Unless you have owned a pet, you can never truly understand what it is like for someone who has lost theirs. In an instance, your biggest fan, best friend and noble companion are no longer there to sit with you after a hard day or greet you with the most wholesome enthusiasm. If you have been there or even if you haven’t, we have tips on how to help someone who’s lost a pet.
Be Open and Understanding
This may be difficult for someone who has never owned a pet. Despite the lack of experience, you should always be open and understanding to someone who has just experienced the loss of a pet.
You don’t have to have first-hand experience in order to acknowledge the bond an owner has with their pet. Being there for someone who has lost a pet is less about giving advice and more about offering support.
No one who has just lost a pet wants to hear how they can just get another one or how it was just an animal. Losing something or someone that has been a part of your day-to-day life is nothing to push aside.
What You Can Say to Help Bring Comfort
Comforting someone who has just lost a pet is very similar to comforting someone after any loss. The one main difference is that grieving an animal is not as socially accepted. When you are comforting someone, who has just lost their pet, be sure that you never discredit the person’s feelings.
Acknowledge the bond they shared with their pet. Offer words of sympathy, expressing how sorry you are for their loss. Offer to listen and let them vent to you if they want to. Everyone grieves in different ways; this includes when someone is grieving a pet.
If they aren’t saying much, that is okay too. Grief is an unpredictable thing. Sometimes saying nothing is what they want, because all they need is to know you are there. Helping with the loss of a pet isn’t always what you say. Sometimes, it is what you do.
What You Can Do to Preserve the Memories
Expressions of sympathy may vary after the loss of a pet. Are you looking to help memorialize their pet or are you looking to express your overall sympathies?
An owner does not want to forget their pet. Talking about their pet by name is okay, just like how memorializing them is okay too. When giving a gift to memorialize a pet, be sure to consider your recipient. Do they have any specific mementos that they own that could be of some inspiration?
For instance, a snow globe can be personalized with the pet’s photo and a quote, or there are standard pet snow globes that can be engraved as a reminder of the love of their noble companion.
Another ideal gift for pet sympathy is a customized pet windchime. Windchimes are widely popular for their soothing sound and overall aesthetic. Personalize a windchime with their pet’s picture and the date of its birth and its passing. It is a very special way to share sympathy and play a part in remembering their pet for years to come.
What You Can Do to Show Them You Care
Sometimes, it is not as simple as driving over and sitting with the people you care about after they lose a pet. Distance can get in the way of a lot of things, even much-needed communication. You can call, text or email, but that doesn’t always feel like enough.
When you talk to them, ask them how they are doing. Ask them if they have eaten. Offer to have food delivered to them, so they don’t have to leave the house. These simple gestures can mean the world to someone who is struggling to hold onto their composure through the grief.
When you are looking for things you can do to help someone who has lost a pet, consider what is most appropriate, what is most meaningful and what is needed at the time. A grieving person has to put forth extra effort to do even the simplest tasks. Keep that in mind when you are looking to do something for someone who is suffering from a loss.
A safe and meaningful option is a sympathy card. This just lets the person grieving know that you are thinking of them and that you know coping with the loss of a pet is hard. Keep the message short, sincere and sensitive to their feelings. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to confronting grief.
Our team of florists at Rose Cart of San Jose in Campbell, CA, have experience dealing with grief. Your local florist will know what gifts are appropriate to give someone who is suffering from a loss. Let our flower arrangements and sympathy designs help bridge that gap for you.
Flowers convey meaning and having our pet sympathy flowers delivered to your loved one is a beautiful way to help them cope with their loss.
Pet sympathy flowers are a reminder of the life the owner and their pet shared. To ensure the flowers make it to the recipient when they are needed most, we offer same-day delivery, because no one should go through loss alone.