Grief Support for Animal Companions

Grief doesn't always begin when the last breath is taken or the heart stops beating. In fact, it can strike long before death ever arrives!

Without even realizing it, Grief can ambush us when we're least expecting it, especially in cases such as the gut-wrenching decision to rehome a beloved fur baby! When there's a long-term illness or routine geriatric care is required, the mental and emotional buildup for the human caregiver can be overwhelming! Never-mind the financial and physical demands! Then there's the sleepless nights, tossing and turning, praying or begging for a miracle. Or worse! Praying for it to all just be over with as quickly as possible and then feeling guilty for it afterwards.

It is during this time that one can easily be overcome by feelings of hopelessness, depression, sadness, anger, and frustration without ever realizing they'd been ambushed by grief. Patience may be out the window and tempers flare at the smallest of infractions. 

It's so very hard and no one else seems to get it or what you're enduring. To others, your beloved fur kid is 'just' an animal. To you, they're your world!

Family and friends may offer some solace, but more often than not, they will keep their distance; if for no other reason than self-preservation. 

Unless a person has walked a mile in your moccasins, (or like in my case, 1,000 miles!) it's impossible for them to fully empathize or relate to what you're going through; especially when your mind keeps racing out of control, filling your heart with anxiety over an unavoidable upcoming event that is beyond your control. 

Forget about finding someone stronger than yourself to help take some of the burden off your shoulders. Others may be able to handle menial tasks like feeding and watering- but no one but yourself can handle the bigger responsibilities that are keeping you up at night. At least that's what you keep telling yourself. This is how we trick ourselves into staying in the game; all the while, we're quietly dying inside, right along side of our beloved best friend.

My Grief Recovery "Before" Support Sessions can begin whenever you're ready to receive real support, along with real tools and honest answers designed to help you navigate these turbulent waters. I won't candy-coat the situation, or tell you it's going to be alright. There will be no clichés or patronizing words. Just real, authentic, straight from the hip, on-target support that will make this part of your journey with your beloved animal companion just a little easier to manage. 

Transitioning from the physical to the non-physical oftentimes involves a lot of resistance from those involved in the death experience. It is this resistance which becomes the source of much drama, pain and suffering; especially when long-term hospice care is involved.

If you're the one who has to make the call to euthanize your beloved best friend, this final act of compassion will be one of the most difficult and agonizing decisions you'll ever make. In some cases, the sooner you're able to make this decision, the less drama, pain and suffering is involved. 

However, all too often, we'll sit on the fence, secretly knowing that if we wait long enough, the decision will be made for us. In the end, we become burdened with guilt and regret; because we knew if we'd only had the strength and courage (and support!) to do what needed to be done sooner, our beloved best friend would not of suffered so much at the hands of our indecision! 

Prolonging this decision until it's made for us, can have devastating result and trigger a need to self-medicate just to numb the overwhelming feelings. Or, in extreme cases, can even lead to suicide! Yes, some people love their animal companions so much that they feel they simply can't go on without them.

It's no longer fun anymore...

Animals provide so much unconditional love, joy and happiness that it's hard to imagine our lives without them. But, sometimes it's simply no longer fun being a horse, dog or cat; especially when the body no longer works properly and is causing undo pain and suffering. 

It is because of this deep connection with their humans that they have just as hard a time letting us go, as we do! But, there's a point where all the advances in technology and medicine, along with all the magic and prayers, simply aren't enough and they need our help to let go.  

This delicate and painful decision can oftentimes be made easier to make with a "During" session.

I can help you decide when is the best time to make that call; as well as serve as a flotation device in the overwhelming tsunami of painful emotions that can compromise your ability to make good decisions.  

If you're struggling at this point in the journey, I encourage you to arrange a session with me immediately!

The "After" sessions not only help the bereaved sort through the aftermath of significant loss, but they also help restore one's inner-peace and happiness in record time, too!  

For those of us who spend our entire lives with animals, the impact of their death is no different than losing a child! In fact, in many cases, it's even WORSE! This is because we tend to spend more time with our fur or feathered babies than we do with human members of our own family! 

When it's their time to cross Rainbow Bridge, or they leave unexpectedly (especially in a tragic or untimely way), it can be the most devastating and heartbreaking events in our lives!

It can turn one's life inside out and upside down, causing us undo stress and fear of opening ourselves up again. In no time at all, those caught up in the tsunami of grief, will find their relationships, jobs, careers and other things of importance begin to suffer.

To put it bluntly, Grief doesn't give a shit about you! Furthermore, it's NOT your FRIEND! It's not even natural or of this world, but everyone would like you to believe it is! Being peaceful, happy, joyful and excited about your life is natural! There is NOTHING natural about Grief... not the endless tears, depression or feelings of suicide. 

Once Grief gets a foot in the door, it takes on a power all its own and can become one of the most fearsome demons a person will ever face! If left unchecked, it can leave a reign of terror in its wake that can last for decades, destroying EVERYTHING in its path, INCLUDING the BEREAVED!

Western society may believe itself to be advanced beyond other areas of the world, but when it comes to death, dying and bereavement, we totally SUCK at it! We tell each other stupid things like, "They're in a better place." or, "That happened how long ago? Get over it already!". My favorite patronizing comment is, "So sorry for your loss..." (Cya! I'm outta here!) 

We ignore death, the dying and the bereaved and insist that "Life goes on," hoping like hell we're not next, knowing full well that our days are numbered, too! When an equine or pet dies, we feel pressured by others to just 'move on' with our lives or get another pet, in an insane attempt to just bury our grief right along with the deceased.

Sadly, very few of our family or friends ever say to us, "I think you need to get some help so you can feel better."