Animals Grieve Too!

First off, let me tell you that anyone, and I mean ANYONE who tells you that animals don't feel or don't grieve, has their heads in the sand! BS, animals grieve the loss of a companion and partner. They grieve like we do. And they CAN die of a broken heart from their grief.

There are numerous articles out there that actually document animals grieving over the loss of another. 

I have witnessed it from my own animals over the years, whether it be cats and dogs, to the horses and even cattle. Probably the most heart wrenching one my husband and I have witnessed from our pets was about 2 years ago. I had at that time 4 chihuahuas, one male whom I've written some about here in the blog, Lil'Shit, and 4 females. The matriarch female, ChiChi suddenly at age 12 started having seizures. She and Lil'Shit were always the absolute closest pair. While at the vet's we found a significant murmur in her heart and the xray showed a very enlarged heart. So we worked on the heart issue first before handling the seizures, within a week's time, she went into respiratory distress and upon ultrasound it was found that a valve in her heart had completely failed. There is no fix for this. We had to make the decision to let her go. It was simply awful and the hardest one especially as it had been two months to the day that I had lost a kitty with cushings, pancreatic cancer and diabetes. Not a good year. 

The point though, is when we walked through the door coming home, Lil'Shit knew immediately she wasn't coming home. His entire body language immediately reflected this knowledge. He went silently into her kennel, burrowed under her blanket and did not come out for the better part of 24 hours. He didn't come out to eat, drink or eliminate. The other two girls howled off and one for the night. Thumbelina seemed especially lost as it was her mamma. Even the cats were subdued and stayed together with the dogs. It broke our hearts all over again.

Tuesday night they knew when I put Mushy into the carrier that he wasn't coming home again, they all had to come say goodbye to him. When I got home, Lil'Shit and Djinn needed cuddling with me. It hasn't been easy for me either. There isn't much I do lately without remembering something Mushy would do to make me smile, make me feel loved, or teach me another lesson in patience. I really, really miss him.

The one think I have learned though to help our remaining pets through their grief is a LOT of extra TLC, patience and compassion. And I have been fortunate that there were other animals around to provide support to each other. That and keeping routine helps them adjust and feel safe that not everything has fallen apart. It also helps me to focus. And the Tellington Ttouch has helped me and them alot to heal the grief and bond. 

So anyone who tells you animals don't feel or grieve or have the capacity for emotion, tell them they are full of hooey and blind. Anyone who spends time with animals knows better.