To think it's not weird to be upset over the death of a pet?

[MaggieDoesntGoHereAnymore]

I don't think it is but a classmate of mine informed me today that it was because "it's only a dog/cat/guinea pig/fish/whatever" and "it's not like it's a person"

I thought it was entirely normal to be sad over the loss of a pet but maybe I'm wrong.

Your 'friend' is an arse :)

What year are you in OP?

It depends on the closeness of the relationship, just as with people imo.

Of course it is normal to be upset, your friend obviously has never had a pet before or is just plain odd.

I'd be sad if any pet died! They are part of the family.

Not weird at all.

I still cry when even one of my hamsters die.

I'm not in school Jillian it's actually college but it's an access course so mature students (allegedly)

I don't think I'd be upset if my goldfish died though

Tell your friend she is an idiot. And find another friend.

I agree. I used to have two cats. They both had kidney failure and had to be put down three weeks apart. I was devastated.

One of my friends at work had asked me how we had got on at the vet the previous evening with the first cat and I was too choked to tell her. In the end I had to email her.

Pets are very much part of the family, and I think people who don't like animals or have never owned a pet simply don't understand.

Maybe they like to keep their emotions private? Maybe they react differently, but are still feeling sad? Perhaps they don't want to put on a public display of grief just to appease people and appear "normal"?

I see so they're old enough to know better. I don't have any pets but appreciate that people love them as part of the family especially in the case of dogs and cats which have a relatively long life span

No, not weird. But it is weird for an adult to go on about it, or mention it any other way than just in passing.

My cousin let me know her dog had died. But this dog had been our companion on many mountain hikes, so it was not strange that she told me. But, in a life goes on sort of way, it is sad, but there you go.

A friend of mine had two cats die last week (sadly it seems like they were poisoned) and she was very upset and the kids were beside themselves

Oh that's awful IdkickJillianAss

Your "friend" is being an arse.

How can people have animals in the family for up to 20 yrs with cats and not love them to bits and be sad when they died.

Tell that to my dd who bawled her eyes out when her guinea pig died.

And I shed a few tears I can tell you when my I had I have my cat PTS. I miss her every day as does dd1.

Never "just" an animal :(

I just don't understand people, As I said I don't have pets or the desire for them but why would anyone hurt/kill an animal is beyond me

I agree with QuintsKazooo. Its not unreasonable to be sad but some people just seem to have reactions that appear way out of proportion. A woman at work took 3 whole weeks off because she was upset over her cat dying. Noone could believe it. It made me wonder how she would ever cope with a family member dying.

Is anyone going to equate the grief you may feel over the death of, say, a cat with that of your child?

Of course you are not!

Once overheard a girl at school saying she'd be sad if her dog died, but she'd just laugh if her guinea pig died

However we all fall somewhere slightly different on the kind of spectrum that determines how you react to stuff like this emotionally....doesn't mean they're bad people because they're not sad. We're all wired differently.

I thought I was going to have to have my elderly horse pts a few months ago. I was devastated. It really took over my life it was so upsetting. It upsets me just thinking about it now as i know the time will come soon enough.

Hes been part of my life for 15 years. I've looked after him every day apart from about 4 weeks in total in that whole time.

Of course i will be upset. If someone said 'its only a horse' I don't honestly know how i'd react.

For some people it might be their only family.

Tell that to my dd who bawled her eyes out when her guinea pig died.

My guinea pig died about a month ago and I too bawled for ages - whilst trying to tell myself to get a grip and yes I did try to tell myself "it's a guinea pig FFS!" only that didn't work.

I guess because I'd had him since I was 14 and I'm 23 now. I know that's not a long time in the grand scheme of things but it is when you think about what goes on in nine years and what can change in that time. So maybe I was emotionally linking it to that too?

Once overheard a girl at school saying she'd be sad if her dog died, but she'd just laugh if her guinea pig died

Aww, I love piggies