Losing An Animal Can Be One Of The Biggest Emotional Traumas In Our Life

When we look deep into our animals' eyes, we think we can almost hear what they are saying. We can almost feel their pain. Sure, we can hear their groans as they get up, and yet we can also hear those unspoken words of love and commitment. They speak of their love for us, their owner, unconditionally, and a commitment of loyalty to our family forever.

Many dog and cat owners have faced the difficult decision of whether to euthanase their pet or not. In one particular example, a client had a dog who had been with her for over 12 years and the dog's health had been slowly declining over a period of months. Slower to get up in the morning. Incontinent at night-time. Still eating, but with less enthusiasm. Bumping into objects in the back-yard. Growling at the other dogs. No interest in playing games. She would still come up for a cuddle and a special treat, but the times when she seemed relaxed and happy were fewer.

Have you asked yourself these questions? Is it time? What do I do now? How will I know? Where should we bury her? Or should we cremate her? What happens next? What if I burst out crying on the phone to the vet? It is times like this when your vet and a healer will be a tremendous source of strength for you. These are people who care about an animal life as much as you do and will do their best to give you answers to questions that maybe you can not bring yourself to ask, but were wondering about.

Another example of knowing when the time is right is through communicating with your animal and looking for the response. Ask your pet (and you can do this in your mind only if you wish). Ask them 'is there anything I can do for you?' Ask 'please show me what you want me to do'.

With the 12-year-old dog I mentioned, we gave the animal a healing treatment and she feel into a deep peaceful sleep within five minutes. The next morning she passed away peacefully in the car on the way to the vets. In this case, the healing treatment merely brought a deep feeling of relaxation and freedom from pain and gave the animal an opportunity to free itself from the earthly body if it so chose to.

Of course, your animal may respond to your question with a great leap in energy the very next day. You probably made an appointment at the vet for a check-up, all the while thinking this was probably the last visit. You walk the dog in and the vet says 'gee, Buster is looking fabulous today'. Right away you got the sign you were asking for. These are the subtle answers you will get if you keep your questions to your animal clear and without an attachment to the result. In other words, be open to whatever they may wish to show you.

What else can we do?
* Place a Himalayan or other crystal near their bed to ionise the air and bring a great sleep
* Acupuncture, massage, Flower Essences or Reiki will bring great relief
* Essential oil sprays for stress relief.
* Keep them in quiet rooms away from too much noise
* Keep them to a routine
* Move away the clutter
* Tell them how much you love them

Also, when your animal is having a good day and you feel okay, give your vet a call and start asking the questions that you know will be hard to ask later on. Ask will they come to the house and if so, on what days and at what time. Ask if they know someone who offers a cremation service or a funeral service.

Keep children informed of what you are doing. Let them know that there is a heaven for animals and that one day your pet may need to go there. We do not know which day that will be, so every day we tell them how much we love them and say thank you for giving us so much joy.

Deborah Stewart is an animal healer, grief counselor and teacher. Deborah has helped many animals and their owners heal throughout the world. For more information visit http://www.naturalpetsonline.com.au/