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[Now accepting new clients.  Book your free consultation today → ](/work-with-me)

[![Sharon Meyers Therapy logo](/assets/logo-sanddollar-B1yhAvCA.png)Sharon Meyers Therapy LCSW #106887 ](/)

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![A person hiking a coastal California trail with their dog](/assets/pet-loss-BrsbDEp7.jpg)

Therapy for

# Grieving a Pet 

You may have already heard some version of it. It was just a dog. You can get another cat. At least it was not a person.

None of that touches what actually happened, which is that a living being who was part of your daily life is gone, and the house is a different house now.

## A Loss the World Routinely Minimizes 

Nobody sends flowers. There is no bereavement leave. You are expected back at your desk the next morning, sounding normal.

So the grief goes underground, and grief that has nowhere to go tends to get heavier rather than lighter. Many people find themselves crying in the car, then apologizing for it.

You do not have to justify this to me, or rank it against other losses before we are allowed to talk about it.

## The Ache of a Daily Companion 

Pets live inside the ordinary hours of your life. The first minute of the morning. The walk you always took. The particular sound of them settling down when you sat on the couch.

That is why the loss shows up in such small, relentless ways. You reach for the leash. You cook too much. You come home and the quiet is wrong.

It also matters who they were with you through. Many people lose an animal who saw them through a divorce, an illness, a move, or a stretch of years when there was no one else in the room. Losing them can reopen every one of those chapters.

## The Guilt That Comes with the Decision 

If you made the call to euthanize, you may be replaying it constantly. Whether it was too soon. Whether you waited too long and made them suffer for your sake. Whether the last day should have looked different.

That review can run for months, and it rarely produces an answer, because you were asked to make a loving decision with incomplete information under time pressure.

We work with the guilt directly rather than trying to talk you out of it. Often what is underneath it is not wrongdoing at all. It is how much responsibility you took for something you loved.

## Related Reading

-   [Complex Grief Read more → ](/therapy-for/complex-grief)
-   [Anticipatory Grief Read more → ](/therapy-for/anticipatory-grief)

Sharon Meyers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker offering telehealth sessions to adults located anywhere in California.

In Case of Emergency

This website is for informational purposes only. This practice is not a crisis service. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please do not wait for a reply.

-   Call [911](tel:911) or go to your nearest emergency room if you are in immediate danger.
-   Call or text [988](tel:988) to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
-   Text HOME to [741741](sms:741741) to reach the Crisis Text Line.

## This loss counts, whatever anyone else says about it. 

Schedule a free consultation and talk about them with someone who will take it seriously.

[Schedule a Free Consultation](/begin-here)

### Sharon Meyers Therapy

LCSW #106887  
Online therapy throughout California  
Office located in Berkeley, CA

Quick Links

-   [Home](/)
-   [About](/about)
-   [Specialties](/specialties)
-   [FAQ](/faq)
-   [Blog](/blog)
-   [Contact](/begin-here)
-   [Therapy For](/therapy-for)
-   [Online Therapy](/online-therapy)
-   [Guides](/guides)

Contact

-   [(415) 335-7446](tel:4153357446)
-   [sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com](mailto:sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com)

[Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sharon-meyers-berkeley-ca/1080260)

**In case of emergency:** call or text [988](tel:988) or go to your nearest emergency room. This website is for informational purposes only.

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