I Will Never Forget You – Coping With The Loss Of A Pet

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Anybody who has ever experienced the loss of a beloved animal friend will know how incredibly sad this event can be. Our pets can be such wonderful companions and we often expect them to stay by our sides forever. Then, all of a sudden, they are cruelly snatched away from our lives in an instant. It doesn’t seem fair, the grief we often experience is incredible and it takes such a long time to accept what has taken place. If you have ever felt this way and would like a little insight on how to cope with this, please read this article.

Understanding This Pain

The first time that we experience the loss of a loved animal, it is very hard to understand why we are grieving so much. It is not uncommon for an outsider to mock our feelings and call us ‘silly’. If you think about how many years you have known your pet, and how they have been there for you during this time, your grief becomes easier to understand. You need to forget about the way other people try to dictate the way you should feel. They could never understand.

How We Feel

Grief is a very personal emotion, and different people will have separate reactions. You will probably have to deal with at least 3 phases of feelings:

Depression – This is a natural reaction to losing someone special, try not to dwell on this, but you must allow it to pass.

Anger – You may feel badly about the cause of your pet’s death, however justified you may think these thoughts are, they need to be flushed out of your system before recovery can commence.

Guilt – Many of us feel as if the death of our pet was our own fault, this really pointless and needs to be dealt with quickly.

How To Deal With Them

Honesty is the best approach, because you need to come to terms with the grieving before there is any chance of recovering from it. You are allowed to feel this way because you are experiencing something very personal. You shouldn’t try to deny these feelings, just let it out and have a good cry! Try to think about the great times you had with your companion and this will help you to understand why you feel this way.

Who Can Help?

Speak to your family and your friends who also have pets, they will understand and will be happy to allow you to open up to them. You can also speak to your local veterinary, who can recommend a counsellor for you to contact. You have real grief and a real reason for support if needs be.

Moving Forward

At some point in the future, you will start to feel a lot more positive about the way things are. Although it may be tempting to rush out and buy a ‘replacement’, you should really wait a bit longer. Your old friend can never be copied and it is not fair to place this burden on your new pet. When you have recovered fully, you should avoid buying a pet that looks similar to your deceased buddy, because this is unfair and will place a lot of expectations on the newcomer. Look forward to building a whole new relationship with this loving creature and you will soon start to feel happy once more – Good Luck!

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Today’s guest author, Penny Stark, works as a receptionist at an animal hospital in CT. She is an animal lover and adores per babies. She enjoys soft music in here spare time.
By Guest Author

Puppy Education is a site dedicated for dog owners on how to train and look after their puppy. If you have a puppy and would like to share your own experiences and knowledge, you can write for Puppy Education.

This entry is filed under Taking Care.