Sorry for your loss, Ned. While some people just don't understand the relationship we can have with our animal "kids", they mean the world to us, and their leaves a hole in our heart that cannot be easily mended. Their lives are shorter than ours, but they make up for it by being extra-awesome while they're here with us.
There's tons of theological debate on this, I'm sure, but I've always thought that if you believe in God and the afterlife, and you believe that God loves us, you must believe that you'll see your Coda again.