{"id":4386,"date":"2024-08-05T12:46:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T12:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/vmc\/clients\/pet-loss-grief-resources\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:03:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:03:57","slug":"pet-loss-grief-resources","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/vmc\/clients\/pet-loss-grief-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Loss &#038; Grief Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<h2>Pet Loss Resources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltonsfuneralhome.com\/academy-of-grief-and-loss\/events\/pet-loss-support-group\">Hamilton\u2019s Funeral and After Life Services-Pet loss Virtual Support Group<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aplb.org\/\">Association of Pet Loss and Bereavement<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/yourlifeiowa.org\/\">Your Life Iowa Crisis Line<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/988lifeline.org\/talk-to-someone-now\/\">Suicide and Crisis Line<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.losinglulu.com\/\">Behavioral Euthanasia Support<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petlosscommunity.com\/\">Pet Loss Community<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Grief<\/h2>\n<p>Please note that grief looks different for everyone and there is no timeline on how you feel or what you feel.\u00a0 These stages can come in waves, or you may not experience a specific stage. They can come and go throughout your grieving process and that is okay.<\/p>\n<h3>Stages of Loss<\/h3>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--multicolumn-content\">\n\t<div class=\"multi-column-content multi-column-content-two-col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"multi-column-content__column\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><h4>Denial<\/h4>\n<p>One might struggle with the acceptance of a terminal illness diagnosis or the loss of your pet. You may feel that you\u2019re waking up after a bad dream and that life without your pet is not reality.\u00a0 Denial is often the first stage of grief and loss.\u00a0 This stage can come on strong, and it can come in waves.\u00a0 In fact, all the stages of grief can be present off and on while you\u2019re processing the loss of your beloved pet. This is all very normal occurrence and important to acknowledge.<\/p>\n<h4>Anger<\/h4>\n<p>After losing a loved one, we might find we are holding onto a lot of anger.\u00a0 This anger can be pointed at ourselves or our Veterinary care team.\u00a0 It may be pointed towards our loved ones or strangers.\u00a0 Grief is complicated! With complicated emotions, our brains tend to lean towards the initial feeling of anger while our grief tries to figure out how to process the deeper, more complex emotions.\u00a0 Many people experience this as they go through their grief journey.<\/p>\n<h4>Bargaining<\/h4>\n<p>We may plead with our Veterinary care team to keep our pet alive when sometimes, despite their very best efforts, it is simply not possible.\u00a0 We might try to bargain with a higher power for just one more day.\u00a0 In this stage, we might find ourselves questioning the \u201cwhat ifs\u201d which is tied to our pain of the loss we are experiencing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"multi-column-content__column\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><h4>Depression<\/h4>\n<p>Grief can lead to more serious depression.\u00a0 We may have never experienced depressive symptoms before our loss of our pet. We can experience things like prolonged sadness, crying, lack of appetite or overeating, sleeping more or less than usual and potentially suicidal thoughts.\u00a0 If you\u2019re experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital for help.\u00a0 Below, there are resources for the Iowa Crisis Line as well as the National Crisis line.<\/p>\n<h4>Acceptance<\/h4>\n<p>Having accepted the loss of your pet doesn\u2019t mean you no longer love them or that you no longer miss them.\u00a0 Acceptance of the loss is being able to live day to day without feeling overwhelmed by the sadness you may have felt right after the loss of your pet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<h3>Grief is Overwhelming<\/h3>\n<p>Your life has seemingly changed overnight.\u00a0 However, your grief presents is unique to you.\u00a0 At Iowa State Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, we care about you and your beloved pet.\u00a0 Please reach out to our Veterinary Social Worker for assistance with locating local resources or questions regarding your loss and grief.<\/p>\n<h2>Children\u2019s Grief and Developmental Stages<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitas.com\/family-and-caregiver-support\/grief-and-bereavement\/children-and-grief\/childrens-developmental-stages-concepts-of-death-and-responses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Children&#8217;s Developmental Stages Concepts of Death and Responses<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthychildren.org\/English\/healthy-living\/emotional-wellness\/Building-Resilience\/Pages\/when-a-pet-dies-how-to-help-your-child-cope.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">When a Pet Dies: How to Help Your Child Cope<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>*We acknowledge that many people refer to their beloved pet as family members and companions.\u00a0 Please note that as we discuss the stages of grief and loss with our use of our word \u201cpet\u201d we also acknowledge that there are many other terms of endearment one might use.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":4130,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4386","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pet Loss &amp; 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