Coping With The Loss Of A Pet

!±8± Coping With The Loss Of A Pet

Owning an animal used to be only considered when it was needed to carry out a purpose like ploughing fields, catching mice and rats or for hunting with. They were seen only as another possession and not something to be overly concerned about once it passed away. However all of that has now changed and owning an animal purely as a pet is far more commonplace and so to has their significance in our lives. We now consider them as part of the family, to love and care for them as we would any other member of our family.

This attachment to our pets brings us many years of companionship and love but it does also mean that when they pass away, we also suffer grief and pain. However how do we express this sense of loss, when to many, an animal is just an animal and in many cultures grieving for a pet is seen as silly and as a weakness. It is just as important to find ways to come to terms with the loss of our pets, as it is when we lose any member of our family. If we don't it could lead to physical illness and depression.

It is therefore important to find someone to speak to who will understand your grief and who can help and support you through these sad times. They should allow you to cry and to talk about how you feel. If there is no one in your family or circle friends that you feel will be sympathetic to your feelings, then contacting a local animal charity and asking them for help is perfectly acceptable. Some animal charities even have dedicated telephone lines to help people with their loss of a pet.

Other important ways to cope with your grief are:

Make sure you eat regular meals, it may sound silly but during the grieving period it is common for people to forget to look after themselves as they normally would and may even find that they lose their appetite. Not eating will only make you feel worse.

Allow yourself to cry without feeling embarrassed about it. If someone asks why you are crying, simply say that you have lost a dear friend.

Try not to dwell on the loss, keep yourself busy.

Don't forget to continue to pay attention to any other pets you may have. They too will be experiencing a sense of loss even if it is not shown.

When we lose a member of our family or a friend the ritual of holding a funeral to say your final farewells can be the starting place to accepting your loss. Unfortunately this rarely happens for our pets and so because that final farewell doesn't happen we may feel that we have not yet let go of them and so can prolong the feelings of grief. It can therefore be helpful to have some sort of memorial for your pet. It doesn't have to be much, a planting of a tree or bush, or placing a small statue or plaque in the garden, may be all that is needed to say goodbye and to help you through the grieving process.

One of the hardest things to cope with when a pet dies is explaining it to a young child, who may have built up very strong bonds with the animal but who does not understand the concept of death. Many parents feel worried about trying to explain what has happened to the pet, as they feel that as the child's first experience of death, the explanation should be a positive one and not something that will frighten the child.

The best way to explain to a child about death is to be totally honest with them. Use real words like death and dying rather than words like sleeping etc. By explaining death to them in a calm and positive way it will help them come to terms with future losses and will prevent possible future confusion if they hear the truth from someone else.

Children will respond to the death of a pet in different ways, some may start to do some very strange things like burying toys for the animal to play with or drawing pictures of the dead animal underground. Whichever way they want to express their feelings should be allowed and even encouraged and crying in front of your child will allow them to also feel as if they can cry too and not to try and be brave about it.

Coping with the loss of a pet is never easy and you should always allow yourself time to come to terms with it. Often rushing out to replace the animal is not the best solution and can even cause other unforeseen problems not only for yourself but also for your other pets.