Why do animals leave home before they die?
There is an opinion that cats leave home before they die so as not to injure their owner. This is wrong. Usually the day before the animal begins to feel that something is wrong with it. It feels pain and fear, and therefore tries to hide where it will not be disturbed, looking for a dark, quiet, secluded place. In addition, a weakened and sick pet, even if it wants to return home, may simply not find the way. In this publication we will give recommendations on how to survive the death of a cat and dog.
If your animal suddenly begins to hide from you, seek solitude, and does not want communication, this may be a signal that the pet is very seriously ill. In this case, it should be shown to a doctor as soon as possible. Perhaps there is still a chance for salvation.
If an animal dies of old age or an incurable disease, it is worth providing him with peace. You need to make a bed in a quiet, dark place, not disturb or touch him, because he’s already feeling bad. Perhaps the pet should be euthanized so that it does not suffer in its last moments.
Life and management
Do not attempt to feed your puppy at home if the puppy is not suckling properly on its mother's pacifier. Check your puppy's hydration levels daily by checking the color of the urine and looking in the mouth for signs of dryness. A dry mouth and dark yellow urine will indicate that your puppy is dehydrated. In this case, you will have to call your veterinarian for advice. Also monitor your puppy's weight daily and make sure the mother is feeding the puppies properly. Quality home care will give your pup the best chance of receiving quick and effective treatment.
It is important to follow all recommendations to ensure proper treatment and feeding at home. Do not stop or change treatment on your own, or change dosing times. It is especially important to give medications at the exact dose and time because at this immature stage animals have large changes in drug metabolism and excretion. Even minor changes in the dosage of the drug can be detrimental to your puppy's recovery. Your puppy will also require extra care with his feeding due to his delicate requirements and inability to feed himself properly.
Patients with low glucose levels will require additional care and should be fed at set times of day and at a frequency appropriate for your puppy's breed, age, and size.
Negation
Most people, when faced with the loss of a loved one, cannot immediately accept its death, especially if the animal died suddenly due to a fleeting illness or accident. If a dog or cat dies suddenly, the person is struck by stupor. It seems to him that what is happening is a bad dream, not reality. Emotions become dull. Awareness of what happened may not come from several minutes to several days.
This is a defensive reaction of the psyche to what happened. She's quite normal. If at first you do not feel pain or cannot cry, the reason is not that you are heartless. Perhaps the blow is so strong that you experience shock. It goes away with time. And you no longer understand how to survive the death of a cat or dog.
What to do if your dog dies
The answer to this question, as always, is simple - try to come to terms with it. How, is a purely personal question. The reaction to any more or less serious event in our life depends on our readiness for it and the internal emotional state in which we are at the moment when it occurs. The death of a being to whom you are deeply attached often becomes the cause of an internal crisis or, even worse, long-term depression. In order to get out of this state as gently as possible, according to the recommendations of psychologists, you need to try to redirect the flow of your thoughts in a positive direction:
- Stop blaming yourself for intentional or unintentional involvement in the event that occurred. Such self-torture is a typical reaction to death, especially if it occurred as a result of illness or serious injury. It should be remembered that no one, neither person nor animal, is insured against serious illness or accident. In contrast to this desire, remember all the good and bright things that filled your communication with him. It’s not a fact that this will give an immediate healing effect, but it will definitely melt the block of ice with which grief has bound your heart.
- Take a pause. You need to remember that time is the best doctor and refrain from making sharp and rash decisions. There is no need to rush to urgently replace your lost friend with another puppy. Let all the turbidity inside you settle, your mind will return to a normal, adequate state. Try to avoid visiting specialty pet stores or places where you would normally go for walks with your dog.
- Distract yourself and fill the void. There is a lot of choice here. You can throw yourself into work or continue, interrupted by everyday problems, activities - sports, music, collecting stamps - anything to fill the resulting vacuum.
- Get rid of things that remind you of your departed four-legged pet. Leash, collar, muzzle, bedding, but with which he slept - give all this to those who need them or donate them to a shelter for homeless animals.
- Provide all possible assistance to animals in need. Visit a shelter, talk to the people caring for abandoned dogs, and get involved in caring for them. Believe me, it helps.
