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Pet Loss Information
For those grieving the loss of an animal loved one
It's better to break one's heart
than to do nothing with it.
~Margaret Kennedy
The loss of a pet can be an extremely difficult and painful experience. This is situation is not helped by the fact that often the loss is not acknowledged as being a very important event. Many people try to minimize the loss by saying, "It's only a cat", or "It's only a dog." To say this is to fail to understand the bond between today's pet owner and their pets. At one time, people may have regarded their pets as merely animals, and therefore not terribly important, but that time is past. Today's pet owner considers their animal to be a family member, and misses their pet nearly as much or just as much as any human family member when the pet dies.
Children, especially, can be greatly affected by a pet's death. For many children, this is their very first experience with death. Their emotions can range from confusion to real grief. A child's grief should not be discounted by the statement, "It was just an animal." The statement is not only untrue, but can cause the child to feel that something is wrong with him or her for feeling so sad over the loss of a pet. Our pets provide us comfort, companionship, and unconditional love. When that is gone, it is an occasion to mourn.
An Inspirational Story
(This is a message from Robin Pressnall that can be found on her own home page. The link is provided at the end of the message.)
I'm so very sorry for the loss you are experiencing. I understand and know your pain because we lost our precious little muttapoo, Nicholas, on May 19, 1998. He was diagnosed with Canine Lymphoma, in April of 1997. We fought hard, but it finally won. He was never really sick until the day we put him to sleep.I don't have any human children, and I feel as if I have lost the love of my life. But I want to tell you... it DOES get easier. There may be some days when you don't even want to get out of bed... but there WILL come a time, when you think of your baby, that you smile, instead of cry...I promise......I'm going to tell you a story... It is a true story. It is a story I hope you will pass on to others when you hear of a need. This is what happened....
Two years ago, a friend of ours, Lou, was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was to late to do much to help her. Another friend of our's, Jan, was Lou's best friend, and also a nurse. On many occasions, Jan and I would have "discussions" about whether or not animals went to heaven. I always contended that they did, because the Bible says that there are white horses at the right hand of God... so it always seemed to me that there would be other animals in heaven. She always said that animals did not have souls, therefore they could not go to heaven. (Her strict Baptist upbringing was coming through!) As Lou became sicker and sicker, Jan stayed with her day and night. Lou finally sank into a coma, and stayed there for three weeks. When she died, Jan was there. She called me the next morning to tell me that Lou had died. But she didn't tell me the rest of the story for several weeks. It seems that on the night Lou died, she awoke suddenly from the coma! Her eyes sprang open, and she exclaimed, "SPARKY!!" And then, just as suddenly... she died. None of her family knew who "Sparky" was. Not her husband of 45 years, not her grown children...no one.
One day, a couple of weeks later, Jan got a call from Lou's family, asking her to come over. It seemed they had something important to show her. It was an old black and white picture.... of a little girl, and a German Shepherd. On the back it was hand written in faded ink...Lou...age 10...and Sparky........ I believe you'll see your baby again! And know this!!
Your fur baby is having the time of their life!!! And they knew how deeply you loved, and that you always will....I think they would want us to be happy for the time we shared together .. . Huggs and prayers to you. I want you to know, you are not alone in loving a dog so much!
Robin Pressnall
Story used with permission. Please visit Robin's extremely thorough site on canine cancer, Robin's Canine Cancer Pages. Also, if you would like to read more about Robin's wonderful rainbow angel Nicholas and their battle with canine lymphoma please click here.
Pet Loss Support Links
 The Pet Loss Grief Support Website
An excellent site with many informative and inspirational poetry and writings, tribute pages, links to support and services.
 Grief and Pet Loss
This is actually a page that can be found on Petloss.com, but the article is so good that I wanted to make special note of it.
The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
A somewhat different (and perhaps better) version of the Rainbow Bridge story, memorial pages, grief hotlines, chatroom, support links.
Lightning Strike Pet-Loss Support Page
Chat room, bulletin board, links.
Coping With the Loss of a Pet
Great site that discusses the stages of mourning, reasons for euthanasia, how children are affected by the death of a pet, and more.
Cornell University Pet Loss Support Hotline
Not just a hotline, this site also covers euthanasia, the stages of grieving, and books that are recommended to help children cope with loss.
Pet Loss Support
Great page covering such topics as how pet loss can affect the elderly, children, and other pets. Also tips to cope with grieving.
Robin's Canine Cancer Pages
An extremely thorough site dealing with canine cancer. If you need information on canine cancer, you should be able to find it here.
Rainbow Bridge Paintings
The painting of Alex on Alex's tribute page is by Rev. Di. She is very talented, and has done many lovely paintings of pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
Her Journey's Just Begun
Don't think of her as gone away -
her journey's just begun,
life holds so many facets -
this earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.
Think how she must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.
~author unknown
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