Dear LPG,

I live alone but recently read your article dated June 1^st 2018 (►►►) and agree with everything that IG said about what a comfort and friend a pet can be.  When very young I had a dog which was my best friend but, after years of her always being there, I found it really hard to deal with her death.  It is that reminder which has deterred me from having another pet all these years later.

Now, after years of family life, my children have all left home and  I find living alone quite difficult, which has left me wanting to adopt another pet, but worried about how going through the motions of losing something as important as that will affect me now that I am older. 

I know that there are no guarantees in this life and that there is a chance that I could leave my pet as alone as I felt when young, even though at that time I had lots of family to help me through the crisis.   I have noted your article dated November 1^st 2018   (►►►), but for some time now I have been seriously put off a new pet in case it happens the other way round.

My daughter recently provided the perfect solution.  For my last birthday, she bought me two older cats who, though not related, have lived in the same home in the past.  She got them from Battersea Dogs and Cats home and there are so many advantages of having them.  I know all about any ailments they may have and they were microchipped, inoculated and spayed before I got them.  Because there are two of them they keep each other company when I am too busy doing other things, they are older which means that I did not have to deal with toilet training and the obvious fall-out from that issue, and even though it is very likely that one of the three of us will eventually leave the other two, and I know that I will find it as hard to deal with as I did before, when the worst happens this time there will be two of us left to grieve for the other one.

I think that more than two would be too much but I have to say that, in spite of the fact that feeding them and going away for a few days can be more expensive, having two pets may be the solution for anyone who has similar concerns about having a pet as they get older.  

LF, Croydon

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