Woman sleeps with dead pet, doesn't want to let go

BOSTON: Chloe Lee, a 23-year-old woman, has carried out the taxidermy procedure on her beloved cat of 16 years — after she passed away in 2020 — to help herself cope with the grieving process.

According to The Sun, Lee studied taxidermy to preserve her furry friend whom she got at the age of six. She said: “I got Nicky as a pet when I was six years old.

“She was shy and timid around other people but around me, she was loving and snuggly.

Lee said that over the years, Nicky was the one constant in her life. "She’d lie on my chest or shoulder. She had a favourite position to lie curled up on my bed.”

In 2020, Nicky faced death cause of being old, and her death became a reason for the amateur taxidermist Chloe to learn taxidermy.

She learnt taxidermy from books and YouTube videos all on her own before perusing specialist courses. 

She said: “I didn’t want my little Nicky turned into ‘maggot food’.

“The comfort I got from holding her on my lap was something I knew could continue after she died.

“I spent fifty hours processing her body. It helped heal my grief.”

The curled-up Nicky is very lifelike and her relatives often get an illusion of her as alive.

She said: “When people see Nicky on the sofa or bed, they assume she’s a sleeping cat.

They get astonished when they get to know that she isn’t.

“My Nicky is with me forever. I hope I can give the gift to other people as well.”