The death of a pet

Pet

A pet is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful...

 or an animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

 to which one has become emotionally bonded can be an intense loss, comparable with the death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 of a human loved one, or even greater depending on the individual. The death can be felt more intensely when the owner has made a decision to end the pet’s life through euthanasia

Animal euthanasia

Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...

. While there is strong evidence that animals can feel

Emotion in animals

There is no scientific consensus on emotion in animals, that is, what emotions certain species of animals, including humans, feel. The debate concerns primarily mammals and birds, although emotions have also been postulated for other vertebrates and even for some invertebrates.Animal lovers,...

 such loss for other animals, this article focuses on human feelings

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

, when an animal is lost, dies or otherwise is departed.

Effect of animal loss on humans

There is no set amount of time for the grieving process to occur. However, mourning is much more intense for a pet upon whom the owner was emotionally dependent. Additionally, some pet owners may feel unable to express their grieving due to social mores surrounding pets. If the pet owner internalizes the grief, the suffering increases.
Also, there can be a difference between male and female reactions to the death of a pet. Men, especially in Western cultures, are socialized to internalize their feelings, and so though pet ownership is divided equally between males and females, males may feel it necessary to hide their grief.

The stages of grief

Kübler-Ross model

The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, was first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying....

 proposed by Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. was a Swiss American psychiatrist, a pioneer in Near-death studies and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying , where she first discussed what is now known as the Kübler-Ross model.She is a 2007 inductee into the American National Women's Hall of Fame...

 was designed in relation to human death, but can be adapted to describe the grief process for the death of a pet. Indeed, pet death includes several lessons: 1) the relationship rather than the object (the animal) is central to understand the loss; 2) the manner of death/loss will affect the grieving process; 3) the age and living situation of the bereaved will affect the grieving process.

Coping with death

Though well-meaning, phrases like "time heals all wounds" can simply upset the grieving pet owner. However, it is true that the one factor required for all coping strategies is time. Coping also involves understanding the emotions surrounding the loss of a pet, and then accepting the emotions to focus towards positive solutions.

Coping strategies include:

• Avoid inhibiting grieving
• Strengthen positive memories
• Actively seek support from resources, organizations and individuals
• If spiritual or religious, seek solace
• Prepare in advance for the death of the pet

After the loss of the animal or pet, there are further coping strategies available for the grieving individual:

• Consider changing your living environment by putting away pet-related items or rearranging the home
• Adjust the daily routine or schedule to avoid pet-related "moments"
• Express emotion through writing down experiences and memories
• Memorialize the dead pet
• Consider volunteer work or just helping out others around you
• Multi-pet households can focus on the remaining pets

Types of loss

Although most pets are lost due to euthanasia

Euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....

 , there are several special types of loss:

• Pet is missing (considered an unresolved loss)
• Pet is lost through divorce/separation
• Pet is accidentally injured or killed
• Pet is willfully injured or killed

Getting a new animal

One caveat is to carefully consider timing bringing a new pet into the home. Additionally, it is recommended to consider where the bereaved is in the grieving process. Choose the new pet for its own unique qualities rather than trying to replace the former pet.

Workplace issues

Pet illness and death is gradually becoming recognized as similar to other forms of sickness and death in the family. In the UK, a variety of companies provide paid leave for such eventualities, with employment tribunals backing this in some instances where employment terms did not specifically mention pet loss.

Recent studies by insurers suggest that up to one in four pet owners are sufficiently affected by pet loss or illness to take time off, but that many feel this will be treated lightly and hence simply state they were sick. According to Petplan, 35% of people admitted to taking time off work to either settle new pets into the home or care for sick pets, and half of those admitted taking a whole week off, and according to Direct Line

Direct Line

Direct Line is part of the RBS Insurance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that specialises in selling insurance and other financial services over the phone and internet....

 one in four pet owners "said they have been too upset to go into the workplace when their four legged friend died" and "many of those who did go into work after the death of their pet said they were unproductive." The latter survey also noted that pet owners in the UK take "around 8 million days off" due to grief at the death of a pet, and that "seventy-nine percent of people responding to the survey admitted they did not think their boss would be sympathetic, and the only way they could get time off work was by ... pretending to be ill."

