Death of a Pet - My Experiences
I've experienced the death of a pet many many times. Having loved and lost a multitude of different pets in a multitude of different circumstances, I soon learnt that despite what people may tell you, losing a pet is always a traumatic experience.
I found it doesn’t seem to matter if the death of a pet is prepared for or completely unexpected, you still feel awful and you still feel guilty.
You still have that awful niggling feeling of ‘did I do the right thing?’ and it doesn’t matter if you have one pet or 10, the house still feels desperately empty and unbearably silent without the one you’ve lost.
Baby and Bruno - both now at Rainbow Bridge
But it does get better. Slowly you recover and in my case I have developed the attitude that really my home is just a kind of stopping place where beloved pets come to stay for a while and then move on, and when they do that means there’s a spot free for the next pet.
I believe in Rainbow Bridge, probably more than I do the human equivalent.
When I was a child I had numerous pets including 33 gerbils (nobody told me they bred!), lizards, frogs, rabbits, a budgie and even a duck called Hercules that I pestered my Mother into buying me after reading a children's book about a little girl who got her own duck.
Whilst not the obvious choice for a pet, Hercules loved me and I loved him. He would follow me everywhere as baby ducks do, and walked perfectly on a little lead. I even taught him to sit and roll over and every afternoon when I returned home from school he would fly into my arms and 'kiss' me.
We also had a family cat called Jinksy who literally came with our house. When her owners moved out they left her behind and she became my first cat. We went everywhere together until she was cruelly poisoned by a neighbour, for no other reason other than he didn't like cats.
That was the first time I really felt grief as a child over the death of a pet, particularly as it was so unfair.
When I went to college and for about five years afterwards, I found I couldn't have any pets as I didn't have my own home and my then landlord wouldn't allow me to keep any.
So for a few years I saved up to buy my own home and once there started to fill up my dreadfully silent and pet free home with pets.
I’d always wanted to help animals and when I was younger I did lots of sponsored walks and swims to raise money for local animal charities. But having a full time job and not much money had prevented me from helping animals as much as I’d have liked to.
So I figured that now I had the room and time to care for pets, I should really try and offer a home to the less fortunate ones.
You know, the ones people pass by because they just don’t ‘look right’ or the ones with complicated health problems or histories that immediately put most people off.
Over the following pages, I'd like to tell you all about the many pets I've loved and lost and the pets who currently share my home.
You'll see their pictures shamelessly plastered all over this website. I feel fortunate to have had so many lovely pets over the years who have made me smile every day and I am proud to share their stories with you.
I know from personal experience that the death of a pet can make you feel very isolated and alone and as though no one cares.
But I and millions of other pet owners do care and do understand what you are going through. Together we can get through it and learn to smile at the memories of our pets once again.
I really hope that reading my pet's stories and the information on this website will help you if you are currently suffering from the death of a pet, or help you to prepare if you are visiting this site in advance of your loss.
Welcome to my site and my home!
Click on the links below to read each of my pet's individual stories:
Death of a Pet - My Cat Spider My Cat Spider - Part Two
Death of a Pet - My Cat Ginger
Pet Death - My Cat Amber
Pet Death - My Cat Barney
