Our pets are fully integrated into the family. We love them infinitely and their love becomes essential on a day-to-day basis. For this reason, the pain we feel at their loss is immense and managing grief can be complicated for many people.
Grief presents a series of specific phases that almost all of us experience, to a greater or lesser extent. We start with denial, giving way to anger, followed by bargaining. Then comes the phase of depression or sadness, being the prelude to acceptance.
Forgetting a pet and not feeling sorry because it is no longer there is practically impossible. But we can accept this absence and remember your best animal friend with affection instead of sadness. To get to that point, it is imperative to know how to correctly manage that duel.
The Affinity Foundation maintains that the emotional process of coping with a loss is not linear, nor does it have a specific time frame. They point out that the hardest moment usually extends during the first three months, but the symptoms can last up to a year.
However, if we spend too much time with this discomfort, suffering deep sadness, difficulty sleeping, lack of appetite, etc., this could indicate that we have not accepted the death of our dog or cat and, therefore, , it is possible that there is a complication in the grieving process and that we need to ask for help from family, friends or health professionals.
Isabel Buil, director of the Affinity Foundation, points out that “it is natural to feel pain when we lose a companion animal due to the strong bond that is created, and one of the keys to overcome it is to express the feelings we have and not repress them out of fear not to be understood by our environmentâ€. In addition, Buil sheds light on the complicated role of helping a person close to us who has lost their pet: “If we want to help him, we can simply listen to him for as long as necessary, let him see that we are at his side to support him, without judging him. nor minimize your loss at any time.â€
Overcoming grief spontaneously and naturally, which is the most common, occurs in 80% of cases. However, around 20% may find this process more complicated and may even need help to solve it properly.
Regarding when to incorporate another animal into the family, “many people tend to adopt another dog or cat in the process of acute grief with the intention of alleviating this pain, but it is not a good idea. It would be advisable to wait until this process has been fully developed before incorporating a new member into the home. In any case, it is important that the family make the decision as a whole, since not all its members can find themselves at the same moment in the evolution of the bereavementâ€, concludes Jaume Fatjó, Director of the Affinity Animal and Health Foundation Chair at the UAB.
