January 11 2021 0Comment
cremation services in Blaine, WA

Pets Grieve When a Loved One Dies

After cremation services in Blaine, WA, you will be grieving the loss of your loved one, as will many other people who loved and cared about them. But you will not be the only ones grieving if your loved one had pets.

Often, pets are in tune with your loved one in a greater way than you might imagine. If, for example, your loved one is seriously ill, their pets may want to spend more time with them or they may be more protective of them.

When your loved one dies, their pets may become agitated or even cry when the funeral home comes to transport your loved one. When your loved one is gone, their pets will grieve over their absence.

Animals – especially dogs, cats, horses, and birds – grieve over loss, whether human or animal, when close bonds are broken. The death of your loved one is one of those close bonds. It does not matter whether the bond lasted for a few months or for many years, your loved one’s pets will be mourning every bit as much as you and other people are.

It is interesting to note that pets grieve in many of the same ways that humans do.

Some of the things you may see in your loved one’s pets that indicate that they are grieving include:

  • A loss of appetite
  • A change in sleeping habits or interrupted sleep
  • Lethargy
  • Social withdrawal
  • Loss in pleasurable activities, such as playing with toys or taking walks
  • Constant searching for your deceased loved one
  • Excessive clinginess
  • Constant grooming
  • Increased vocalization (barking, neighing, meowing, etc.)

Dogs, elephants, and primates tend to exhibit the most complex symptoms of grief when they lose a human or animal companion.

Dogs, it seems, grieve most like humans do when someone they love or when a furry companion dies. For example, the longer dogs have been with their human owners or their furry companions, the longer and more intense their grief will be.

If your loved one spent a lot of time with their dogs, their dogs will react to their death as if it is the end of the world, which will make the grief even more pronounced.

Cats grieve differently. It is not unusual for cats to withdraw from all human contact after your loved one dies. Another behavior your loved one’s cat may exhibit is sudden aggressiveness toward both humans and animals in the house.

cremation services in Blaine, WACats may, like dogs, refuse to eat, but they may also act aggressively with other cats or people in the house. Cats may also express their grief by resorting to destructive activities like clawing furniture, curtains, and bedding.

Cats who are grieving may get physically. They may stop using their litter box because the tension associated with grief causes their bladders to function abnormally. You should get your cat to a veterinarian immediately if you see that they are not using the litter box. The veterinarian can perform an easy procedure to correct your cat’s bladder problem.

Pets will exhibit, through their behavior, the same kind of separation anxiety when someone or an animal they love die that we can experience when someone we love dies. In both cases, the emotions associated with grief can make us and pets physically sick.

If you’d like to learn about cremation services serving the area of Blaine, WA, our empathetic and knowledgeable staff at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory – Bayview Chapel can help.

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