Grief and Guilt over a dying dog.

A lady came into the vet surgery today distraught and wanted to talk with me. Her 13 year old German Shepard had died of Bloat on Sunday morning, She awoke late on Sunday morning to find the dog's abdomen swollen and the tongue blue, but by the time she had rung the emergency vet the dog had died. She felt so very guilty, why had she slept in? Why had not she taken more notice of the vomiting the night before, why had she let her friends dog come over to play that day? What could have she done to save this dogs life? I could only tell her it would have been very difficult to save a 13 year old dog from bloat. But I could see that she felt tremendous guilt and grief about the loss of her dog. I tried to tell her that is very normal to feel guilt and grief after losing a great friend. One of the best things to do is to focus your energy into remembering what a great dog she had. To put effort into making a memory of the dog. I also suggested she talk to a pet loss counsellor if her feeling became to much. I recommend Penny Carroll. Her details are on my pet loss website www.petsandpeople.com.au I was glad that I had time to listen, I was amazed by the intensity of feeling.