Loss of a Family Member

Loss of your pet can leave a hole in your heart. Get support by reading, watching and listening to friends who care.

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    Falling in Love Again after Pet-Loss

    Posted on April 15, 2011 - by Bonnie Goodman

    My beloved first golden retriever died in July 2005, The anticipated and then excruciating pain of his loss lingered for months on end, tears flowed uncontrollably and a growing yearning for that furry connection permeated my soul. I swore to never get another dog again, as I couldn’t tolerate yet another heart wrenching “letting go.” But, a nagging question lingered: Could I continue my life without a dog? This was a terrible dilemma, as I felt a nagging emptiness without a dog to nurture. Yet the void grew wider with each passing day and my desire never ceased, I was […]

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    Grief Following the Loss of a Beloved Pet

    Posted on March 9, 2011 - by Wendy Packman

    The Pain of Loss “This is the most terrible pain I have ever had and I feel like I will never be the same person I was before my pet passed.  It felt like someone ripped my heart out of my chest when he died and a scream came out of me that was from some place unknown. I feel like I cannot go on and have lost my best friend who loved me without conditions or expectations.”  — Bereaved pet owner Becoming attached to beloved animal companions causes us to experience both joy and pain.  The bonds we develop with […]

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    When Animal Friends Die

    Posted on January 21, 2011 - by Gabriel Constans

    They say cats have nine lives. I wish that were true, but the facts contradict such myths. Everything dies, including the felines, dogs and other creatures we choose to care for and have in our lives. Most animals tend to have a shorter life-span than humans, thereby increasing the chances that our beloved friend will stop breathing long before we leave our mortal bodies behind. To add insult to injury is the often callous or dismissive attitude and comments of others when we’ve lost a non-human friend. People don’t always understand the emotional impact losing a pet can have. They […]

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    Pet Loss Can Devastate

    Posted on June 6, 2010 - by Kathryn Williams Raths

    Although a common thread connects the stages of grief, the journey of sorrow materializes differently for each person who trudges through it.  From overwhelming emotion, timeless pain and isolation to frozen reality or numbness, self-destruction and complete denial, grief is customized to each individual. It is also very real and may be devastating when you lose a pet who has been an integral part of your family! I lost my beloved Scruples on April 27 of this year.  My cat, who reminded me of Garfield, had just turned 20 years old.  He was with me, as my best friend, for […]

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    Animal-Human Connection Lives on After Death

    Posted on March 21, 2010 - by Lizzy Miles

    I am a cat-lover, I will admit it.  Growing up, I had cats here and there, but my dad was really intolerant of the normal pet things like fleas and “accidents” on the carpets, so I never had a cat for very long.  I had one kitten for four days; then he discovered it had fleas, and took it to the vet, and I never saw it again. When I moved to my own place at 20, right away I knew I wanted to get a kitten.  One day, my friend Laura called and told me there were kittens at […]

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    Pets, Grief and the ‘Bootsy and Angel Effect’

    Posted on March 6, 2010 - by David Roberts

    Many in our society do not recognize the impact that pet loss has on an individual. For many people, the loss of a beloved pet may be the first significant loss that is experienced in life. Pets see us through many significant milestones in life such as marriages, divorces, death and the birth of our children. They are and always will be sources of true unconditional love.  Many times pets may be predeceased by other significant family members. When that pet eventually dies, we not only grieve the loss of him/her but revisit our pain of loss from those deceased […]

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    Poem: Holly Jolly – My Chihuahua

    Posted on March 4, 2010 - by Deborah Tornillo

    You were a tiny little angel Sent to me from the heavens above. You were a soft and cuddly ball of fur Filling my life with unconditional love. My Precious – Holly Jolly. Peanut and Gunner are not the same Missing you more with each passing day. They look around and go to the back door Hoping to see you just once more. Their Precious – Holly Jolly. God blessed us with your joyfulness Wagging your tail to greet us. He knew it was time to open the gates And, bring you home to rest in peace. Our Precious – […]

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    Daughter Wants to Help Mom after Death of Beloved Dog

