Ease the Grief Over a Lost Pet

Losing a pet is tough. It is especially hard because you likely don't expect the loss of a pet to hit you so hard. It can be particularly hard on youngsters because they haven't experienced this situation before, so it may be confusing and frustrating for them.

After the pet passes, your first instinct is to run away. Your heart is so beat up that you can't even think straight. Part of this is because we all feel that our pets are innocent and have made us so happy that they don't deserve to go through any pain and suffering. And it hurts us inside when we can't do anything else to help them as they near the end of their lives.

After recently losing a cat that I'd had for over 10 years, I can say that I found out some helpful tips that made my grief more meaningful. While the loss still hurts to this day, I feel like I have done the most I can to immortalize my kitty so that I always remember the things we'd gone through together.

After all, not only did your pet bring you comfort and happiness, but they were also present during some very memorable times in your life.

Cremation?

The first thing I decided to do after having to put my kitty down, was to have her cremated and the ashes returned to me. While this seemed a bit morbid at first, I now am pleased with the decision. Ask your vet which company they use. Likely your vet has had many pets themselves, and so they will know the most trustworthy company that will do this for you. Many pet crematoriums are tied in with human crematoriums so they are very understanding and very efficient with the entire process. This alone was a comfort to me. The service cost me about $145 and my kitty was brought back to me in a sweetly decorated little box. She now sits above my office desk on a shelf.

Editing Your Pets Photos to Ease the Pain

Gather as many pictures of your lost pet as you can. For any non-digital photos, spend some time scanning them in. Then, go through each picture, cropping them, adjusting the brightness and image quality, and finally putting them all into a single folder that you can transfer to a digital card. The best thing about this process is that by going through and working on your pet's pictures, you really spend some time thinking of the many good times you had with your pet. While sad, this will ease the feeling of loss just a little bit.

A Digital Photo Frame to Immortalize Your Pet

Finally, you can memorialize your pet on a digital frame. For my pet, I decided on purchasing a 7" digital picture frame which was perfect to sit next to her box of ashes. Make sure to pick one that has a clock feature. This way, you can program it to come on at 8am and then turn off at 12am. This is a great feature because once you set this up it will come on dutifully every day for you. These days, you can get a decent little digital frame for about $80 or less. Honestly, it has been great to wake up and see all of my kitty memories scrolling by.

Other Ideas

If you aren't into the digital photo frame craze, then you can do a simple photo collage in a scrapbook for your lost pet. While this is a great idea, when you are done with the book you generally close it and put it away. I found the digital frame worth it because I can glance at that once or several times a day.

The internet has many places for you to immortalize your pet. There are actual pet memorials you can set up on web sites where you can describe your pet and upload pictures and videos for the world to see. Another neat idea is to have a painting of your pet done. Find a local artist and provide them your favorite picture of your pet. When completed, this can hang in your living room and it will always remind you of your pet and the wonderful times you had together.

And also remember that donating to an SPCA or animal shelter in your pet's name is a great way to do the right thing for other animals that weren't as fortunate as your kitty to have such a loving and warm home.

Regardless of which method you use, rest assured that going through this process will make you stronger as a person. And what better way to pay your respects to your pet than by keeping them alive forever in photos and memorials?