You have my deepest sympathies. I know the loss of a pet is almost too painful sometimes to bear, and I guess time is the only healer for that. I was devastated when I lost my 15 year old girl kitty - fortunately I had a very understanding boss who let me take the next 2 days off. It's hard, too, when you talk to people and you find yourself suddenly breaking down into tears, where if there had been a human death in your family people would understand, but they think 'she's crying over a cat?'
Only other pet lovers truly understood. How wonderful that you could be there at the end. To this day, it makes me heartsick that I missed my girl kitty's death by just a few minutes - I was racing home from work because my daughter had called and said the kitty was in a bad way, and by the time I got home she was gone. 15 years of her total devotion and loyalty to me, and I wasn't even there to comfort her at the end. Oh man, this is making me cry now just remembering it.