Not coping with death of a pet

[GraceMarks]

I had to have a much-loved put pet to sleep at the weekend, and I'm a bit worried with how badly I seem to be coping with it. I keep going over and over in my mind if I made the right decision, and if I should have insisted on trying other treatments. The vet more or less said that there wouldn't be much point and that euthanasia was the best thing to do, but I've been left feeling like I capitulated too easily, that my pet only had me to fight his corner and I let him down.

I know there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced similar and if there's anything that helped you in the aftermath. It doesn't help that I shared loads of pictures of this pet on FB and he keeps coming up on my Memories feed all the bloody time.

I'm so sorry Losing a pet is one of the hardest things. I am sure you did the right thing. It's so easy to beat ourselves up afterwards and question whether it was the right time. However, this is the one thing that we can do for our pets that is the most selfless act of love. We had a dog put to sleep 12 years ago, and we still regret it now. We left it far too long because we couldn't bring ourselves to admit that it was time, and so she suffered and it wasn't fair on her. My point is, I think you suffer guilt and question yourself regardless. The Blue Cross have a pet bereavement number that you can phone to chat about this, that might be helpful?

It's really okay to grieve for as long as you need. People who don't have pets totally underestimate the impact they have on our lives, but it is truly heartbreaking when we lose them.

Bumblebee1987 thank you. It's only been a couple of days so I think I probably need to give myself more time. If I'm still coping badly in a week, I might try that helpline, thanks for letting me know about it.

You made the right decision OP. You have lost a member of the family, although not a human, one that was always there and who you were always there for.
I have been in a similar position and if I had my time over I would get another pet asap. Unfortunately, it isn't that easy as the right pet may not be around. It won;t be a replacement, but a new companion.
Let yourself grieve, you did everything you could, and vet don't euthanise pets unless they have to.

Thanks MikeUniformMike. I do have other pets of the same type and I'm not planning on getting another one just now, as I just hate going through this bit of pet ownership, and I will eventually have it to come with the others! I know it's morbid to think of it that way, but some people are better at dealing with it than others, and I think I'm one of those who isn't.