Oh, poor boys!  Your one son sounds like he is having problems dealing with it all and no wonder, it is tough!  wildice has some great ideas.  I really like the one about the pictures, he has to get his grief out.  Maybe talking to him about providing a good life and love for the cat for it's whole life would help.  That loving it meant you couldn't see it suffer.  Tell him when he thinks he is ready,  as everyone has to get over the loss,  that you will pick out an other cat to love but only when he is ready.  Then he can understand that lossing causes certian things to happen with your feelings and every one has to work through it. Best of luck

Hi there,

In my humble opinion, I would consider getting another kitten for the poor child. The lesson being that whilst one life is no longer with us (and is probably in a much nicer place where the mice run free and the cats don't even have to chase them for a snack) we can provide a nice home for another new little life and give it a lot of love and attention.

Explain that it is not a replacement, it's more of a compliment to the one that is no longer with us. For example, because you (the child) and pussy loved each other so much, perhaps pussy would be happy if he could see that you had another pussy so that you aren't sad anymore, because pussy wouldn't want you to be unhappy for the rest of your life ... something along those lines.

When my son was younger, from the age of about 3 until 16, we always had animals of some kind. Guinea pigs, rabbits, rats (and they're actually quite sweet believe it or not), cats, dogs ... I believe it is important for children to have animals in their lives as it teaches valuable life lessons. We've buried about ten animals in our backyards over the years - we always made a huge ceremony about it and buried the animal with something personal. Children can learn about death in a positive way and it's something we all have to learn about somehow.

Another thing could be to make a collage or craft project with any and all pictures of pussy that you have - it could serve as a keepsake and perhaps be of some comfort until he has learnt to deal with the event. It may be that he needs a mechanism for closure. 

Hope something here helps. Good luck,

Kelly