Death Of An Animal

Death Of An Animal

We all know how sad it is to lose a loved one. This is especially true if it’s someone you've known for many years and who has been your best friend. Most of us consider that loved one to be a human being, but some of us feel just as sad if it's our animal. Take it from me, when our twelve year old dog Zita goes back to the Universe, my wife and I will be very sad.

Some people take any death dramatically. They get depressed, angry or even stop talking to the other people in their lives. Some people feel so bad they immediately replace the one they lost. If it's a wife, they remarry in less than a year. If it's an animal, they get another within days. IMO, both actions are wrong.

Again, IMO, after the death of a loved one a person should take time off to be with themselves. Now is the time to love yourself more than anything or anyone else. Now is the time to comfort yourself. Now is the time to take that vacation you've been putting off because you didn't want to leave that person or that animal. Now is the time to plan your future. If that means a new person or a new animal is in your future, great, but the future doesn't have to mean weeks or months.

What I've experienced in my many, many years is that people have a harder time getting over losing an animal than losing a person. There's something about the ritual of human death that leads to closure.  Friends gather around to be there for you. If you're religious, the church holds your hand and says nice things. If you have an open casket, everyone says goodbye. When you lower that person into the ground there's closure. If you cremate your loved one and spread their ashes, you have closure.

For most people none of that happens with a loved animal. When the animal gets really sick you take it to the Vet who suggests you "put the animal down" (just typing those words makes me sick). When the Vet does so, there is no closure just the sad feeling of loss. 

You might think it's a good solution to cremate the person or the animal and keep the ashes with you, but that solution rarely brings closure. The sadness of the loss of the one you love is being reminded every time you look at the Urn. 

Sooo, IMO, accept death is death. If thinking that person or animal is going to a better place (even though it might be bullshit) focus on that not your personal loss. But, most important:

Now Is Your Time. Use It To Love Yourself More Than You Ever Did Before