Pet Loss

The loving relationship between your child and your animal can have a substantial impact on the child’s emotional development if your pet becomes ill or is at the end of its life. This might even be your child’s first experience with illness and/or thoughts of death or dying. What’s happening right now is an opportunity for your child to build trust through receiving honest information and participating in the animal’s care. 

In dealing with a pet’s illness, we first have a conversation with you to get to know you, your relationship to your pet and the circumstances. After exploring what your child understands based on her or his age, we can create a plan for engaging in legacy activities, e.g. paw prints, pictures, etc., to help process the diagnosis and feelings associated with this change.

If your child would like to be involved in the decision-making process, we can also help navigate these conversations with your family and/or escort your child during difficult visits to the vet.