Signed off sick for pet grief

[MellowYellow552]

I'm a pet sitter. One of my furry clients was PTS last week, the day after I concluded my assignment. I'd looked after her for a few years and she had health issues but I noticed something wasn't right with her. Since then the family have been in deep pain. One of them has been signed off work because of reaction and the little boy has begun acting differently, whilst the mum is holding it all together. I lost my cat a few weeks ago and understand completely. People don't take this seriously enough ("it's just a bloody animal" kind of responses).

I'm going to start pet grief counselling training which I had thought of after losing my last cat but this has pushed me to it.

I think a lot of the mean posters don't actually have pets, or specifically cats so I wonder why they are on a board entitled The Litter Tray. I guess they picked it up in the trending section and jumped on just to be mean.

That strikes me as a perfect excuse to ignore what people are saying, appreciating that some have been unpleasant most haven't

My dog was with me 24 hours a day, I took her to work and she was the last thing I saw at night and the first thing I saw in the morning

Her death, at home unexpectedly, was more traumatic than either of my elderly parents dying and affected me for months longer.

If my parents had died unexpectedly at a younger age maybe the experience would have been worse but right now my dog dying is the most horrific thing I've ever tried to get through.

Big love to anyone else who has felt the same grief, dog or human 💔

You can't help how you feel. How you experience loss cannot be dictated by others.

I lost a grandparent who i didn't see much and was sad but not overly upset..
I lost my dog at 18 who I had grown up with and spent everyday of my child hood with, I couldn't stop crying and was devastated, I actually did take a day off work as I couldn't stop crying. I did have the comments of finding it bizarre and one comment of "just get another dog" but you can't control how you love, and that comes in many forms, animal or not.

I think people should stop expecting people to feel/react exactly like them or what they deem appropriate and maybe just respect that all people are individuals, with their own reactions and feelings. What bothers one person won't another and no amount of tutting, judging or negativity towards them is going to change who they are.

I am sorry about your dog. It must have been absolutely horrible.