Content
Owning a dog, cat or other animal and providing it with a healthy life is an act that reveals love, friendship and relationship with animals. It's something that everyone who has or has had an animal as a family member knows well.
Pain, sadness and mourning are parts of this process that remind us of the fragility of living beings, yet we know that accompanying a dog, a cat or even a guinea pig in their last years is a difficult and generous process in which we want to give back to the animal all the allergies it offered us. In this article by PeritoAnimal we will try to help you to know how get over the death of a pet.
Understand each process as unique
The process of overcoming your pet's death can vary a lot depending on the individual circumstances of each pet and family. A natural death is not the same thing as an induced death, nor are the families that host the animal the same, nor the animal itself.
The death of a pet can be overcome, but it will be very different in each specific case. It's also not the same as the death of a young animal and the death of an old animal, the death of a young cat can be because we can't keep up with it for as long as it should have been natural, but the death of an old dog involves the pain of having lost a traveling companion who has been with you for many years.
Being present at the time of your pet's death can also change the evolution of your grief. Regardless, below we are going to give you some advice that will help you get through this moment.
Also learn how to help a dog overcome the death of another dog in this PeritoAnimal article.
How to get over your pet's death
In the face of the death of a pet, it is common to have the feeling that one should only cry for a human being, but this is not true. The relationship with an animal can be very deep and in the same way a mourning must be done:
- The best way to mourn is to allow yourself to express everything you feel, cry if you want or don't express anything if you don't feel like it. Showing how you feel is very important to managing your emotions in a healthy way.
- Tell people you trust how your relationship with your pet was, what made you learn, when you were with you, how you liked it... The purpose of this is to be able to express your emotions.
- When possible, you should understand that it is no longer necessary to have the utensils of your dog or cat. You must be able to donate them to other dogs or animals that need them, as is the case with shelter dogs. Even if you don't want to do it, it is important that you do it, you must understand and assimilate the new situation and this is a good way to do it.
- You can see as many times as you want the photos you have with your pet, on the one hand this helps to express what you feel and on the other hand to assimilate the situation, mourn and understand that your pet has left.
- Children are especially sensitive to the death of a pet, so you should try to get them to express themselves freely, so that they can feel entitled to feel everything they feel. If over time the child's attitude has not recovered, he may need child psychology therapy.
- It was defined that the time of mourning for the death of an animal should not exceed one month, otherwise it would be pathological mourning. But don't take this time into account, every situation is different and it may take you longer.
- If facing the death of your pet you are suffering from anxiety, insomnia, apathy... Maybe you also need one specialized care to help you.
- Try to be positive and remember the happiest moments by your side, keep the best memories you can and try to smile whenever you think about him.
- You can try to end the pain of your deceased pet by offering a home to an animal that doesn't have it yet, your heart will be filled with love and affection once again.
Also read our article on what to do if your pet has died.
