Pet Loss: Grief and Healing

Pet loss occurs just like losing one of the family members. The love and companionship that they introduce into our lives are invaluable, and their death leaves an empty space that soon becomes almost impossible to fill. You might know this bitter rollercoaster of emotions that loss comes with-if you have ever lost your beloved pet. Your emotions combine to create a melancholy, sorrowful, and even guilty atmosphere. It is also very useful for understanding the process and trying to find a way for healing.

Depth of Our Ties

Pets are odd creatures because they can really connect with us. They don't judge you, welcome you with unconditional love, and give a sense of companionship that might not be found anywhere else. Whether it's the soft purring of a cat curled up beside you or the wagging tail of a dog when you walk through the door, such moments go deep into our hearts in bonding us together.

It may be part of what is taken from us when pets leave this life. Almost in the blink of an eye, all the routines you had established together-even such minuscule rituals as feeding them or walking them-become reminders of what is not there, easily upsetting emotions in a swirl of unpredictable feelings.

Understanding the Grief Process

Grief is not linear in that it ebbs and flows like the tides. Here are the basic stages that many assume you move from-the denial, the anger, the bargaining, depression, and then to acceptance-being often out of sequence with one another. Here's a closer look at how those feelings might manifest:

• Denial: You may not be able to accept the fact that your pet has left in the initial stages of grieving. You start waiting for them at the door, searching for them in the house, once more a defense mechanism to be able to cope with the shock in the first place.

• Anger: You can be angry at any point in time. At some point, you may even find yourself angry with your pet for leaving, with yourself for not stopping the death from happening, or even with people around you for not feeling the same pain as you do. Let it out instead of bottling it.

•Bargaining: You may want to turn the clock back, re-live moments, or simply change the circumstances under which your pet died. Thoughts can reside in the brain, like "If only I had taken them to the vet sooner." This is normal, trying to regain control over something that feels utterly not in your control.

• Depression: You will start to feel some deep sorrow indicating you never want anyone to ever bother with you. If that's the case, let your pain, and you will gradually come to a pace with which to grieve without your perception of being rushed.

•Acceptance: This by no means signifies forgetting your pet or ceasing to be sad; it is just making a way of living with loss. Acceptance may also take some time and, most often, is a process over time.

Importance of Rituals

It can also assist you in building rituals. You might want a small memorial to your pet, maybe lit a candle, planted a tree, or even made a scrapbook full of pictures and memories of your pet. Sometimes telling stories to friends or family who knew your pet may comfort you and bring you healing.

Another way to celebrate the memory of your lost pet is through giving back. The best thing you can do is volunteer at a local animal shelter, even foster a needy pet. Such actions may be used for good, thus channeling love for the lost companion while also helping another animal in the process.

Giving Yourself Permission to Feel

Let yourself feel and express these feelings. Grief is not a weakness but the proof of love. Open up with your friends or family members who understand you, or join a pet loss support group. It can be pretty healing for you to experience compassion and understanding from people who have experienced their own losses.

Not at any point is one way of it more "right" than another. Some days are utterly bearable, and others utterly not. Treat yourself with kindness; don't hesitate to seek professional support should you find that you can't cope.

Four Steps Forward

Time will veer off your sense of loss, but emotions may resurface. These can crop up during anniversaries or holidays; hence, keep close the memory of your pets. Any small action such as speaking your heart, or recalling joyful moments that you had with your pets, may connect you with them emotionally.

At the end, healing does not mean forgetting; it only provides a passage that you can take your love for your pet in hand as you trek along the life forward. They will always be in your heart, and after many seasons, you come to appreciate those moments and are not dwelling at the bottom of the well of anguish loss provides.

A Journey of Love

It's the emotional journey dotted with ups and downs grieving over the dead of one's pet. It becomes evidence of love you and your pet have shared for each other and bond created between you. You let yourself feel as you create meaningful rituals, find solace, go through this hurts and start healing. Neither are you a first to get those feelings of it or this so emotional. There are others who walked down this very same route and found their way to acceptance and peace. Your pet may be gone, but the love you share will guide you through those memories that are so beautifully, bittersweet when your pet is gone.