Grieving for people vs Grieving for pets

[Seacat]

I'm curious as to what you all might perceive as the main differences between grieving for a human vs grieving for a pet.

[geoff]

Hello Seacat, thanks for this question which may be easy to comment on or rather a very difficult one, I suppose it all depends on how close we are to each one.

Let's say that the person is very close to us, just as the pet, and maybe this could be the worse scenario depends on the situation.

The pet is part of the family, and if it's yours, then you talk to it but doesn't answer back, only wants a cuddle, whereas a person close to you, my offer suggestions or try and guide you in the right direction.

I've had to put down a dog I had for a very long time and this caused me to relapse but I didn't when my Dad passed away, (for reasons I not related).

I hope to add to this thread, as it's only just started.

Geoff.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Seacat (and a wave to Geoff),

The biggest difference for me is that the grief when dealing for a pet is unique and not fully understood. A lot of households have pets (whether it be dogs, cats, fish, whatever), but not a lot of households are attached emotionally to their pets. I personally have gotten very attached to all of mine, which means that whenever I've lost a pet, I feel like it hits me just as hard as losing a person.

I don't want to use too much psychobabble but the grief of losing a pet is often called disenfranchised grief. It basically means that it's not considered socially appropriate. Other sorts of grief like this can be things like miscarriages or abortions, or even celebrity grief. It's all valid. It's all important. It all hurts. But some people just don't get it.

rt