Mourning The Death Of A Pet

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     When a pet that is loved by the whole family dies, it is like a member of the home has died. Sometimes, it is hard to accept that the situation has indeed occurred. For pet owners who are have difficulty grieving the death of their pets, here are a few things that you should learn about.

Know Stages of Grief. There is the famous five stages of grief. There can be denial that your pet has indeed left you. This can be characterized by refusing the death and saying that your pet has, for example, just left home and hasn't found its way back yet. Then, there can also be anger. Different people have different ways of expressing the anger that they feel.

Another stage is bargaining. At this point, the owner will negotiate something in exchange of the life of the pet that they lost. Also, there can be depression. You may be deeply saddened by this loss. Lastly, there is the stage of acceptance. In here, you have acknowledged the loss and what the situation really is. All these stages may not be experienced by all people. Some may be able to directly accept the death of their beloved.

Help Children. If the pet that you have lost is close to your kids as it is close to you, you should prioritize the feelings of your children. While you are grieving, it is also important that you make it a point to assist the kids while they grieve.

A simple thing that you can do is to talk to them. Let them express what they think or feel about the loss. This will help them release all their feelings and also it will help you determine how they are coping with the situation.

Giving them hugs and comfort can make them feel supported at the duration of their grieving.

Remember happy memories with your pet. Happy memories allow you to think of your pet in a happy note. Just like in anything that you have to grieve on, the memories of your pets will be better left as exactly that, memories. There might be no point in reliving their activities no matter how long you have been with your pet.

Find closure. One way by which closure can be ensured is when you have witnessed your pet getting buried or if you have buried it yourself. This way you will realize that, indeed, it is the end for your pet and you should just leave it to lay there in peace. Saying goodbye to it is also another way of putting this chapter into a definite end.

Determine if you need a new pet. Some people bounce back faster if they have a new pet in the house. The new pet can either remind them of the pet that they lost or it can help them to completely forget about the pet.
Forgetting about the old pet with the help of a new one will not be considered dysfunctional as long as you have accepted the loss of the old pet.