I think you are right that he is still there with you. When we lived in PA, both my girls independently told me that they felt Mittens our sweet silver tabby who had passed away from kidney disease, jump up on the bottom of the bed and curl up to go to sleep. Your friends are wrong. What you did took courage and love. You did what I hope and pray my loved one will do for me if the time comes, set me free from an old, ill prision of a body.
Please be at peace knowing that you did what was right.
Ginger