I would taxidermy my cat. Soft and as liquid as he lived. I wouldn’t taxidermy you. You don’t really like to be touched, but neither does Gilbert (my cat) most of the time. He reliably wants to be held when he is scared- tucked into my neck as I hold him outdoors. Brave always and needing support rarely. He’s a scruffy street cat afterall- finding you last year with scratches and dirty fur he now sits on plush blankets. He would be taxidermied because I know he’d (as his conscious self) be elsewhere with better things to do and wouldn’t pay any mind to the fur suit he left behind. But I would hold it and keep his body safe in the case that he would return for some reason. It would be warm and away from the cold and exciting outdoors he would be exploring. I would taxidermy my cat.