The death of a beloved pet most often becomes a huge grief for its owner. Although animals do not have a human mind, and live on instincts, people often consider them members of their family. Therefore it is so difficult when a pet leaves forever. Dealing with a loss is sometimes very difficult. Consider how to survive the death of a pet.
Why do animals leave home before they die?
There is an opinion that cats before death leave home so as not to injure their owner. This is not true. Usually on the eve of the animal begins to feel that something is wrong with him. It feels pain and fear, and therefore tries to hide where it will not bother, looking for a dark, quiet, secluded place. In addition, a weakened and sick pet, even if it wants to return home, may simply not find a way. In this publication, we will give recommendations on how to survive the death of a cat and a dog.
If your animal suddenly began to hide from you, seek solitude, does not want to communicate, this may be a signal that the pet is very seriously ill. In this case, it is necessary to show it to the doctor as soon as possible. Perhaps there is still a chance for salvation.
If the animal dies of old age or an incurable disease, it is worth providing him peace. It is necessary to make a couch in a quiet, dark place, not to bother and not to touch, because it is so bad for him. Perhaps the pet should be euthanized so that it does not suffer in its last minutes.
Negation
Most people, when faced with the loss of a beloved creature, cannot immediately accept his death, especially if the animal died suddenly due to a transient disease or accident. If a dog or cat suddenly died, a stupor attacks the person. It seems to him that what is happening is a nightmare, not reality. Emotions are dull. Awareness of what happened may not come from a few minutes to several days.
This is a defensive reaction of the psyche to what happened. She is quite normal. If at first you do not feel pain or cannot cry, the reason is not your heartlessness. Perhaps the blow is so strong that you are in a state of shock. It passes over time. And you no longer understand how to survive the death of a cat or dog.
Anger and guilt
Feeling guilty in the event of a loss of a pet is quite normal. If the animal died from an illness or accident, the person begins to blame himself for not doing enough or doing wrong. If the animal died of old age - the owner may regret that he paid little attention to the pet during life. It is especially difficult for many breeders to make a decision to euthanize a hopelessly sick animal. Although it is forced, and is aimed at saving the pet from torment, the breeder can still consider himself a murderer, doubt the correctness of the decision.
If the animal died due to the fault of the doctor or the driver of the car or was poisoned, the owner feels anger and hatred towards the culprit of the tragedy. Dealing with these dark feelings is very difficult. The owner craves retribution, which can lead to problems.
If your pet died due to someone else's fault, there is no need to take revenge. If you get under the wheels, it should be borne in mind that the driver can not always react on time to an animal that has jumped onto the road. Not always a veterinarian is able to save his patient, because treating animals is much more difficult than people. The veterinarian can only rely on symptoms and tests. The animal itself is not able to explain what torments him. Quite a high percentage of pets who do not recover from anesthesia. And the doctor is not guilty of this either.
Hope for a miracle
A person begins to see his pet everywhere. He guesses his silhouette in other pets. It seems that just about a pet will come up and snuggle up, this whole nightmare will end. The owner hears noise in other rooms, and everything inside freezes with longing. There is hope in the heart that a monstrous mistake has occurred, and the pet is about to return.
Awareness of loss and humility
Soon comes the realization that a miracle will not happen. The pet will not return, and there is nothing to be done about it. A person does not understand how to survive the death of a pet, feels overwhelmed, nothing pleases him. Memories bring pain, everything around us reminds of loss, life seems cruel and unfair to him.
It will take some time until the owner finally reconciles to his loss and can continue to live normally. When humility comes, it depends on the person, the circumstances that caused the loss, the degree of affection for the pet, the presence of friendly support from the outside.
How to cope with the death of a beloved pet, if you are a believer
Orthodox priests say that animals do not have a soul, and therefore for them there is no life after death. They advise grieving owners to simply put up with the death of the animal. Sometimes this approach can cause even more pain to a grieving person, because it is difficult to believe that a beloved creature has disappeared forever from this world. How to survive the death of a dog or cat in this case?
There is a legend about the Rainbow Bridge, on which the souls of animals are waiting for their owners. In that world there are no more diseases and pains, no hunger and fears. The animals are well there, and they look forward to meeting those who cared for them during their lifetime. This is probably just a beautiful fairy tale that exists to pacify the human pain of losing a pet. But this legend can help someone survive the incident.
How to handle if you are an atheist
How to put up with the death of a pet, if you do not believe in the afterlife? All living things have their beginning and their end. We all cannot live forever. The death of a beloved creature always hurts, but there is nothing we can do about it. Therefore, we need to move on. You did everything you could for your pet, gave him a well-fed and calm life, which many street animals are deprived of. This is a good thing to be proud of.
But the time has come for parting. These are the laws of nature. Worse if you left before your pet. A lot of animals are on the street after the death of their owners. So just be proud that you were with your friend to the very end.