Pet loss resources

Resources for pet loss change regularly, but include grief counseling

Grief counseling

Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with grief and mourning following the death of loved ones, or with major life changes that trigger feelings of grief ....

, support groups, online forums, hotlines and books. The Pet Loss Support Page maintains an updated list of recommended resources, for example.

Resources include:

• Hotlines: Several veterinary schools around the United States have pet loss support hotlines, as well as various nonprofit agencies.
• Online forums: Internet search engines using "pet loss support" as a search term will locate several online forums available for grieving pet owners.
• Books: Books on pet loss are published regularly and should be available from online and brick and mortar booksellers.
• Grief Counseling: Therapists with training in grief therapy can be located in local communities. In addition, therapists may also include support groups that meet regularly to discuss issues surrounding pet loss.

See also www.petlosshelp.org
See also www.chancesspot.org

Non-denominational

Religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

s are divided as to whether non-human animals are believed to have souls, reincarnate

Reincarnation

Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...

 or none, and also whether animals will exist in the afterlife.

In the absence of a common religious belief, many pet owners have embraced the concept of the Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge (pets)

The Rainbow Bridge is the theme of a work of poetic prose written some time between 1980 and 1992, whose original creator is unknown.The theme is of a mythological place to which a pet goes upon its death, eventually to be reunited with its owner...

. The concept, the origin of which is not clearly known, speaks of a metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

ical or mythical

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 place of reunion where pets that die live in a paradisical

Paradise

Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...

 version of limbo

Limbo

In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...

, rejuvenated

Rejuvenation

Rejuvenation may refer to:*Rejuvenation , reversing the aging process*Rejuvenation , when the base level that a river is flowing down to is lowered*Rejuvenation , 1974*Rejuvenation , 2009...

 and free of pain and suffering, until their companion humans arrive upon their deaths. At this point, the pet(s) run to their companion humans, and they enter heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

 together, never to be parted again. Among pet owners who have embraced this concept, those pets who have died are often referred to as being At The Bridge or ATB.

Christianity

Some Christians take comfort in Bible verses or stories that seem to point to the existence of animals in heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

, such as references to "the lion lying down with the lamb." Another popular passage is the well-known Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Also, many Christians believe that the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 18-22 show proof of animals in heaven, or at the very least, showing potential for a loved one's pet to be in heaven. In addition, there are many passages in the Bible that hint toward this occurrence. However, the Bible is mostly silent on the concept of animal souls.

In Mormonism

Mormonism

Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...

, all organism

Organism

In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...

s (as well as the entire planet Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

) are believed to have a spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

, but that beings without the gift of free agency (the ability to know and choose between right and wrong) are innocent and unblemished spirits who go straight to Heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

 when they die. Animals will be resurrected.

Animal chaplains

Animal chaplains

Animal chaplains

Animal chaplains community, including pet loss grief support, animal memorial services, praying for animals who are sick or injured, comforting bereaved family members, holding hands with pet owners during surgery or animal euthanasia at a veterinary clinic or animal hospital, and performing...

are becoming increasingly popular for helping the bereaved family members deal with the loss of their pet, to provide memorial services, give spiritual reassurance, and to provide grief counseling.

External links

• Pet ownership and human health: a brief review of evidence and issues
• Emotions of Pet Loss
• Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
• International Association of Pet Cemeteries & Crematories
• Pet Loss – Helpful Tips to Get You Through the Pain
• Chance's Spot Pet Loss and Support Resources
• Pet Caskets for use in pet memorial and funeral services
• Lightning Strike Pet Loss Support - Provides a "cybershoulder" for grieving pet owners | Forum Message Board