Pet Loss: When Prolonged Grief Prevents Bonding With Another Dog

The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.   ~ Konrad Lorenz

A reader writes: I know this is seemingly weird but possibly you can help. I am a 37 year old male and I still cry at night sometimes. Here’s why. Three years ago my beloved Copper had to be put down due to cancer. I got him as a pup 13 years prior and for the first 3 years of his life it was just him and I. (We lived on a farm.) I got Copper to try and get through a very difficult time in my life and looking back if it was not for him I probably wouldn't be sending you this message.

Pet Loss: Still Mourning, 3 Years Later

The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.   ~ Konrad Lorenz

A reader writes: I know this is seemingly weird but possibly you can help. I am a 37 year old male and I still cry at night sometimes. Here’s why. Three years ago my beloved Copper had to be put down due to cancer. I got him as a pup 13 years prior and for the first 3 years of his life it was just him and I. (We lived on a farm.) I got Copper to try and get through a very difficult time in my life and looking back if it was not for him I probably wouldn't be sending you this message.

Coping with Pet Loss, January 14 - January 20, 2018

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

When to Consider Euthanasia for Your Dog or Cat, http://j.mp/2EG5Fnw « Everything Now!!!

The "New" Pet: When Is The Right Time? http://j.mp/2FxFwsl « Everything Now!!!

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Coping with Pet Loss, October 29 - November 4, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Pet's quality of life is key to knowing when the end is near, http://j.mp/2iqvlv5 « The Post and Courier

How a Pet Hospice Vet Can Help Your Senior Dog, http://bit.ly/2otGHR9 « Dogster

How to Care and Support a Dying Animal, http://j.mp/2iqNYPo « Healthy Pets

Pet Loss: When Nothing Eases The Pain

[Reviewed and updated July 19, 2022]

There is sorrow enough in the natural way / From men and women to fill our day / But when we are certain of sorrow in store / Why do we always arrange for more? / Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware / Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.  ~ Rudyard Kipling

A reader writes: It has been 17 months since my husband and I lost our deeply loved dog Buddy. Yes he was old - unsure of his age as he was a stray who showed up at our house at an estimated 2-3 years old and we had him for 13 years. But other than arthritis, due to obvious abuse, injuries and neglect before he was either thrown away or (we hope) he escaped, he was lively, healthy and so so happy. We have no children, so you can imagine how he became the center of our then very newly married life, and remained so for 13 years. We preferred his company to anyone else's by far and created a life of "the three amigos".

Coping with Pet Loss, October 18 - October 24, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Veterinarian starts pet hospice business, http://j.mp/1jEsq10 « Contra Costa Times

An old dog teaches you more than you’d like to know about mortality http://j.mp/1PD3Aug « The Washington Post

Pet Loss: How Long Before Adopting Another? http://j.mp/1jQvoPv « Grief Healing

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.
If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Pet Loss: How Long Before Adopting Another?

Source

[Reviewed and updated November 9, 2023]

Through heartache and horror, joy and revelry, she was a companion. A comfort. A wonder in all her brilliance and empathy. She was a witness to my life, a thread of certain love and continuity. ~ Rachel Waters, Requiem For An Old, Gray Cat

A reader writes: How much time is enough to grieve between losing one pet and getting another?

My response: Many people worry that getting another pet too soon after losing the one they loved so much is somehow an act of disloyalty to the one who died – but like everything else in grief, that is a very individual matter and varies widely from one person to the next.

Coping with Pet Loss, April 26 - May 2, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

End-of-life care: What I learned from a pet's death, http://j.mp/1AnCuNg « Kevin MD

Man's Best Friend: 5 Considerations for Grieving The Loss of a Pet, http://j.mp/1JKF45c « What's Your Grief?

How to Defeat Sadness Over the Loss of Your Animal in One Easy Step, http://j.mp/1KnTZmN « HuffPost GPS for the Soul

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.
If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Coping with Pet Loss, May 5 - May 11, 2013

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

On Pinterest? See Grief Healing's board on Pet Loss, http://j.mp/MY3a0w

Tips on supporting someone experiencing pet loss, http://bit.ly/13mky7J « UF Small Animal Hospital

Do You Know What to Say When Clients Ask When They Should Get Another Pet? http://j.mp/12K6cug « HowToVetWisdom

Coping with Pet Loss, January 26 - February 2, 2013

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Replacing a Pet Who Has Died: When Is It Time? http://j.mp/WvSGrA « Grief Healing Blog

When you are still suffering years after the death of your pet, http://buff.ly/Wq0oGJ by @MarianneSoucy

Veterinarian explores what we can learn about end-of-life choices for animals, http://j.mp/WaUmdQ

"Replacing" A Pet Who Has Died: When Is It Time?

Source

[Reviewed and updated November 9, 2023]

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. ~ C.S. Lewis

A reader writes: I can't believe that it has been almost a year since the passing of our beloved 19 year old cat Mittens. With your help and words of support I was able to cope much better and to this day I still feel the hurt of her loss. I still miss her so much. My wife and daughter want another cat but for some reason I feel as if I can't or I am not ready. I know she can never be replaced and she will always be in my heart. Maybe I am being selfish to my family and to another cat who would have a good home. I have a lot of mixed feelings and not sure what to do. Thank you for listening to me again and God bless you.