How to cope with The loss of a beloved pet

Whether it's a cockatiel or a cat, losing a pet can be a time of terrible sadness and pain. You may encounter people telling you to "get over it" as, after all, it is just an animal (according to them), but a pet can mean so much more than that - they can become your closest friends. The death of an animal can sometimes hurt as much as that of a relative, but it's not always easy knowing how to deal with such strong feelings.

In the video above, Noel Fitzpatrick and his Supervet team rush to resuscitate Tiger the cat as he clings to his life after suffering a cardiac arrest. Losing time, Noel attempts a creative procedure to bring him back from the brink of death, and his method works - much to the relief of everyone there.

Watch full episodes of The Supervet here.

Pet Grieves

Struggling to know what to do with yourself now your furry, scaly, or feathery friend has gone? These tips might help you through this tough time...

Do it your own way

Don't let anybody dictate how you should be feeling. Everyone deals with deceased loved ones differently and whilst some people may seem to get over the death of a pet in an instant, for others, it's a much longer process. There is no right or wrong way to do it when it comes to grieving.

Share the memories

Discussing memories of your lost pet with family members can feel pretty liberating - recollecting the funny things your pet did can make you feel a whole lot better, and putting up photos can assist in keeping the memory alive. The Blue Cross offer a pet bereavement service, allowing you to talk to someone anonymously - it's both safe and confidential. Click here to be directed to it.

Create new memories!

There are now places that can create pet memorial jewellery by engraving their name into a pendant and sometimes even combining the cremated ashes of your deceased pet; however, this can be expensive and a much more personal option is to create something from scratch yourself - how about writing a poem or a story, making a sculpture, drawing a picture of your pet that you could frame, or even planting a tree in their memory?

Let it all out

Having a big cry can feel surprisingly good! Allowing yourself to experience the sadness of your lost animal is a perfectly normal and healthy part of the grieving process and can assist you in feeling emotionally stronger.

Don't be tempted to fill the hole

It might seem like a quick-fix to simply get a new pet, but it really is important to let yourself work through the grief of losing this animal before trying to build a relationship with a new one - get one too soon and you could run the risk of resenting the new pet as you might feel that it is 'taking the place' of the previous one.

Life goes on

You may feel at this time that getting over the death of your pet will be an impossible feat, but bear in mind as time goes on, it will become easier. It's a good idea to distract yourself with other things that make you happy too; this doesn't mean forgetting about your pet, but simply reminding yourself that things aren't as terrible as they may seem.