When the day finally comes, you ask yourself “how did we get here?” It seems like only yesterday that you brought your pet home as a bouncy, energetic puppy or kitten. Now you sit there, finding out the devastating news that you are clearly in the throes of the final days with your precious, furry love.
The past few years come crashing through your memories like a tidal wave, vividly recalling every special moment together like a fast-moving freight train.
So here you sit. The days are numbered. You find yourself in a position of just trying to breathe when you know that the task facing you is to understand how to make these last days all that they should be.
And, while breathing is the first order of business as you try to process how you will live without this amazing love you’ve known for years, you are also trying to imagine how you will make these days comfortable and how to use this time to create those remaining final memories.
So What Do You Do In Those Final Days?
As hard as this time is, I like to help families find a way to make to make this last walk through life be one that, when reflected on days, months, or even years from now, will leave them with a full heart and allow them to say “the end was as it should’ve been.”
How does one make that happen? How does one take this journey and know that they’ve handled every detail as best they could?
The stories of what people do for their pets in their last days are rampant on the internet — beautifully touching stories of acts of love to make sure these furry family member’s final days are memorable for their entire family.
How Pet Parents Make The Most Of Those Final Days
Here are a few ideas that have helped pet parents make the most of this time:
- Bucket lists to include all of those things the pet and their people like doing as a family.
- Recording of the pet’s final days
- Enjoying all of those things that the pet liked, such as McDonald’s nuggets, steak, or a can of tuna fish. Let them enjoy these days in decadence
- Recording of their “voice,” the barks and meows that you will want to remember forever
- Having a pre-morial service with family — a service before the death happens where everyone can come and share in those final days, give their kisses and hugs, and say their last “I love you.”
- Capturing those final photos to have into perpetuity
These are just a few ideas. While it might be difficult, make this time representative of the beautiful life you shared. That way, you can look back six months from now and say those days were exactly as they should’ve been.
For more information on pet grief and loss visit Colleen’s website Two Hearts Pet Loss Center or follow her on Facebook.
Have you ever had to say goodbye to a pet? How did you make their final days the best they possibly could be? Let us know in the comments below!