How to say goodbye to a pet
A dead animal can be cremated in a veterinary clinic or buried. For funerals, it is recommended that you use a place that you can visit. A pet cemetery is ideal, but this does not happen in every city. The pet needs to be wrapped in cloth and put in a box. It is required to bury it deep enough so that the grave is not torn by animals.
How to survive the death of a dog or cat? On the grave, you can put your youngest friend's favorite toy, bring food or flowers. Of course, the animal does not care, but it will become easier for you. You can talk at the grave with your pet, talk about how much you miss him. Write a poem or story in honor of your pet, draw a picture. Do something to express how important he was to you. Try to remember not the moment of his death, but the joyful and funny situations that you experienced together.
How to deal with pain
How to survive the death of a pet, if it seems that you will never recover? Do not be shy about your emotions and pain. Not everyone can understand and support you, but still cry if you want to cry, and speak if you want to talk. Do not keep everything to yourself. It is better to throw out negative emotions and thereby get rid of them, than to accumulate inside.
It is better to put away all the things of the animal in a place where you will not constantly come across them. Throwing them away is not worth it, because you can regret this decision. Do something that can distract your thoughts from grief. Arrange a general cleaning, go visit, take a walk in the park.
Tell other people about your grief. Maybe not even relatives, but those who also experienced a similar loss. Together is easier to handle.
Direct your energy to help others. Become a volunteer at a homeless animal care center. Take them to your overexposure, help find new families.
How to beat guilt
Sometimes it is the inattention of the owner that leads to the death of the animal. It’s very difficult to put up with it. A man blames and torments himself, cannot forgive his own mistakes.
If a cat or dog died through your fault, do not forget that no one is safe from mistakes. Man is not a machine; he cannot foresee everything. Even if you did something wrong, you did not have malicious intent, and you definitely did not want your pet to die. You have to admit your mistakes and learn from them. But do not constantly torment yourself, because you can’t change anything.
You should not seek your guilt where it does not exist. It happens that animals die from anesthesia during planned operations, such as sterilization, for example. The owners often blame themselves for this, because such surgical intervention is not necessary. But this happens most often with animals that are already sick or have serious pathologies. If you give permission to euthanize a dying animal, then you act mercifully. Ridding your pet of torment is the best thing you can do in a hopeless situation. It’s not worth blaming yourself.
What to say to the child
Whether or not to tell the child about the death of the pet depends on his age and whether you talked with the baby about death. It is worth remembering that in children the psyche is more flexible than in adults. Sometimes children show their emotions much brighter, but they come to their senses faster. Therefore, do not hide from the child what happened. He still has to face death, this is one of the steps to knowing the world around him.
Be sympathetic to the grief of the child. Give him moral support, listen and comfort him. Do not scold for a drop in performance during this period. Give your baby time to recover. You should not immediately buy a new animal specifically for the baby, because a pet is not a toy that can simply be replaced with another. The child must be aware of this.
Is it worth it to immediately get another pet
This question is controversial, and the opinions of psychologists differ. Having lost a pet, many owners seek to plug the hole formed in the heart, immediately taking another pet. It really helps some to cope with grief. A person directs all his energy to caring for a new inhabitant, no longer constantly thinking about his loss. If a puppy or kitten appears in the house, it becomes a lot more trouble, and less time is left to get hung up on your problems.
But not always such a quick arrival in the family of a new pet brings joy. The owner must understand that animals have their own characters. Whether an animal has a personality is a very controversial issue. But definitely every living creature has an individual set of habits and qualities. Therefore, having a new pet, you will not return your dead pet. There is no exact copy; your friend has already left you. If the new animal is too much different from the dead, the owner may feel disappointment and irritation. A new family member will not be happy anymore, because he is not able to replace a deceased friend.
If your pet has died, you must first realize that it is irreplaceable. You must put up with his death and only after that plan the appearance of a new pet in the family. Thus, it will be easier for you to accept a new pet as it is, without looking back.
Consult a psychologist
All people perceive loss differently. Some recover faster, while others need outside help. If you feel that a lot of time has passed since the death of the pet, and you can’t recover in any way, you may need professional help. If you do not understand how to survive the death of a pet, the advice of a psychologist will help you recover.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help. It’s much worse to pretend that everything is in order, despite the severe emotional state. We are all individual, and therefore we experience stress in different ways. For some, the death of an animal may not be a particularly significant incident; for others, this is the reason for the development of a very serious depression.
Thus, each owner will inevitably sooner or later face the death of his pet. At such a moment, it is important to know how to survive the death of a pet. For many people, the loss of a four-legged family member becomes unbearable grief. At such a moment, you do not need to blame yourself, restrain your emotions and become isolated. If you understand that you can’t cope with your grief, you should turn to a psychologist for help.