    Posted on February 11, 2010 - by Marty Tousley

    Question from a reader: I am writing in hopes that you may be able to provide advice or support that I can give my parents who just had to euthanize their 12-year-old Golden Lab, Baxter.  He had to be put to sleep because he could not walk anymore.  It was a very sad event for the whole family, especially for my mother who was home alone a lot with him.  Since he was buried last Sunday, my mother has not been able to let go of the fact that neither the vet nor my mom closed Baxter’s eyes before he was […]

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    How to Help a Child Cope With Pet-Loss

    Posted on January 7, 2010 - by Linda Goldman

    Five-year-old Greg was sad. His pet gerbil, Jasper, had died. Jasper was lying in the cage very still. Greg started screaming and crying and Mom ran into the room to see what happened. “Something is wrong with Jasper. He isn’t moving. I’m scared.” Mom had a tear in her eye. “Jasper died, sweetie.” Greg put his hands over his ears. “No! No! That can’t be true.” Here are some questions and possible answers that might follow. Greg: What does dead mean? Mom: Death means when the body stops working. Sometimes people die when they are very, very, very old, or […]

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    Compassionate Self-Forgiveness (Part 1)

    Posted on October 18, 2009 - by Irene Kendig

    I was reflecting today on my dog Ringo, who died after being hit by a car when I was fifteen. As I ran to his side, he acknowledged my presence with one last wag of his tail. I was devastated. I blamed myself for his death. I also blamed my mom, who was at work. I believed that, if she’d been home, this never would have happened. I thought Ringo shouldn’t have died when he did. We are spiritual beings having a human experience rather than humans with spirits. That’s a huge difference, so take a moment to let that […]

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    Dad Troubled by Accidental Death of Son’s Kitten

    Posted on September 21, 2009 - by Cori Bussolari

    By – Marty Tousley, CNS-BC, FT, DCC Question from a reader: I received a phone call last night from my frantic wife with my 13-year-old son screaming and crying in the background. He put the recliner chair down and it crushed his 12-week-old kitten. She died on the way to the vet’s . . . I am surprised at my own mourning because she attached herself to me quite a bit, napping in my arm or on my chest a lot. She could make us smile no matter what was going on, no matter how bad it was. She is […]

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    Death of Dog Compared to Child’s Death

    Posted on August 18, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

    Not long ago I was listening to the Today Show and Jill Rappaport was interviewing a woman who had lost her dog. This woman compared the loss of her dog as equal to the loss of a family member. As much as I loved the two dogs I owned in my lifetime for 15 years each, there was no comparison for me when my daughter died. We may get attached to our pets, we mourn when we lose them, but to make that comparison for me is unthinkable. Granted, there are similarities that while this woman who was interviewed may say she […]

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    Helping Grandchildren with Pet Loss

    Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Marty Tousley

    By – Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, DCC Question: I very sadly had to euthanize my wonderful dog of 8 years last night.  She has been with me with so many other losses and helped me through.  Now here I am and at a loss without her. I am having a terrible time but am contacting you to help with my two grandchildren, who are ages 6 and 3. They live across the street and have grown up with our Great Dane Suzanna, and I am at a loss as to what to say to them that they will understand.  They […]

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    Common Myths and Misconceptions about the Loss of a Cherished Pet

    Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Cori Bussolari

    by – Marty Tousley, CNS-BC, FT COMMON MYTHS ABOUT THE LOSS OF PETS: There is nothing special about the relationship between animals and humans. Your relationship with a companion animal can be just as special and loving as those you have with any other family member or close friend. Loving an animal is different from loving a human being, because a pet loves you in a way that people cannot: profoundly, boundlessly and unconditionally. Losing an animal is less painful and less significant than losing a human loved one. Pain over the loss of a beloved companion animal is as […]

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    Cat is Missing 54 Days and Counting

