Fur Death In The Family: Our Hearts Go Out To Anyone Going Through It

Flower-Week-132

One thing I definitely know is that when I read about the passing of someone’s pet, now more than ever, I will be more empathetic. For instance, I just read about a “fur death” in the family of one of my Twitter connections. My heart went out to her. It’s been 12 days since Flower left us, and there isn’t a day we don’t cry, want to kiss her, want to love her, want to just have more time with that precious little angel. 

We are trying to give each other, the survivors, more love, and love Nigel, Dottie, and Candy more. 

Coping With The Loss of A Beloved Pet

It’s difficult to deal with a pet’s death, no matter if you’ve had them for a month, a decade, or more. We had the pleasure of living with our adopted shih tzu, Flower, for almost eight years. Flower walked out of our arms and over the Rainbow Bridge eight days ago. The above is a picture taken three years ago of her walking over a bridge in our backyard.

Flower brought us so much joy. She was the firecracker of the bunch, our only dog who chased squirrels, our only dog who climbed the tiers in the backyard to escape into the yard behind us, the dog who huffed at me when I yelled at my computer, the dog who barked to signal the arrival of the mailman, the only dog who wiggled with joy when we reached for the drawer where we kept her harness, and the dog who sat between us in the front seat on the way to the park, barely able to contain her excitement about the upcoming walk.

She was our beautiful Flower, and there will never be another dog like her. Our four dogs all filled a unique spot in our home, and her spot will now remain empty, causing a hole in our house and in our hearts. I don’t know how we’ll manage to walk the other dogs without her, but I know we’ll get through this, and there will eventually be a new normal we will have to accept. 

We were blindsided by her death on June 2, and we are valiantly trying to hold it together for ourselves and our other three dogs, Dottie, Nigel, and Candy. We have prayed, reached out to friends, talked and talked and talked about this beautiful little furbaby who energized us. We have cried and cried some more.

During the last week, I looked up and read as many articles as I could on coping with grief, and it’s ugly companion, guilt. I hope that some of these links might help others who are going through the same situation and facing the future without their beloved pet. 

If you have anything that helped you cope with your precious pet’s death, please share with me and our readers. My heart goes out to anyone who has gone through, is going through, or will go through the sorrow we are feeling over our beloved Flower. 

I hope these links will help:

5 Ways to Heal When Grieving the Loss of a Pet

6 Stages of Pet Grief and How to Move Through Them

7 Ways to Cope With the Loss of a Pet

A Dangerous Villian: Guilt

A Pet’s Death Can Hurt More Than Losing a Fellow Human

Breaking the Power of Guilt 

Comforting Prayers for the Loss of a Beloved Dog or Cat

Coping With an Empty Home When You Miss Your Best Friend

Coping With Losing a Pet

Coping With The Death of Your Pet

Coping With The Loss of A Fur Baby: Pet Grieving Support Group

Coping With The Loss Of A Pet

Coping With Your Pet’s Death: An Important Guide

Dealing With Guilt After Pet Loss

Dealing With The Guilt

Four Steps To Take After Experiencing Pet Loss

Grieving for the Loss of a Pet: Pet Loss Quotes

How Do You Forgive Yourself?

How to Cope With The Loss of a Loved Pet

How to Deal With Guilt After the Loss of Your Dog

How to Deal With Guilty Feelings After Your Dog’s Death

How to Deal With the Death of Your Dog

How To Mindfully Grieve The Death Of A Pet

I Miss My Dog: Has Grief for a Dog Who Died Ever Overwhelmed You?

Loss and The Burden of Guilt

The Double Whammy of Death and Guilt

My Died Died and I Can’t Get Over It

My Pet Died and I think It’s My Fault

On Grieving a Dog You Rescued

The Emotions of Pet Loss

Things I Wish I Had Known When My Dog Died

Understanding and Coping With The Loss of a Pet

What To Say To Someone Grieving The Loss of a Pet

Why Losing a Dog Can Be Harder Than Losing a Relative

Why The Loss of Your Pet Could Be The Hardest to Bear

Why Can’t I Get Over My Dog’s Death?

Why Your Dog’s Death May Be The Most Difficult Event Of Your Life

You’re Not Crazy, You’re Mourning: Grief from the Loss of Your Dog

Rainbow Bridge

Day 6: Dreaming About Flower

A shih tzu investigates blanket flowers (Gaillardia).

Flower investigates the blanket flowers (Gaillardia).

I had a dream about Flower last night. It was an immensely sad dream. Maybe it was sort of a “do-over” dream. As usual, I can’t remember it exactly as it happened. I wasn’t somewhere I’m familiar with. At some point, I looked down and Flower was having a problem breathing. There was a blue “light” shining out of her nose, and I knew I had to rush her to get help. I picked her up and got in a car. I think my mother was driving, which is also surreal since my mother passed away last year after suffering from Alzheimer’s. Also, my mother didn’t drive for the last few decades of her life. I woke up while we were still driving, my beloved Flower in my arms. 

When I woke up, I felt the heaviness of her loss. All I could do was ask God to wrap me up like a warm sweater and comfort me. For all of you pet owners who have felt this same grief or who are going through it now, I feel your pain so deeply. Life goes on, but Flower, I wish you were walking through it with us still. 

Here’s one more picture of her, from several years ago, most likely anxious to get to the nature center and start that walk! Dottie is in the background. 

Flower Shih Tzu