First of all, my genuine thanks to all for your kind comments and emails. I really appreciate them and they have been a comfort to me.
While there are always two varieties of dry cat food left out, every morning and evening I open a can of "wet food" and put it out for the cats. These past few days I find I am still dividing that food into three portions. And when I walk into the living room, I still catch myself looking at Rainbow's "comfy-nest" to see if she is alright.
Anyway, I still have two big bruisers romping around and now that they don't have Rainbow to terrorize anymore, I'm thinking of heading to the shelter to pick-up a young'en to terrorize them.
Kimo (remember him?) still meets me outside and I still feed him but he's becoming, if anything, more feral so he's really not a good choice. And Sammy just doesn't like him. Maybe she'll accept a kitten. Crispy always spends a couple hours making half-hearted hisses but then winds up joyfully playing with anyone who ventures into our home.
Thanks again, everyone!