“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)

Sadly, grief is something we all experience at one point or another in our lives. The loss of a loved one is often a harrowing and highly emotional time, with many difficult feelings and processes to digest. For most pet owners, our two- and four-legged friends are one of the family. We care for them, feed them, walk them, cuddle and stroke them, tend to them when they’re poorly, and for many of us, they provide company, comfort and an infinite supply of love in return. Losing them to death or separation can be utterly devastating.

Grieving for a pet follows the exact same stages as grieving for a human companion and should be treated as such. There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, and there’s no time limit on how long this process should take. In the beginning, when practical tasks such as planning a pet funeral or pet cremation need planning, we can often feel in denial or angry at what has happened. This is totally normal but remember to ask for help and support if you need or want it (advice on this can be found at the bottom of this post).

When we feel ready to move to the final stage of grief – acceptance – it is often nice to celebrate and remember the life of our lost loved ones, and there are many different ways to do this for our pets.

How to honour a lost pet

Here's some creative and touching ways to treasure the memory of your beloved pet:

1. Get in touch with nature

  • If your pet loved exploring the great outdoors, then perhaps incorporating nature into their memory is a nice idea:
  • Transform their water bowl into a plant pot. You can research what plants / flowers represent grief, hope, life or love to make it that extra bit special.
  • Use their collar as an external decoration on a plant pot with a special flower / plant in it.

2. Everlasting memories

  • There are lots of beautiful keepsakes that you can buy or make yourself to capture the memory of your beloved pet:
  • Repurpose their tag as a necklace or a keyring. If you have your pet cremated, there are companies that make beautiful jewellery with your pet’s ashes inside.
  • Have their favourite toy preserved in resin.
  • Create a scrapbook / memory box – this is especially nice if you have children as they can get involved.
  • Put their collar around a candle and light it in memory.
  • Have their paw print moulded or printed as a piece of art for the home.

3. Out in the community

  • Sharing your love for your pet with your community is often a lovely way to help celebrate their life:
  • Share something your dog loved with others, for example, leave a box of tennis balls at their favourite walking place, or donate their belongings (if in good condition) to local animal shelters.
  • Donate to an animal charity – perhaps you can donate the cost of your pet’s monthly food / insurance / grooming bill to an animal charity, or continue to buy your pet’s food and donate it to a local animal shelter.

How to deal with the grief of losing a pet

Grief is a very personal and non-conforming emotion that presents itself in many different ways for different people. If there are children or other pets in the home, it’s also important to ensure that they’re coping with their grief too. Remember, everyone’s grief journey is different and there is no particular way that someone should act in response to loss.

Established UK animal welfare charity, Blue Cross, provides free and confidential pet grief support should you need to speak to someone, details of which can be found below.

Pet Bereavement Support Service (PBSS)

Phone: 0800 096 6606 (8:30am – 8:30pm, every day)

Email: pbssmail@bluecross.org.uk (responses can take up to 48 hours)

Facebook: Blue Cross Pet Loss

Or visit their website for more information.