Feels pretty bad if you don't have pet pal. It will follow you and then die 100% of the time and you can't prevent it from happening.

I think it would be best to revisit this cat and have it not die and just stay within the starting island so that when you have pet pal you can revisit it.

Part of explorational games that I've always loved is taking note as to where things are so I can go back later and interact with them in a way I couldn't originally. When the cat just dies, it takes away some of that magic and makes me feel like i've missed out on something

I know this is incredibly minor feedback, but I figured it's sensible enough and i'm not asking you to make sweeping game balance changes. Please and thank you!