Helping Children Cope with Pet Loss

Helping Children Cope with the Death of a Pet

The death of a family pet is often the first time a child faces the passing of a loved one—and it’s important to give the event adequate attention. Too often, parents are so engulfed in the logistics and emotions surrounding the pet’s death they forget to help children grieve. Other times, children are shielded from these upsetting experiences, yet they sense something is wrong. Older children recognize this loss and can be expected to manage their emotions themselves. Typically, the subject of death is unfamiliar to children. Their friends may have experienced the loss of a family member.


Grieving the Death of a Pet

Coping with Grief after the Death of a Pet

It's Okay to Grieve When a Pet Dies The loss of a pet should never be minimized. Whether the pet was a favorite feline, a faithful dog or even a little turtle, pet loss can spark deep feelings of grief in the people who care for the cherished creature. Even young children experience grief when a pet has died and may act out their sadness. Furthermore, everyone experiences pet loss differently, so there’s no reason to expect specific behaviors from yourself or others.


Burying or Cremating a Pet

Pet Cremation and Burial

Just as there are local ordinances that dictate how a person’s death is handled, there are laws regarding how to proceed after a pet dies. Whether you plan a funeral or memorial, one immediate practical issue to address is transporting your pet’s body from the home or veterinary hospital to the final resting place. Your veterinarian is a valuable resource for information on laws and costs pertaining to the options in your area. Burial of a Pet


Deciding when to Euthanize a Pet

Pet Euthanasia

Sometimes an accident or a quickly progressing illness will take a pet’s life and relieve its owners from making a decision regarding euthanasia. More often, debilitating conditions and chronic health issues caused by aging or illness minimize a pet’s quality of life. Sometimes aging and illness can also cause chronic health issues that cause behavior problems. In some cases, unmanageable behavior can jeopardize the safety of children and other pets in the home.



Making Cemetery Arrangements

How to Make Cemetery Arrangements

A cemetery is the place where the dead are buried or interred -- a "final resting place" for the deceased. A typical cemetery offers various types of grave spaces for earth burial and mausoleum crypts for entombment. Similar options are available for burial or entombment of cremated remains.


Deceased Transportation

Deceased Transportation

Inter-city Transportation of Human Remains In many cases a loved one's body is initially transferred from the place of death to a local funeral home (i.e., the "first call" funeral home) and then subsequently transported to another city for funeral ceremonies and/or burial. If this is your situation, you'll need two funeral homes - one locally to handle the first call, and a second one in the final destination city.


Cellphone makes first call for making funeral arrangements with Funeralwise

The First Call: Who to Call When Someone Dies

Who to Call When Someone Dies When you need to have a loved one's body removed from the place of death, you'll need to contact a local Funeral Director to transfer the body to a funeral home or comparable care facility ("first call"). Funeral directors are available through funeral homes and other funeral service organizations.


Grieving the death of someone from suicide

Dealing With Grief When the Death was a Suicide

Doing and Saying Just the Right Things When A Person Takes His or Her Own Life In our culture, suicide is particularly difficult for friends and family. Police are involved. An autopsy is required by law. In some cases, family and friends are suspected of foul play. Survivors often feel incredibly guilty that they didn’t do enough to prevent the tragedy. Here are some things you can do to offer support to friends and family when a suicide occurs. When you learn that a person has taken his or her own life…


Grieving the death of a spouse

Helping Someone Grieve the Death of a Spouse

Doing and Saying Just the Right Things Helping a Widow or Widower Cope with the Death of a Spouse Because couples function as a team, losing a spouse presents another set of difficulties for the bereaved person. Along with handling their grief, a surviving spouse may need financial advice or help with domestic issues. In fact, their grief often causes the spouse to die within a year after losing the partner.


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