Contact Animal Family Pet Preservation for Taxidermy
If you desire to keep the memories alive and your pet closes even after his death, then Animal Family Pet Preservation would be the choice for you. After your pet dies, call them immediately to ensure that tissues remain intact before reconstruction and preservation.
The Good Will or other donation centers will take pet belongings. If you don’t have family members with pets or cannot find an animal shelter near you, then this is a great option. Providing pet belongings to the Good Will is a great way of giving back to your community
If you decide to give your pet’s belongings away, you need to decide who to give them to. As with all decisions relating to your deceased pet’s belongings, there is no right or wrong answer. You may even choose to split the items among family or between family and donation centers. Choose the option that feels right.
Losing a pet is hard. There is no way to get through the grieving process for your pet except to put one foot in front of the other every day. In addition to the emotional grieving process, you will also need to decide how to deal with your pet’s belongings. Take it slow and try not to put too much pressure on yourself. The decision of whether to keep, give away, or recycle/reuse will make itself clear eventually.
You can also choose to reuse the belongings yourself. Many people have multiple pets. As We’re All About Pets pointed out, “Remember that pets grieve too. Passing on a toy or other item to a grieving pet can help them move on as well. Think of it as a way for your deceased pet to give back to their brothers and sisters.”
Before discussing what you can do with your pet’s belongings, we need to make one thing clear: There is no right or wrong answer to the question of what to do with a deceased pet’s belongings. You need to make the decision that works for you and your family. That decision may change with time as well.
How pet owners cope with their pet’s toys after the death of their companion.
Grieving the loss of a pet is a painful experience. The immediate journey of grief that we all endure after losing our companion animals is a unique path that we all take. Along this route, there are multiple triggers that pet owners face, one of which can be the material possessions left behind by the deceased.
Triggers in grief are constant. Triggers are the sounds we hear, the sights we see, or even a familiar taste, these can be a painful reminder of a loved ones passing, and can even stimulate symptoms of trauma.
Material Objects Psychological Impact
Many people struggle upon returning home from the veterinary office to the possessions throughout the house, another reminder of their companion animals death and their recent experience of loss. As grief is fluid, these reminders aren’t always negative and the emotional impact created tends to decrease over time.
There are two distinct categories that people generally fall into when it comes to how they cope with their pets belongings now left behind. These are looked at below, as well as the reasoning behind their coping. Each form, although completely different, is an attempt to reduce emotional harm and to cope with the loss of their beloved animal that has passed.
Walking by the Empty Dog Bed Can Be too Painful
Some pet owners cannot stand the thought of walking past the now-empty dog bed. The feeling that is now produced by having constant reminders of their companion animal that is now gone can be extremely painful.
In these cases, many people work as quickly as they can to remove these reminders. Some will get rid of their pet’s possessions altogether in an attempt to reduce the pain. Others will store these items out of sight until they have enough time to process their emotions and can look at the items again at a later time and decide what the next steps are.
Pet owners within this category are commonly facing overwhelming emotions and are trying very hard to reduce the painful reminders, or triggers, that they associate with seeing their pet’s material possessions throughout the house. Removing these objects can be an effective way to reduce the immediate pain directly after their pets passing.
These pet owners can also regret throwing away or hiding their pet’s products so soon when the immediate pain of loss has time to process through and lower in its intensity. It can be helpful to process through the memories associated with their pet’s toys; this might help to switch painful memories with nostalgic, happy ones.
A Pleasant Reminder with the Squeaker Toy
In contrast, other pet owners who have recently experienced the loss of their companion animal find that the thought of removing or replacing pet products and toys brings a fearful or anxiety-producing response. These pet owners don’t move or replace any product, leaving them as they were left by their pets.
If their dog had left their bone in the middle of the living room, it stays there. If their cat had last slept on the back of the couch on the blanket in the corner, it is left exactly as it was and never washed.
In this category, the products serve as a reminder that their companion animal was present within their lives and within their home. They serve to trigger memories about their pets that are comforting during the time of grief.
These owners can struggle with the denial of their pets passing. Leaving their pets products untouched for an extended timeline (years or longer) can be a harmful way in which the person avoids processing through their grief.
Somewhere in the Middle
Many pet owners also find themselves somewhere in the middle of these two categories in how they cope with their pets belongings after their passing. It’s helpful to remember that there is never a “right” way to experience grief. There is also no concrete “timeline” that tells us when we should be processing through these belongings.
Some people find that donating some of their pets possessions can be a helpful way of processing through the loss. They, as well as their pets, can continue giving to other families and pets in need.
Although the possessions left behind by our pets can serve as a painful reminder now after their death, eventually these memories can turn into fond reminders of the love, happiness, and beautiful moments shared within the home.
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Stuffing Dead Pets | Taboo: Pets
After a pet dies, we’re faced with the decision about what to do with their belongings. You’re likely to fall in one of three camps. In camp one are the people who throw out, give away or pack up their pet’s belongings immediately. In camp two are the people who can’t bear to move a single thing. Camp three sits somewhere in the middle.