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Dealing with the death of a pet can be an extremely hard experience to go through. Pets become a part of your family. If you have recently lost a family pet, there are a number of tips for dealing with the death that may help. Here’s how to deal with your pet loss and the grief associated with it.
Healthy Grieving
Grief isn’t easy and the grieving period for a pet can be very painful. That’s why it’s a good idea to get some support from family and friends. It is very important to take care of yourself and your family during the grieving process. Take some time to relax, calm down, and remember all of the great times you and your family had with your pet. Make sure you check on your kids to see how well they are handling it. Children will handle grief differently depending on age, personality, among many other aspects. Make sure everyone gets plenty of rest and spends some time together. By thinking about how much you appreciated your pet, you can feel more gratitude during this time of sadness.
Share Favorite Memories
Your family can get together and share your favorite memories you had with your pet. Gather a bunch of photos and have everyone write down their favorite memory with your family pet. Happy and funny stories can help everyone feel a little bit better. Make sure you talk to your kids and be open about how you are feeling. This will help them to be open with their feelings as well. It can be difficult for children to know how to cope with the loss of a pet, especially if they have never had an experience with death before. Teaching them how to process these feelings is healthy and will help them later in life as well.
Put Together a Small Funeral
The funeral for the family pet is usually a simple service that focuses on the memory and life of the pet. Make sure you have flowers or burial markers ready to place in the spot. If you have a bigger budget, you can try to invest in a headstone for your pet. This can be beneficial to your kids who might want to visit their pet. This will also greatly help your children get some closure and comfort. Very young children will now understand what is happening and will wonder where their pet is. Having a physical spot where they can visit the pet will help them understand. You’ll want to keep your pet’s name or other identifying features in mind when making plans for your funeral. Include the name of your pet as well as the date it passed away. You may want to include some keepsakes that remind you of your pet. If you don’t have a pet photo album, you can get one made and bring it to the memorial service.
Join a Pet Loss Support Group
There are groups that you can join that will help support you after you have lost a loved family pet. This can be a great option if you or a member of your family is having an especially hard time dealing with the deal. This is also a great option if the death of the pet was unexpected and sudden. This can be very traumatic to children and might require therapy in order for them to fully process their feelings about the event.
Losing a family pet can be very difficult and hard on a family. It is important to do what you can to help everyone through this time. They will be able to have an appreciation, love, and gratitude for all of the fun times that their pet gave them.