- After a certain time, get yourself a puppy. Taking care of a new pet will completely erase this difficult period from your memory.
What to do with a dead dog
Anger and guilt
Feeling guilty when losing a pet is quite normal. If an animal dies from illness or an accident, the person begins to blame himself for not having done enough or for doing the wrong thing. If the animal died of old age, the owner may regret that he paid little attention to the pet during his lifetime. The decision to euthanize a hopelessly ill animal is especially difficult for many breeders. Although it is forced and aimed at saving the pet from suffering, the breeder can still consider himself a murderer and doubt the correctness of the decision.
If an animal died due to the fault of a doctor or car driver, or was poisoned, the owner feels anger and hatred towards the culprit of the tragedy. Dealing with these dark feelings is very difficult. The owner seeks retribution, which can lead to problems.
If your pet died due to someone else's fault, there is no need to take revenge. If you get hit by wheels, it is worth considering that the driver cannot always react in time to an animal that has jumped out onto the road. A veterinarian is not always able to save his patient, because treating animals is much more difficult than treating people. The veterinarian can only rely on symptoms and tests. The animal itself is not able to explain what is tormenting it. There is a fairly high percentage of pets that do not recover from anesthesia. And this is also not the doctor’s fault.
What to do with a dead dog
After the death of your pet, you should pull yourself together and deal with some not entirely pleasant issues. If you are sure that your dog died of natural causes or died from an accident, there is no need to call a veterinarian to your home. He will no longer be able to help your dog, and there is no need to document her death. If the dog died from an infection (distemper, tuberculosis, etc.), then this radically changes the situation. In this case, call the veterinary clinic and ask a doctor. As a rule, if the dog was sick with something like this, the owner is aware, since he had to contact the veterinarian during her illness. The arriving veterinarians will clean and treat the place of death and the animal itself, putting it in a so-called quarantine state, and then choose a place and method of burial. Thanks to these actions, you will protect other animals from infection and the disease itself, which is often fatal. After this, throw away from your home all rags, bowls, toys and anything else that would remind you of your four-legged friend. This will help you cope with the loss less painfully and get rid of pockets of possible infections.
As for the burial place, you should choose it away from crowded places. It is best to bury the dog away from the city, in some planting or copse. In some cities there are services that provide assistance in the burial process, as well as in the further care of the burial site. Sometimes cremation of the animal is offered.
Their services include cremation itself and the return of a special urn with the dog’s ashes to the owners.
The dog's puppies died, what should I do?
Awareness of loss and humility
Soon the realization comes that a miracle will not happen. The pet will not return, and nothing can be done about it. A person does not understand how to survive the death of a pet, he feels broken, nothing makes him happy. Memories bring pain, everything around reminds him of the loss, life seems cruel and unfair to him.
It will take some more time until the owner finally comes to terms with his loss and can move on with his normal life. When humility comes depends on the person, the circumstances due to which the loss occurred, the degree of attachment to the pet, and the presence of friendly support from the outside.
How to cope with the death of a beloved pet if you are a believer
Orthodox priests claim that animals do not have souls, and therefore there is no life after death for them. They advise grieving owners to simply come to terms with the death of the animal. Sometimes this approach can cause even more pain to a grieving person, because it is difficult to believe that a loved one has disappeared forever from this world. How to survive the death of a dog or cat in this case?
There is a legend about the Rainbow Bridge, where the souls of animals wait for their owners. In that world there is no more disease and pain, no hunger and fear. The animals feel good there, and they look forward to meeting those who cared for them during life. This is probably just a beautiful fairy tale that exists to pacify the human pain of losing a pet. But this legend can help someone survive what happened.
What to do if your dog dies of old age
Death from old age is the most natural way to leave this mortal world. The writings of many Greek philosophers mention the observance by the Greeks of that time of mourning for dead domestic animals. All family members observed it - they fasted and shaved their heads, mourning the pet who had passed on to another world. The bodies of dead animals were buried in specially designated places, having previously been embalmed. Modern people do not perform such rituals, but everyone who has had to go through similar situations understands very well what it means to lose a true friend.
