For centuries, in almost every religious and secular culture, lighting candles has been a symbol of hope and remembrance. If you feel like it, here is the place to light a virtual candle and post a picture in memory of a lost pet to honor our furchildren and feathered friends who have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

This thread is dedicated to our beloved friends who have gone before us.

Today, I am going to light a candle for my beloved Tana.

Tanasu, Tana for short, is a male red and white Norwegian Forestcat. I am always writing "is" because I think his soul continues to exist somewhere. Tana was born 5th of September in 2009 and crossed the rainbow bridge on September 11th in 2017. We adopted him from the Netherlands as a kitten and he always started purring when he saw me approaching. Very lovely, talkative and a strong protector of his female companions. He always looked so cute laying on his back, air-treading, or in my arms when sleeping.

Tana developed renal lymphoma in September 2016. Brave and kind, he went through one year of chemotherapy in which he mostly had a very good quality of life after the first initial treatments. We promised us we´ll only remember the good times we had together and we relished every day which was given to us in account of his therapy. I miss him very very much and I am sure we´ll meet again, one day. Aloha nui nui loa to you, my love.

I light a candle for my cat Mione, who died two weeks ago. She just faded away... it really affected me, I didn't even talk about her passing. I loved her so much :( She was lively and happy cat... rest in peace, my dear cat...

I am so very sorry, Anna. My thoughts are with you, you know that. ^-^

Oh man... I've had so many pets died, rabbits to cats :( but the most memorable pet is a female cat named "tian tian," I shall light a candle for her. She was memorable because she is the only female cat we've owned... and she was sacrificed for us 😢 So one evening around dinner time she was hanging out in our yard when she saw a rat, and so she ate it, but she didn't know the rat was poisonous..... we were inside a room watching a show when dad, with the cat, called my gramma out to see why she isn't moving, then when we're done and went out gramma explained that the cat has died... 😭

I am so very sorry about your loss, love. Tian Tian is a wonderful name.

I don't have the time to add pics right now but I want to light a candle for a few of my beloved pets...

Josie (Shih Tzu) this girl was more my sister than my pet, she was extremely bonded to my daddy. When he passed Jan of 2010 to cancer she just gave up, she stopped eating, she layed outside his window one afternoon and when I went outside to get her she looked like she was sleeping, bit she had passed away. We had her for over 10 years, she was family.

Purdy (American Pit Bull Terrier) a rescue who had never been out of a small cage her whole life, we only had her a few months but she got to experiance grass and love for the first time.

Oscar (American Shorthair) BEST CAT EVER! HE WAS MY BEST BUDDY FOR YEARS.

Bonnie Belle and Sweetie Pie (Dachshunds) these two will always hold a special place in my heart. Bonnie was my mom's girl, Sweetie was mine.

Shrek and Fiona (English Lops) theirs is a sad story, Shrek passed away and a week later Fiona passed, I'm convinced it was from a broken heart.

Goliath and Gregory (Maine Coon) two of the best outdoor kitties ever, big time snake killers!

Ginger and her foal (Quarterhorse) lost them in the birthing process, she was a rescue who was pregnant and we didn't even know, it broke my heart watching her suffer and see the vet do all she could, the baby was a gorgeous little filly, (a paint that looked like Hildago) she was still born and we lost her mom the next morning.

Bo (Catahoula) my first dog ever, he was my best friend when I had no one else

Sasha (Weimerainer) BEST KID DOG EVER! She was very loved by my children

In 33 years I've lost alot of beloved pets, these guys top the list at the ones I miss more than any of the others, doing rescue work for years brings alot of new faces around, but since my childhood these special ones touched me in their own little ways.

I am going to add some candles here for your beloved ones. ^-^ You can edit it later when you find the time to add own pics. -ulalena

Two cats I miss a lot... my black cat who died at age 18 several years ago, and the mostly white cat we adopted about a year after we adopted him who had a heart attack and died when she was only 6.

They were very dear creatures and while I love the cats I have now, those had a closer bond with me (the black cat just with me, the white one with my husband also).

All my sympathies to those who lost pets and still mourn them.

I just found this thread and I absolutely love it.

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I light this candle in memory of my cat Luna. She had to be put to sleep in May of 2009. I have never had a bond like I did with this cat. She was my soul mate. I miss her so much.

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Here is my tribute to her

pasting in from the day of the dead contest:

izzyby kylonaberrie

This is a gijinka of Isabelle, Izzy for short, me and my mom's old dog. She died of a combination of old age and health combinations a few years ago. She was 15, which is a good old age for a terrier. She was such a good dog, I still miss her a lot. She had spark and pride and she was so loyal to my mother. She was always super protective of us, even just against squirrels. She would always be barking at the big front window every hour of the day as people passed through her territory, except she knew she wasn't supposed to bark loud, so she would bark with her mouth closed, which was always really cute. We called them peanut butter barks because it was like her mouth was glued shut with peanut butter.

I dressed her up with a little crown and gold jewellery because she was our little princess. She was very particular about her domain, like I said above, and she hated getting her feet wet. She was super prideful, if you scolded her she would get so ashamed of herself, head and tail down. And we always spoiled her with really nice snacks because she loved them so much. Tuna was her favourite. She knew the sound of the can opener and would always come running just in case it was tuna, because my mom would always give her the can to lick. We liked to joke she was a cat in a dog's body because she loved fish so much and when she played she usually did so with her front paws, like batting at stuff like a cat (which is a breed trait, we learned when we got another Tibetan terrier.)

She was always top of the pack for all the pets we ever had when she was around, the cat and the other dog always respected her and let her have her way. She had a sort of elegance about her too, and regalness, unless she was napping, in which case she turned into a ridiculous puddle of fur. And she had such a mind of her own, she would always go off exploring whenever she got the chance, and you could always tell when she didn't want to do something, even though she respected us enough to listen to us. This was a dog where you knew it was actual respect, not just obedience or training. She listened with dignity. And she was so smart, we had to keep changing the words we used for treat and walk and things like that because she would figure out the new one and then expect to be given one.

Anyway she was a great friend and we grew up together. Here's some pictures, the brown dog with her in the fourth one is our other dog, Watson.

SPOILER (click to toggle)

I am going to light a candle today for our little fairy Lihue who crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday. She was only ten years old. We just got her back from acute renal failure and all her lab parameters were in the clear again, she was happy and has started feeding and was much more active. She fell into a status epilepticus yesterday and never regained consciousness again. She had developed an additional brain tumor after the kidney problems.

We miss you so much, little fairy. We always called you our leightweight feather, our fairy, our little beauty and will always refer to you like this. Our house will be so quiet without you around, you liked to talked, even when you carried around your little play mouse. Malu's best friend, you were cavorting around all day with him, our most active kitty even with ten years of age. Looking at you playing always filled me with tender love, you played like the fae you are, with soft paws and sweet and light steps. Most lovely cat, always gentle and darling. I know you'll always be around and we'll meet again some day, my little one. You have left a pawprint in our hearts and you'll be missed forever. We were excited to hear from you again and looking forword to our next meeting! <3

Words cannot express how sorry I am for you to lose all these treasured family members. So many paw prints.