maybe that's why the dog bed is not being favoured at the moment?

But yes, it's a bit weird that none of them have calmed down about the new smell...so perhaps the bed is occupied!

Sorry to hear about losing Ben, it takes ages to adjust to something like that.

It does seem strange that Cookie no longer wants to sleep in Ben's bed. My best guess is that it's not to do with the "pack" dynamic ~ cats don't have hierarchical social structures. It's more to do with smell. All the time Ben was around the cats would want to establish a sort of communal smell to include your smell, each other's smell & Ben's. They would tend to sleep & rub around certain areas to exchange scents. Ben's basket would smell strongly of Ben but now that he's no longer part of the communal smell, the cats have no need to include his smell.

But it could also be to do with some sixth sense that we hunans know nothing about. There's so much we don't know about animals, the reasons for certain behaviours, the motivations to do certain things & the emotions that our pets feel. I'm don't know if our pets mourn at the deaths of "friends" but it's likely that they do. We only have to look at the behaviour of elephants to know that it is certainly possible. Maybe dogs & cats just show it in other ways?

Ben's death has left a big hole in all your lives. I hope that your grief is starting to get easier to bear.

Best wishes.

Hi wilhemina the hole is getting smaller, BUT I just miss him so much. We will get there.

I totally freaked yesterday. Lucy was asleep on my lap, and Cookie was asleep on his little bed under the table (yes he does have his own bed), and Biscuit was asleep upstairs and Smokey was asleep in his basket by the fire. I had to get up for the loo and also went into the kitchen. The rug that is on Bens basket was all scrunched up just like Ben used to keep it. I went cold I can tell you, as before I went into the sitting room to lie down it was neat and tidy. It was like a scene out of MOST HAUNTED LOL.

I think you are spot on about the cats.

The smell well not sure as I have washed the bedding regularly and cookie has always gone into it as soon as it has dried and been put back.

We will never know, but it is strange.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post, its very helpful. Maria

made me cry..thinking of you all x

Oh reading that has made me all teary...I'm so so sorry about Ben....sending much love...xxxxx