Did you know that I originally intended for Benedict's cat, Nuada, to be alive in the main series? If I recall correctly, she even played a big part in the end of the last book (at least she did in the way I had it plotted in the beginning, which is vastly different from the current version). I even had some hints about Benedict being nearby based on the cat. Like these little scenes:

End of Chapter 31 (Wolf):

Trinket rose to her feet first, extending her hands to Booker who reluctantly took them and lifted himself up, brushing the snow from his coat. With a final look around the abandoned building, he turned to Trinket and raised his hands in defeat. They walked out through the doorway, although they could just as easily have walked through one of the crumbling walls. As they made their way back to the slums, Trinket heard a soft meowing coming from behind them. She craned her neck to find the source, but there seemed to be no cat in sight. A few more pathetic cries echoed in her head. She stole a glance at Booker who seemed lost in his own thoughts. Shaking her head, Trinket decided it was just another hallucination.

She did not even register the tiny pawprints that she covered over with her own tracks.

End of Chapter 9 (Wolf):

Trinket was about to head back inside to the warm kitchen when she saw a cat run by. It would not have caught her attention so if it had been just an ordinary cat. But while it was pure black, its front leg appeared to be brown. Not only that, it seemed to be a leg belonging to another animal. Perhaps a dog? She stared after it a while before shaking her head and closing the door, thinking it just another hallucination.

But in the end, I decided to kill off the poor thing. Don't worry, she died of natural causes.

Fun fact: Nuada was named after a king from Irish mythology who lost his arm and had it replaced with silver prosthetic. Seemed fitting.