Help Kids Through Pet Loss
Pet loss of your companion animal is difficult enough to get over when you are an adult and are mindful of what it means and the whole concept of death. However, understanding the concept of death to a child can be next to difficult thing to explain.
The fact being that, children don’t often understand the whole meaning of loss of any level and certainly don’t get it where their pets are involved.
When a child had a pet at a very young age, he gets responsible, loves to care for it and cuddle it. The child treats the pet like his best friend and gets mentally associated with it that its loss can simply make him puzzled about living without it. Sometimes the bond between children and their pets can be deeper than with a loved human. The loss of a pet will be accompanied by grief and the physical stress associated with it such as crying, depression, and loss of appetite, anger and even anxiety.
It’s important to know that everything your child is going through is a natural process. However, you can in your own way, can take steps for easy recovery of your child from depression.
Some instrumental tips to help out a grieving child:
- Allow the child to work through the loss, for they understand their pain better. It’s best to inform their teacher about their pet’s death. This will aid the child to talk freely about it and eventually let out the pain. You should also hug and reassure the child oftenly and engage them in a discussion so that they may be able to give their understanding of death and grief and let them know everyone is feeling the loss.
- Among things you should never say to the kids is that “God took your pet,” or your pet has been “put to sleep.” This will impact them negatively, for they will grow up fearing God will take them, their siblings or parents or even have a negative perception of God for taking their pet away from them. They may also grow a fear of going to sleep.
- It’s important to include them in everything going on to help them heal faster from the loss.
- Explain to them death is permanent and there pet will not be coming back.
- You also need to help them understand, their pet’s death is not their fault
Another important measure would to be able to talk to your child about the pet loss and help them identify their feelings and grievances. If their thoughts are fantasized or unrealistic, then explain to them in realistic terms what is happening, the facts of life and death. Older children may respond with deep sadness and withdrawal. But don’t be harsh on them; they need to be handled carefully. Your child will usually let you know when he or she is recovering. If you sense you need outside help, always allow yourself to seek out the advice of a professional grief counselor.