Our family pet died. Now what?
“I tried to mentally prepare myself for the questions they would ask and the kinds of answers I would give. I relied on my basic parenting style, which is to be honest about everything.” |
When a beloved family pet dies, parents must care for their own broken hearts as well as support their children. From our “Now What?” series, Britannica for Parents offers helpful guidance to families experiencing many important challenges.
Maybe you just found your daughter’s goldfish belly-up in the aquarium. Or your child’s aging cat has stopped eating, and soon you will need to make a hard decision about easing its suffering. Or maybe your family dog ran out into the road. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, the many benefits of pet ownership for children include companionship and teaching respect for all living things. A more poignant benefit is how pets teach children about loss when they die. Experiencing the death of a pet is a natural part of growing up for many children. “He Was Gone. Just Like That.” Her two kids were asleep, her husband was working the night shift, and Jenny Lou let George, her energetic seven-year-old chocolate Labrador rescue, out to the yard before bed. When he came in, she says, “He was running around and all excited with a big smile on his face. I told him to go to bed, and he laid down.” She went upstairs and got in bed. About 20 minutes later, George howled. “I thought he needed to go out again,” she says. “I called his name and he exhaled really loudly, but it sounded like a sleep bark. I went over and said his name, his head fell back and he was gone. Just like that.” In hindsight she is grateful it happened late at night so she could sit with George’s body and release the flood of grief she felt. “The kids were asleep,” she says. “I was able to do the ugly, howling crying without them seeing.” Unsure what to do with George’s body and not wanting the kids to find him when they came downstairs, Jenny Lou texted some friends. A neighbor came over and helped move George’s body to the back porch. Another friend gave her the number of a pet funeral home with a 24-hour hotline. “I didn’t want to bury him in the yard because if we ever move I want to be able to take him with us,” she says. The funeral home went over her options, and she requested they cremate George’s remains. Telling the Children “I dreaded having to tell the kids,” she says. “I tried to mentally prepare myself for the questions they would ask and the kinds of answers I would give. I relied on my basic parenting style, which is to be honest about everything.” In the morning when her daughter, seven, and son, five, came downstairs, she told them, “Something bad happened last night. George died.” The children looked at George’s bed in disbelief. Her daughter was quiet, but her son thought George would come back any minute. He demanded to know why there was no headstone in the yard if George was truly dead. “It was the first experience either kid has had with death,” Jenny Lou says. “We don’t have a religion that explains the afterlife, so we didn’t have that to fall back on. Telling them he was in heaven wouldn’t make any sense at all to them.” So, she says, “I told the kids, ‘Some people think that when someone dies, their spirit goes someplace and we’ll see them again sometime.’ It’s comforting to think that, but I don’t really know if that’s what happens.” “I want them to trust me, and I want them to know I’ll answer them honestly and not tell them something just to make them feel better.” The children have processed this event in different ways. “My daughter never really talked about it, but didn’t finish her breakfast. She will eat anything all day long, but that day she didn’t finish her food,” Jenny Lou remembers. “My son will still say ‘I miss Georgie,’ or, ‘Where’s Georgie?’” Comfort, Closure, and Truth Psychologists recommend keeping a child’s developmental stage in mind when talking to them about a pet that has died or is seriously ill and near death. Children under seven may not completely understand what death means and may need it explained to them in the simplest language. Telling them that a pet’s body stopped working so that the pet won’t be able to wake up, run, play, or eat anymore will make sense to young children, but parents may need to repeat this information several times in order to help the child understand that death is permanent. A child’s grief for a pet will be proportional to their love and attachment for it. It is understandable for children to cry and feel sad. Showing some of your own grief over the pet may help your child cope and feel less alone. Older children usually have an idea of what death is. Parents should explain what euthanasia is, if appropriate, and give the child a chance to touch the pet and be present if they wish to and the veterinarian allows it. Older children and teens may need to hear from parents that crying is normal and understandable. All children need comfort, closure, and straightforward truths when a pet dies. Parents should never lie to children about why a beloved pet is gone. Telling a child the animal ran away, is sleeping, or went to a farm in the country leaves the child with hopes that the animal will come home or wake up. Families often create an event or ritual to memorialize their pet. Compiling a scrapbook, telling stories about the pet, and keeping the pet’s ashes, paw print, or tuft of hair in a special place in the home are all ways to help children grieve. Let Your Children Take the Lead Jenny Lou says she recommends that parents facing the death of a pet follow their child’s lead and don’t volunteer too many details about the medical aspects of death. “Let your kids guide the discussion,” she advises. “I didn’t tell them about the pain or the howl, and nobody questioned that. I let them guide, just answered their questions. Occasionally I’ll circle back and say, ‘I still really miss George, do you feel the same?’ and try to talk about it.” She still misses George, and while the family is considering getting a new dog, the grief of losing him persists. She tries not to bottle it up. “Every time I talk about him, it gets easier,” she says. “It’s cathartic. It’s very cathartic.” Sources American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, “Pets and Children,” 2019 Cohen, Harold, “Children and the Death of a Pet,” 2020 Wolfelt, Alan D., When Your Pet Dies: A Guide to Mourning, Remembering, and Healing, 2004 Learn More: Recommended Children’s Books About DeathHarris, Robie A., Goodbye Mousie, 2004 Mellonie, Bryan, Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children, 1983 Rogers, Fred, When a Pet Dies, 1998 Wise Brown, Margaret, The Dead Bird, 2016 |