According to Walter Scott, “a dog’s short life is a blessing bestowed on a person from above, because if a person experiences the death of his four-legged friend so hard after ten years of living next to him, then this loss would be incomparably harder after thirty years of traveling together!”
Few people know that, unlike people, dogs are complete fatalists. Anticipating imminent death, they are absolutely calm. This is not typical for people. A person, having once lost his beloved dog, experiences such a strong shock that the subsequent opportunity to have a cat or dog automatically ceases to exist for him. According to psychologists, the whole point here is a person’s incorrect attitude towards natural processes. After all, shock and pain from the loss of a four-legged pet is a completely natural state and you should not be afraid of such emotional and psychological manifestations. It is important not to allow this condition to completely occupy the human mind and remain with it for many years.
How to cope if you are an atheist
How to come to terms with the death of a pet if you don’t believe in an afterlife? Every living thing has its beginning and its end. We all cannot live forever. The death of a loved one always hurts, but there is nothing we can do about it. Therefore we need to move on. You did everything you could for your pet, gave him a well-fed and calm life, which many street animals are deprived of. This is a good thing that you should be proud of.
But the time has come to part. These are the laws of nature. It would be worse if you left before your pet. A lot of animals end up on the street after the death of their owners. So just be proud that you were there for your friend until the very end.
Distemper in puppies
Up to 2 months Puppies have acquired immunity. Then an anti-plague vaccination is given. An adult dog can cope with the plague, a puppy cannot.
A child and an adult dog can become infected with distemper on the street where an already sick dog was walking. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets. Shoes carry viruses home. The puppy sniffed, licked, joyfully greeting the owner - the virus began its destructive work. Distemper is primarily a seasonal disease; it is easier to catch in the fall or spring.
The puppy's temperature may rise, the baby becomes lethargic, leaves the light, and the animal is more comfortable in the dark. Cough with mucus, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody discharge, refusal to eat are symptoms of the plague. The disease affects the spinal cord and brain, and the lungs may be affected.
There is no cure for distemper, treatment keeps the dog in good shape, then nature plays a role. The procedures are carried out under the strict supervision of a veterinarian.
How to say goodbye to your pet
The deceased animal can be cremated at a veterinary clinic or buried. For funerals, it is recommended to use a location that you can visit. A pet cemetery would be ideal, but that doesn't happen in every city. The pet must be wrapped in cloth and placed in a box. It needs to be buried deep enough to prevent animals from digging up the grave.
How to survive the death of a dog or cat? You can put your younger friend’s favorite toy on the grave, bring food or flowers. Of course, the animal doesn’t care anymore, but it will make you feel better. You can talk to your pet at the grave and talk about how much you miss him. Write a poem or story in honor of your pet, or draw a picture. Do something to express how important he was to you. Try to remember not the moment of his death, but the joyful and cheerful situations that you experienced together.
How to cope with pain
How to cope with the death of a pet if it seems like you'll never recover? Don't be ashamed of your emotions and pain. Not everyone will be able to understand and support you, but still cry if you want to cry, and talk if you want to talk. Don't keep everything to yourself. It is better to throw out negative emotions and thereby get rid of them than to accumulate them inside.
It is better to put all the animal’s belongings in a place where you will not constantly bump into them. You shouldn't throw them away, because you may regret this decision. Do something that can take your mind off your grief. Do some spring cleaning, go on a visit, take a walk in the park.
Share your grief with other people. Maybe not even to relatives, but to those who also experienced a similar loss. It's easier to cope together.
Channel your energy into helping others. Become a volunteer at a center that works with homeless animals. Take them into foster care and help them find new families.
How to overcome guilt
Sometimes it is the inattention of the owner that leads to the death of the animal. This is very difficult to come to terms with. A person blames and torments himself, cannot forgive his own mistakes.
If a cat or dog died due to your fault, do not forget that no one is immune from mistakes. Man is not a machine; he cannot foresee everything. Even if you did something wrong, you had no malicious intent, and you certainly did not want your pet to die. You need to admit your mistakes and learn from them. But you shouldn’t constantly torment yourself, because you won’t be able to change anything.
