Dealing with the death of a pet is never easy, especially if you’re extending emotional support to other members of the family. Replacing the void a pet left in their wake can affect different members of the family differently depending on their bond and the way they grieve. This blog explains how you can support a family dealing with pet loss and recommends pet cremation options in the end.

Accept Their Grief

You don’t have to love animals to accept your family’s. You only have to understand that losing a pet is very painful for a lot of people, especially if the pet had been their emotional support friend.

Some people dealing with pet loss feel their feelings are invalid because they’ve been made to think it was “just a dog” or “just a cat” to be feeling this much over. For people to share their grief, they require someone willing to empathize if not understand their feelings.

Don’t Seek A Silver Lining

A mistake we usually make while dealing with grief is trying to look on the bright side. Explaining to someone how their dog is walking on a rainbow bridge does little to curb the emotional trauma in the hearts. Seeking silver linings when their heart is not in it makes people think what they’re feeling is wrong.

Instead, let them take their time and grieve for as long as they feel the emotions are raw. Offer them support and keep a light-hearted atmosphere but let them have their space too.

Help Them Express Their Emotions

Like all emotions, talking through grief can help abate it. Providing loved ones with support systems in terms of individual or group therapy can go a long way in terms of having them accept their loss.

Informal exercises like simply having them talk to the pet cremation urn can help them process their grief better by letting it out.

For Children

Children deal with loss differently than adults. Losing a pet may be their first brush with death and loss which is hard to deal with on their own since they don’t fully understand it. They may blame the vet or parents for not saving the pet. In situations like these, being with a grieving adult can help them process their pain.

It is important to be honest with a child about what happened. They will naturally have a lot of questions that should be answered with maturity.

For Seniors

Old people are also more prone to immense sadness after losing a pet. Often, the loss makes them remember other things in their life and upsets them further. Losing therapy and service dogs is especially hard. It may make them feel lonely again.

It is important to help senior citizens overcome their feelings to give them a sense of purpose again. Small steps such as a pet cremation memorial garden in the backyard where they can work could help provide a distraction and help them honor the pet’s life. A strong support system that includes people who are grieving the same things can help them feel less lonely.

For Surviving Pets

The surviving pets in the family also take losing their friend very hard. For example, they may uncharacteristically stop eating and moving. It is important to be mindful that animals also grieve and they need a lot of love and tenderness to be okay.

Getting A New Friend

Once you think your family is ready, suggest expanding your family with a new pet. This friend may not replace what the family had with the passed one, but giving love and care to a new pet may help them move on.

Note that bringing a new friend too soon is not healthy if the family is still grieving and can’t provide them the care they deserve. Similarly, older citizens will have a harder time accepting a new member because there is a possibility that they may not survive the pet.

Create Memorials

Honoring the pet’s life helps people accept the loss and move on. Having pet cremation memorials allow people to keep their furry friends close after losing them. A memorial helps them face the loss through tangible things.

Heaven’s Gate Pet Memorial Center is a caring pet crematory that offers animal cremation services in Sacramento.  The center understands the sensitive nature of handling the loss of a pet and helps grieving people make memorials out of the pet’s ashes as keepsakes. Reach out to them here.

About The Author

Natasha R. Oliver is a freelance writer and a pet owner currently associated with Heaven’s Gate Pet Memorial Center. She loves to write about animal nurseries.