I’m sure that the minute you hear or read about losing a beloved family Pet (fur baby and many other endearing terms that sound better than just “pet”), your heart tightens just a bit and we all know, if you are an animal lover, that that moment in our lives is one of the hardest and most unbearable days we go through, next to human loss. As an absolutely crazy dog lover and owner myself (three labs – Mum, Dad and Son) I know only too well what our pets mean to us and how much they make our lives just that little bit brighter and easier to deal with each day. I know that no matter what I’ve been through they have always made me smile every day, they bring love and laughter to the home and of course it is well researched and documented that pets have a unique ability to reduce stress and anxiety. They become part of our family, part of our everyday routine and in fact make us do more than we might have done if we had not had them – they get us out, they may be the only company some of us gave and they ensure we speak to other human beings (sometimes embarrassingly so as they do love to humiliate us at the most awkward moments but hey that’s the part that makes me smile more and what you will talk about when they are no longer with us) and they bring so much love and affection and beautiful cherished memories. So is it a wonder that losing a pet is felt as intently as human loss? Absolutely not – it is actually a fact that some owners say they feel the loss of their pet is more painful and emotionally traumatic than human loss and I personally agree.  I think it’s the innocence they have, their lack of voice, the fact that they never demanded anything of us other than love, our time and affection as well as the fact that we don’t get long enough with them.

As part of my Counselling Practice and as a Qualified Grief and Loss Counsellor, I also offer Grief Counselling for Pet Loss as well as assistance, if required, at that difficult time, on an outreach basis. Of course it is more than normal to want to talk about the loss of our pets and yet it is not a well-known offered service that we can access so I decided, both due to my own experiences and those of clients I see, that I wanted to make this a well-known and accessible service.  Counselling is not just about human conflict or grief, grief does not have to be just about human loss, it affects us in many ways and Pet Loss will happen, for many of us, more than once in our lifetime and it is also one of those experiences that we purposefully set ourselves up for – by having a pet, we know that not only will we get years of love and joy, but we also know we will have to face the day we say goodbye and allow them to cross the Rainbow Bridge and breaking our hearts as they do. I want people to know that it is perfectly ok to grieve the loss of your pet and it is perfectly ok to feel it as intently as any other type of loss. Too often, we are at the Vet and saying goodbye and then just have to go home and deal with the loss alone and I don’t think that is very nice. Our pets deserve to be grieved and memorialised just like humans.  So if you are struggling with the loss of a beloved pet please know that I am here for you and will absolutely be there for you in your pain and want to hear all about the funny, loving little friends you had and how we can make the grief journey just a little bit easier for you.  As with normal Counselling, friends and family can be a great source of support and sometimes not so if they do not understand;  having the option of seeking professional support may be an option for you and it’s not just support with me, being a lover and owner myself, I feel your pain with you and can even bring in any one or all three or my babies to sessions if that helps – for some that might be painful, for others it may be a comfort. I know that some of my clients love to have my dogs around for sessions and it helps them relax.