Sorry to hear this, Basil. Always a miserable thing.
After my lad Merlyn passed (the face in my avatar) I vowed there would be no more pets in the house. Too hard to see them go.
We do have three "occasional" cats, abandoned by neighbors when they left their house to foreclosure. The cats were roaming the 'hood, hungry and skinny, so we've kept them fed and treated. Fred, Ethel and Lucy now.