You should not look for your guilt where there is none. It happens that animals die from anesthesia during planned operations, such as sterilization, for example. Owners often blame themselves for this, because such surgical intervention is not necessary. But this happens most often with animals that are already sick or have serious pathologies. If you give permission to euthanize a dying animal, you are acting mercifully. Sparing your pet from suffering is the best thing you can do in a hopeless situation. You shouldn't blame yourself for this.
Fading syndrome or sudden death of puppies
The main causes of sudden death in newborn puppies and within three weeks after birth. The main factors for the rapid death of puppies in the early or late neonatal period are associated with herpes virus infection, infectious canine hepatitis, and, less commonly, bacterial infection acquired through mother's milk. Also, during the first weeks after birth, puppies can be infected with many pathogenic microorganisms, which cause a fulminant form of the disease and sudden death.
Herpes virus infection
The virus is released through saliva and nasal discharge; therefore, herpesvirus infection is transmitted through casual contact (eg, sharing feeding bowls). It can also be spread by people who come into contact with infected dogs and then interact with a healthy dog. Sometimes the virus is transmitted sexually.
Prevalence
It is estimated that up to 80% of dogs kept in kennels and overcrowded apartments are infected with the virus. However, adult dogs rarely develop clinical signs of the disease, as they develop good resistance to the virus. Most often, the infection can cause disease in pregnant dogs that have never had contact with the herpes virus, as well as in puppies under 3 weeks of age born to dogs that have not been exposed to the virus.
Development of pathology
The virus invades the mucous membranes, where it multiplies at low temperatures, causing destruction of mucosal cells and leading to erosions. When the immune system is weakened, the virus invades the nerve ganglia, where it remains latent and does not multiply. Later, when the animal experiences stress (illness, childbirth), the genome is reactivated, the virus travels up the nerve and causes reinfection of the mucous membranes. The virus is released into the external environment; may be excreted without reappearance of clinical signs or lesions (eg, asymptomatic carriers).
Clinical picture
In most adult dogs, the infection is subtle or asymptomatic, and there may be signs of catarrh of the respiratory system. A brighter picture is observed in young animals that have never previously been in contact with the source of the herpes virus, as well as in puppies born from such bitches.
In young bitches who do not have immunity, abortions or stillbirths may occur, and the death of puppies is also possible within 24-48 hours after birth. Typically, the mortality rate among puppies is 100%. In puppies younger than 3 weeks: high neonatal mortality. These puppies are susceptible to infection because they do not receive antibodies against the herpes virus in their colostrum. The first sign that appears in puppies when infected is a refusal to milk. They also develop respiratory signs and abdominal pain. Within 48 hours they die. The entire litter can be infected within 5-7 days with a 100% fatality rate. In puppies older than 3 weeks, minor signs of respiratory damage may be observed, the risk of death is reduced
Diagnostics
They try to make a diagnosis, since there are other diseases that can manifest similar symptoms. Post-mortem examination of dead puppies may reveal hemorrhagic lesions caused by generalized necrotizing vasculitis (inclusions of herpesvirus particles in infected cells). The diagnosis can also be made based on determination of the antibody titer: in sick animals, the test results are often negative (prepatent period of infection), but elevated titers indicate the presence of a herpesvirus infection. The ELISA method is used to identify animals that secrete the virus. However, this method cannot detect infection at an early stage.
Treatment
Once puppies have shown clinical signs, it is too late to begin treatment. They provide supportive treatment: infusion therapy, keeping them warm, and separating healthy puppies from their mother.
The best preventive measure is to create immunity in bitches. Allowing her to interact with other animals, most of whom have been exposed to the virus, will help her develop immunity. In the late stages of pregnancy (3 weeks before giving birth) until three weeks after giving birth, the bitch and her puppies are kept out of contact with other dogs that may be carriers of the herpes virus.
Infectious canine hepatitis
It is rare, but can affect the entire litter. Can cause lightning death of puppies. The puppies look healthy, but after some time the condition may deteriorate sharply. Puppies can die within an hour of the onset of infection, so in such cases poisoning is often assumed. Clinically, puppies experience diarrhea, sometimes with blood, vomiting, fever, discharge from the eyes and nasal cavity, and depression. After the initial fever, body temperature may drop to normal or even below normal. If the nervous system is damaged, convulsions and coma are observed, and if the liver is damaged, jaundice occurs. After recovery, the dog may develop a condition called blue eye (anterior uveitis and corneal edema).
