This has been a sad week for Uzzi and me . Our particular friend , Fayre , thePortuguese Water Dog , died last Friday eventide . She had a fast - playact Cancer the Crab calledcanine hemangiosarcomathat do a malignant tumor to uprise in her heart . But it was n’t atrocious , so Fayre stayed active and Mom and Dad did n’t notice she was disturbed until she stopped wipe out her favorite foods . Then she puffed up with fluid in her body . That was less than two weeks ago . Now she ’s dead . She was only 10 old age old .
At first , Mom kept burst into binge . Uzzi and I did n’t know what to do or say . When she was better , we asked her what she and other mankind do to get over the pain in the neck of losing an brute friend , so we could divvy up it with you . This is what she said :
Don’t try to be brave, stoic or tough.
Give yourself permission to aggrieve . If others are uncomfortable with your tear , that ’s their trouble , not yours .
Seek others who listen without passing judgment.
If you do n’t have an empathic ally , family member or co - worker to help you shape through your heartache , try phoning a pet bereavement hotline ; their services are normally free .
Release your anger and pain.
Pound a punching bag or a pillow hard . Whack your mattress with a lawn tennis racquet . Scream inside your car with the windows rolled up . Stomp the floor . Have a humor tantrum . Really get it out .
Exercise.
It ’s hard to discover the energy to exercise when you ’re feel so deplorable , but moving your body helps still bottle - up blues . take the air , run , dance , ride , swim , jog around the firm if you have to , but move !
Forgive.
If you had to make difficult decisions and you are n’t sure you did the right matter , forgive yourself . You did the best you could with the resources and knowledge available to you .
Memorialize your pet, horse or farm animal friend.
This helps you focus on the joy you and your beast divvy up , rather than alone on the anguish of his going .
Time alone ca n’t bring around this awful pain ; you must work upon yourself , too . If months after your personnel casualty you still feel isolated , lethargic , unfocused and unable to cope , if you are disinterested in old passions and joy , and if at any meter death seems more attractive than life without your fauna friend , please seek intervention for slump .
mammy wrote a really dear article about coping with pet loss — you could read ithere . She also wrote a very comprehensive list ofpet - loss support resourcesthat you should check out .
