You may feel empty and numb. That's a common reaction at first. It's a sign that your body may be protecting you for awhile, until you are more ready to process all that has occurred.
Don't allow yourself or anyone to lessen its importance. Reach out if you need help to cope. Reach out for support from friends and others who have lost a beloved pet. Their support could be just what you need to start your healing journey.
Some people start to feel better in weeks or months. For others, the grieving process is measured in years. Whatever your grief experience, it's important to be patient with yourself and allow the process to naturally unfold. Feeling sad, shocked, or lonely is a normal reaction to the loss of a beloved pet.
Pets are often considered family members and humanized, which strengthens an attachment between pets and pet owners (Zottarelli, 2010). Whether the animal is a dog or a peacock, research shows that the human-animal bond is one that affects humans emotionally and mentally (Friedmann & Son, 2009).
A small 2019 study of 82 people found that the length of intense grief experienced by bereaved pet owners varies —with 25 % taking between 3 months to a year, 50% between one year and 19 months, and 25 % between two and six years. It's no wonder that pet loss therapy is an emerging field.
Pet Loss and Mental Health
These changes can affect our thought processes and emotions. For many people, grief results in feelings of sadness, depression, guilt, anger, anxiety, relief, loneliness, or feeling irritable.
But it's also because so many aspects of people's lives are impacted. “Every single facet of life is part of the loss,” she explained. “Your cat or dog will sit in the bathroom with you while you take a bath, they're there 24/7. When we are caretakers for animals, it multiplies the intensity just before they die.
Symptoms of acute grief after the loss of a pet can last from one to two months, with symptoms of grief persisting up to a full year (on average).
Guilty feelings can result from feeling responsible for your pet's condition. For many pet owners, guilt is common even when there is nothing they can do to prevent the situation.
Although the expression of grief can differ from one person to another, there are many predictable manifestations. You may experience physical symptoms such as aches, pains, and pressure (including chest tightness and headaches); exhaustion; nausea; loss of hunger; and sleeplessness, as well as crying.
Your dog will hardly know what happened and will simply start to feel pleasantly drowsy. You will notice that I said “Your vet will hopefully prepare an anaesthetic or sedative injection for your dog”. Some do not. Having seen it done both ways, the “two injection” method is definitely my preference.
Pets are beloved members of our families, often spending a decade or more sharing their joy and unconditional love with us. Our pets are sometimes the only ones who have stood loyally beside us through life's ups and downs. The loss of a pet is just that, a profound loss, and the grief is very real.
Many times, I've had friends guiltily confide to me that they grieved more over the loss of a dog than over the loss of friends or relatives. Research has confirmed that for most people, the loss of a dog is, in almost every way, comparable to the loss of a human loved one.
They will only feel a needle prick, but some felines may be more sensitive to this than others. If your vet injects the euthanasia drug directly from a needle and syringe, again they may react slightly to the needle prick but will not experience any pain when the drug is being injected.
The pets that we had to say goodbye to are alive in heaven right now in their spiritual bodies and we will see them again if we accept Jesus as our Savior. Your Pet Is Not Gone Forever.
There are several types of grief that fall into this category: the death of a friend, a miscarriage, giving up a child for adoption, and the death of an ex-spouse are just a few examples. Pet loss is often experienced as a disenfranchised grief too.
Your grief will probably not be gone in a few weeks or even months. Because of the special relationship we have with our dogs, grief of a beloved dog can often be more intense than the death of a family member, and coming to terms with the change will take as long as it takes.
“One of the first major losses a child will encounter is likely to be the death of a pet, and the impact can be traumatic, especially when that pet feels like a member of the family,” said Katherine Crawford, previously with the Center for Genomic Medicine at MGH, and lead author of the study.
The heart and lungs will stop functioning within minutes after injecting the euthanasia solution, so dogs generally won't feel pain because they are unconscious. They may react to the procedure by having muscle spasms or crying out due to underlying sickness, yet the whole process is quick, simple, and painless.
Finally, the euthanasia solution is injected into the pet's vein, where it rapidly travels throughout the body. Within seconds, the animal will become unconscious, experiencing no pain or suffering. Breathing will slow down and then stop over the next several seconds.
Dr. Hare has answered some of the burning canine cognition questions many curious dog lovers have to strengthen the bond between humans and their pups even further. Does my dog know how much I love him? Yes, your dog knows how much you love him!
Research suggests that when people are in anguish over the loss of a pet, disenfranchised grief makes it more difficult for them to find solace, post-traumatic growth, and healing. Disenfranchised grief seems to restrain emotional expression in a way that makes it harder to process.