The virus is shed in feces and urine. Infected individuals shed the virus in their urine for up to a year. The virus enters the body through the mucous membranes of the oral and nasal cavities.
Development of pathology
The virus, entering the oronasal cavity, multiplies in the tonsils and lymph nodes. Viral particles leave the affected cells, leading to viremia. They then infect liver parenchymal cells and endothelial cells, where they multiply and cause cellular damage. This cell damage leads to the development of vasculitis and hepatitis, which, in turn, contribute to the development of DIC and death.
The diagnosis is made by increased activity of liver enzymes (ALT) and the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome, isolation of the virus from the secretion of the oropharyngeal region, feces and urine (in the early stages of the disease). Serological analysis reveals a 4-fold increase in antibody titer taken after 2-4 weeks.
Prevention
Vaccination against viral hepatitis
What to tell your child
Whether to talk to your child about your pet's death depends on the child's age and whether you have talked to your child about death. It is worth remembering that children have a more flexible psyche than adults. Sometimes children show their emotions much more vividly, but they come to their senses faster. Therefore, you should not hide what happened from your child. He will still have to face death, this is one of the steps towards understanding the world around him.
Treat the child's grief with understanding. Provide him with moral support, listen and comfort him. Do not blame for the drop in performance during this period. Give your baby time to come to his senses. You shouldn’t immediately buy a new animal specifically for your baby, because a pet is not a toy that can simply be replaced with another. The child must realize this.
Should I get another pet right away?
This is a controversial issue, and psychologists have differing opinions. Having lost a pet, many owners try to plug the hole that has formed in their hearts by immediately adopting another pet. For some, it actually helps them deal with grief. The person directs all his energy to caring for the new resident and no longer constantly thinks about his loss. If a puppy or kitten appears in the house, there is a lot more hassle, and there is less time to dwell on your problems.
But such a quick arrival of a new pet into a family does not always bring joy. The owner must understand that animals have their own personalities. Whether an animal has a personality is a highly controversial issue. But definitely every living creature has an individual set of habits and qualities. Therefore, by getting a new pet, you will not bring back your dead pet. There is no exact copy; your friend has already left you. If the new animal is too different from the one that died, the owner may feel disappointed and irritated. A new family member will no longer please, because he is not able to replace a deceased friend.
If your pet has died, you must first realize that he is irreplaceable. You must come to terms with its death and only after that plan for the addition of a new pet to the family. This way, it will be easier for you to accept your new pet for who he is, without looking back at the past.
Contact a psychologist
All people process loss differently. Some recover faster, while others need outside help. If you feel like it's been a long time since your pet's death and you still can't get over it, you may need professional help. If you don’t understand how to cope with the death of a pet, advice from a psychologist will help you come to your senses.
There's nothing wrong with asking for help. It is much worse to pretend that everything is fine with you, despite your difficult emotional state. We are all individuals, and therefore we experience stress differently. For some, the death of an animal may not be a particularly significant incident; for others, it is the cause of the development of very serious depression.
Thus, every owner will inevitably sooner or later face the death of their pet. At such a moment, it is important to know how to cope with the death of a pet. For many people, the loss of a four-legged family member becomes an unbearable grief. At such a moment, there is no need to blame yourself, restrain your emotions and become isolated. If you realize that you cannot cope with your grief, you should seek help from a psychologist.
What to do
In cases where a newborn has a low body temperature, the veterinarian will slowly warm the puppy up to normal body temperature over several hours to avoid shocking his system. Oxygen supplementation will be administered if necessary, and intravenous fluid therapy will be started to correct fluid deficiency. As you can see, if your puppy is dying, don’t hesitate, you still have a chance to save him.
In cases of low blood glucose (hypoglycemia), fluids containing glucose will be withdrawn for fluid therapy. The puppy should not be fed if his body temperature is significantly below normal and he does not have a sucking reflex, however, once he is warm, feeding is encouraged. Antibiotic therapy will be started if bacterial infections are present.
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