Coping With Pet Death

You take a furry friend home with you, bond with him and care for him for many, many years. Many memories are made and time spent together is precious. All too soon the pet dies and you mourn the passing as if it was a family member who died. Your grief is just as real as if a human had died. Others who do not have pets sometimes find it difficult to understand the need to grieve for pets when they die. Other pet owners will understand the bond that had formed and the loss that you suffer.

Many pets are treated much like human family members. Birthday are celebrated, pictures are taken and cherished; they have a real place in our homes and in our hearts.

Pets become important in our daily lives as they provide companionship, emotional support, and unconditional love. Based on all they do for us, it is little wonder that we mourn them when they die.

The first step in the grief process is understanding the normal need to grieve and that it is ok to show grief for the death of your pet. Finding ways to cope with your loss will bring you closer to being able to accept and to handle it.

Pet owners dealing with the death of their pet will undergo the same grieving process as those who grieve for other family members. They will enter into the state of denial to protect against the inevitable until they can handle the reality of their loss. Then, they may try to bargain with God, or themselves to do some good deed or perform some task that will make their pet return to health. Anger may be the next emotion, directed at themselves, other family members even at the vet. They may even feel quilt about something they should have done, or something they should have done differently.

Pet owners can cope with their grief by seeking out pet bereavement counseling services, or pet-loss hotlines, local groups for pet loss, books, and articles such as this one. Pet owners can give themselves permission to grieve, and perhaps record how they feel in a journal. Some local humane societies offer pet loss support groups that help support pet owners during times of grief.

The Internet may also be a good source of support as there are many Websites that offer ideas for pet memorials or testimonials.

Help your child to understand the loss of a pet by explaining what happened in terms they can understand. Make sure that they are not blaming themselves for the death of the pet. Let them see your grief so they will know that it is OK to show how they feel too.

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