I once came across a book titled, The Last Walk, with a worn-out dog collar on the front cover. I lost all interest in browsing and quickly left the bookstore. As a lifelong owner of cats and dogs as well as other animals, I have had too many last walks. Some walks I knew were likely to be our last together. Others I didn’t suspect would come to an end; I thought there was still time.

I often wonder whether that book sold well. Perhaps it appealed to some people. My wife and I, though, have been too traumatised to relive or to be reminded of what we have had to go through as animal parents.

But the older we get, the more grateful we are for their final moments. They show us how living things die, and when the time comes, it won’t be much different for us both. Death isn’t scary; it’s almost mundane.