    Posted on June 24, 2009 - by Richard Beck

    Betty writes in: There is so little information to be found on how to deal with the loss of a pet…not death…worse, their being lost and not knowing where they are or if they are scared or hurt or dead. It is true that if you just knew what happened to them, the healling could begin. For me, it has been 54 days since my cat was lost. We moved to the country in a heavily wooded area and I have imagined all sorts of things that may have happened. I also imagine he will just walk out of the […]

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    Telling a Child About Two Deaths in One Day

    Posted on June 22, 2009 - by Pamela Gabbay

    By Pamela Gabbay, M.A., FT — My mind was simultaneously racing around in circles and dull as a knife. She’s only four… four. I could not fathom how I was going to tell my four-year-old daughter that her beloved grandmother, my mom, had just died. Her grandmother, who called her “my little Meg,” and lovingly sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow to her;” her grandmother who swam with her and played hide and seek for hours. Four-year-olds don’t understand death. I don’t understand death. My mom was just 51. She had only been diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago and now […]

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    Children React Differently When A Pet Dies, Based on Their Age

    Posted on May 4, 2009 - by Cori Bussolari

    By – Colleen Mihelich Many factors can contribute to how a child will feel when their pet dies. The child’s age and maturity are important factors. As with older people, the relationship the child had with the pet, the circumstances of the pet’s death, and other events or losses the child has experienced will influence the grieving process. The ability of the parents and others to provide support will also play an important role in helping the child work through the grief. Some generalities on how children may respond differently to the loss of a pet, as related to age […]

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    When Your Companion Animal is Missing

    Posted on May 4, 2009 - by Marty Tousley

    By Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, DCC As a hospice bereavement counselor who also specializes in pet loss, I’ve encountered in my support groups and through my websites many distraught animal lovers whose beloved dogs or cats have gone missing. These animals may have escaped from their home or yard, run off while traveling with their owners, been taken in by a stranger, or even outright stolen. I have a special place in my heart for such pet parents, because I’ve been there, too – as I describe in this excerpt from my book, The Final Farewell: One Christmas Eve my beloved […]

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    A Spiritual Connection To Our Pet Companions

    Posted on March 2, 2009 - by John Pete

    Picture the humorous sight of a Golden Retriever with short, little Corgi legs and you have a glimpse of our precious Tucker, who died February 21, 2009 at age 16 1/2. Tucker was truly a ray of sunshine in our lives. She was always there to greet us at the door with her big brown trusting eyes, an enthusiastic wag of her tail, and a bark of elation as if we were returning from a long journey instead of an hour or two away from home. Little did she know that we were as eager to see her as she […]

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    Dog Returns in a Dream and Comforts Owner

    Posted on January 16, 2009 - by Luellen Hoffman

    By Luellen Hoffman — Recently while doing research for my book, Special Dream, I asked people if they ever had someone close to them die and then appear to them in an unusual dream. Over three hundred people responded and out of that group, five people wrote to tell me their dog had died and then appeared to them in a dream. I couldn’t use their stories in my book, but when I saw the web site about the death of pets, I knew this would be a wonderful place to share their heart-warming story. Here is one story, related […]

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    Continuing Connections: Mourning the Death of Your Pet

    Posted on December 18, 2008 - by Cori Bussolari

    By Cori Bussolari —

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    My Dog, Tally, Died

    Posted on March 12, 2007 - by admin

    By Dr. Gloria Horsley I was on my way to work on Friday when my son-in-law called to say the family dog, Tally, was hit and killed while chasing a squirrel across a busy highway. My son-in-law said he and my four grand-children needed me. I turned the car around and went back to the house. My daughter, son-in-law and the grand-kids were in tears. The kids were inconsolable. My twelve-year-old grandson felt angry because they had let the dog off leash. Ok, I know that those of us who have lost family members get really upset if loss of […]

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    In My Mother’s Kitchen: An Introduction to the Healing Power of Reminiscence

    Posted on October 28, 2010 - by Robin Edgar

    Robin Edgar’s book, In My Mother’s Kitchen: An Introduction to the Healing Power of Reminiscence, illustrates how to recall and record memories of your loved ones in order to develop rituals that celebrate the times you had with them. This inexpensive paperback  is available at amazon.com.

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