Pet Loss Support

Your pet is a much loved member of your family and so the loss of your pet can be heart-breaking for everyone concerned. It can be an incredibly difficult time and you may feel that there is a hole that cannot be filled. However you are not alone and there are more people who understand your pain than you might realize and there are an increasing number of support groups available.

If you are visiting this page then it is probably because you have experienced the loss of one of your pets, and if so we extend our deepest sympathies to you.

We have put together this page to help you understand your grief and answer some questions that you may have.

Grief Responses
Just the same as losing a human loved one, grief responses can vary hugely depending on the individual. We all grieve in different ways and our emotions and behavior will change too.

Some of the typical emotional grief responses you may experience include intense tearfulness, insomnia, failure to accept loss, denial, shock, loss of appetite, disorientation, anger, guilt, isolation, nausea, thinking that you can see/hear your pet, emotional numbness, depression and reliving your final moments with your pet.

Some of the typical behavioural grief responses that you may experience include being unable to remove your pet’s possessions, sleeping with his/her favorite toy or blanket, avoiding walking the same routes you took when walking your pet, continuing with your daily routine as if your pet were still alive, withdrawing from everyone and over-memorializing your pet.

Bereavement following Euthanasia




Telling your children your pet has died






Can I just tell my child that their pet went away?


How might my child react?