Hugs, Omers, sorry about your cat. Maybe he's trying to hold to not replying unless you say you need one? Could you maybe send him something saying you would really like a reply, even if it's not so much that you need one? Do you mainly just want to know he's read your emails? If so, you could just ask that, like, "I don't need a long reply, just want to know that you've read them and are still there" or something like that.