Do Animals Grieve? Have I Misunderstood Animal Grief? As I began my career as an Animal Communicator, I engaged in many conversations with animals about this. At first, my impression was that they did not experience grief – something which turned out to be completely false!
After many people came to me seeking insight into their pet’s behavior while still here, I began exploring more deeply what animals were telling me. Over time I realized they weren’t grieving the way humans do – something humans never realize until the emotional trauma has passed.
As I researched animals and the animal afterlife, my fascination grew! What these creatures began telling me about was why their mourning differed from ours – humans.
First, they spoke of their animal friend that had passed over, and how the absence was making life very different for them – dinner time felt different, playtime had no animal companion to play with and cuddling and warmth were different without him/her around.
And it made perfect sense. Of course the animal that remains will miss having someone with them physically present.
Life Change
However, animals showed me something else beyond physical presence that they were responding to: life has altered due to human grief! Not that they themselves had mourned – rather, everything had changed!
Humans tend to respond to grief with sadness. We stay in bed more, don’t participate in daily activities as usual and spend much of their time crying – making it harder than usual to find joy in everyday experiences.
However, we often forget that our pet still here needs our assistance in providing these items!
Animals left behind can often grieve the most from a change to their lifestyle brought on by human grief!
Grief in Dogs A pet that’s used to receiving two walks daily with you and his best friend suddenly starts only getting one visit per week from you, while you mope around with head bowed, can become upset and start acting out his emotions and thoughts through barking or sniffing! Our animals feel our emotions every moment of every day!
If your pet seems distraught over losing one of its companions, take an inventory of your own grief. Have you withdrawn from being part of their lives due to another passing? Could there be anything blocking you from enjoying those still with us?
Animals depend on us as their environment. When things start going awry in that environment, they respond accordingly – missing what was once there.
If this is your current circumstance, take some time to create a routine with your pet who remains here. This may involve drastically altering it or sticking mostly to what was there before; what matters most is having one! Remember it’s essential to ensure a happy relationship between both of you!
Do Pets Need to See the Bodies of Their Dead Friends
Many people find comfort in seeing the body of someone close in order to gain some measure of closure; oftentimes this helps them accept that this person has truly crossed over into eternity. This could also apply to pets.
Animals don’t require this connection between each other as they are aware of everything going on between each other intuitively.
That means your cat already knows about his or her impending demise, while your dog knows not only when but how and why this beloved creature died.
If it helps your pet cope with his loss by visiting his dead friend’s gravesite, do it – but keep this in mind as something for yourself, not their benefit. Just know it will only aid your grieving process and not his current companion animal who still exists here on Earth.
Animals and the Spiritual Veil Animals have strong instinctual bonds between themselves – it’s how they survive in this world – but this spiritual link doesn’t end after they’ve left this life! Their relatives can still communicate with them even after death!
As you grieve your own pet’s passing, their grieving process also begins anew; yes, they miss their physical body but also grieve the new level of relationship they will experience after death. This presents us with an invaluable opportunity if we remain open-minded.
Keep your eye out and you may witness your still-living pet communicating and connecting with their deceased counterpart on the Other Side, providing confirmation that he/she has come by for a visit – for instance, playing with the air, staring into space or temporarily mimicking behaviors associated with his/her crossing over. These could all be indicators that your beloved friend has returned for an emotional hello!
