Have you ever had to say goodbye to a beloved family pet?
I had not until earlier this month. We said goodbye to our 12 year old cat Oliver. It was unexpected and sad, but I'm happy to report that we're all doing alright. Yes, we still miss him, but we are thankful for all the good years we had with him.
I thought I'd share some ways that we've remembered our sweet cat that have brought happiness to our lives since he passed away. Sure there were plenty of tears right when it happened, but all of these ideas are things that we've done to heal our hearts and help our kids process the loss.
1. Paw Print Keepsake
Our vet's office uses a service called Pet Angel and offer a paw print keepsake. It took us a week to get ours. I am so glad that we did. We all loved seeing Oliver's paw print. I think you can get name plate and frame them, but we were just happy to have the paw print.
2. Talk about it
The kids have been really chatty wanting to reminisce about Oliver. We've looked at pictures, I wrote a blog post about Oliver and we've been sharing Oliver stories. Also, tell the people you love that you lost your pet. It'll be good for you to share.
3. Cat Heaven
This is a really sweet book by Cynthia Rylant. There is a Cat Heaven and Dog Heaven and they're both great. They're sweet, silly, happy books that leave you with the warm fuzzy feeling that your pet will always know they were loved and are happy now in heaven.
4. Cards
I was really surprised to get several cards in the mail after Oliver passed away. It was such a sweet surprise for friends and family to acknowledge the loss and just say they cared.
Hugs to you if you've lost a pet! Furry family members are special.
Here are my Amazon links to those cat and dog books. The cat one is wonderful and I've gifted the dog heaven book to a friend. I'd recommend both if you know someone who's lost a pet.
These are such sweet ideas, thank you for sharing. I've said goodbye to two very beloved kitties in my life and I know I'll have to do it again. I'm glad to hear you're doing okay! Proverbs 12:10 says "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast," and I love that you found ways to remember sweet Oliver. <3
ReplyDeletesuch sweet ideas. When we lost our first Pug, Tazy, I had a little paw print made. We miss him so much still and it's been almost 7 years :(
ReplyDeleteThese are great ideas. I had never seen the paw print keepsake. Cards are so touching, and I was surprised to find there are lots of them specifically for the loss of a pet. Hope you have a good week.
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