Reply To: Heart Pain

[VM-Mancha1]

Hello @KateFE

thank you for sharing your story, and trusting us with it. Your cat sounds like a lovely pet, some cats are hard work but yours sounds like a real ‘people person’ who loved you and your family and enjoyed receiving that love back in turn. I can almost hear the purring through those words, curled up in your mums lap.

It’s perfectly normal to feel pain and strong emotions when we lose someone we love, and guilt is a common feeling; when we’ve lost a pet or a person we love, it’s completely natural to feel like we could have spent more time with them. I see that as a sign of our love for them – if we didn’t care as much we wouldn’t feel that guilt, so to some degree that guilt is almost a badge of honour.

Losing a pet is hard, the grief can be as strong as when we lose a friend or family member, and I’m going to suggest that you be okay with what you’re feeling and accept that it will take time. This page (https://griefline.org.au/resources/losing-a-pet/) is a good start point in providing some help and guidance around this.

It’s also good to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, since grief can be a heavy burdon to carry. Giving yourself the best chance you can to cope with that is a great strategy to avoid feeling burned out and exhausted – this page explains the importance of EAST (Eating, Activities, Sleeping and Time): https://griefline.org.au/resources/east-toolkit/

Please come back soon and tell us how you’re doing, we’re here for you.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by onlinecommunity.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by onlinecommunity.