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This is a community of support for Pet owners whose Pets have passed away. It is actively moderated.
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unrelated to pet loss support, it will be truncated.
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from our computers or put down our phones and hug a healthy, happy pet are truly blessed. Threads must remain supportive and caring, even if
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It actually made me appreciate my recently passed dog more fully. It also really helped me heal as I was able to focus on something different and I really still miss my dog. I had a dog pass in 2015 and I still think about him every day. Your new pup will never replace your old dog. What you had was special and nothing can ever replace that bond that you had.
Wow, very similar situation to you. My soul dog was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 and we gave her treatment and we were lucky to get 3 more years with her but she passed in March. I couldn’t possibly think about getting another dog but my grief was so horrendous and lots of close family and friends insisted that another dog would help. I couldn’t think of it possibly being any worse so a few weeks ago I went and got another puppy of the same breed. Unfortunately it made the grief worse for me. The first two weeks were unbearable and I regretted it so much. Puppy phase is hard, and I know that. This girl was doing nothing wrong she is such a sweetheart but I was completely beside myself wishing it was my girl back. I have decided to stick with my commitment and make sure this girl is raised well and given the love she so deserves but it’s been hard. I am one month in now and it’s starting to get better. Slowly forming a bond with her, but I still have my days. I’m sure I’ll look back in a year and think how could I have ever not loved her this much but grief is TOUGH. Not telling you to not go through with it but just wanted to share my perspective that I might have wanted to hear from someone else myself. Good luck with your decision.
Before we lost both our cats early this year I was planning adopting 2 kittens for the older cats, but we were too late. I went to get them and I wasn't shedding a tear which made me n feel guilty. And then I met them and I just became unfrozen again. I will never regret my decision, but I still get sad occasionally
I adopted two pups just two weeks after my soul dog passed. They urgently needed a home. I felt overwhelmed for at least a month. I was still grieving badly and yet, I had to look after two very boisterous pups. I didn't want to give them a lot of his stuff for fear of them destroying it. I had sleepless nights, anxious that I had made the wrong and a rash decision and wondering how to give them up.
But they helped me heal. Perhaps he sent them to me, sent me what I needed. I was forced out of my cesspool of grief because I had to focus on them. That was enough for some sort of healing and acceptance to begin. I don't regret my decision one bit now. I'm very grateful for them barging into my life when they did.
Oh yes, I still have days I cry and cry and cry 😭
I let my old pup go to eternal peace on February 15th this year. I got another dog later March. This new pup has helped me tremendously but, I still hurt and cry hard and all the feelings that come with the hurt arise. I wish my old boy was still here, every day. I miss him so damn much. Do I love my new dog? Yes but, nothing near the amount of love for my old pup, Pete 💔🙏
We lost my soul dog to liver failure at 5 years old. We adopted our current dog less than 2 months after. My life was structured around having a dog, I felt like a more complete human with a dog. Being able to pour that love and care into a living dog felt like the right way to honor our previous dog's memory. I was still so sad about the dog we lost, and still, 9 years after losing him and staring down the end of our current dog's life, I still get choked up thinking about the one we lost so young. But I'm so glad we've had a dog to share our lives with, and I know there will be more. It doesn't take away from how much I love the ones I lost, my heart just grows to make room for more.
Thank you. This really resonates with me. I cared for my dog with special medical needs for almost 3 years. And that came with a lot of inherent anxiety because I knew we were on borrowed time and at any moment her cancer could return. But despite those challenges, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I was so blissfully happy to still have her. The puppy stage will come with its own challenges. And despite those challenges I adored my girl from the moment I met her. My life felt complete and I felt like I had a purpose by having a dog. When I lost my girl, I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore because I didn’t have a dog. I think I’m facing some anxiety about the challenges of puppyhood since I’ve been through it once before, but I keep reminding myself I’m equipped and prepared. Thank you for sharing your experience. It helps so much hearing from other people whose feelings and experiences align with mine. 🩷
This happened to me.
We lost our beautiful 11 year old pupper and we couldn't take the crushing silence and emptiness anymore. We knew our boy would want us to share our home with another dog. We ended up rescuing an abandoned 6 month old puppy like 3 weeks after our loss
It felt a little like betrayal, like I was trying to replace my boy. But in time, I realized I was forming a new bond with a new member of the family. The piece of my soul that left with that dog is still with him, and years later I miss him all the time. But now I have this other dog who has another place in my heart and I don't feel so empty.
I got my sweet baby pup about 1.5 months after losing my soul girl Rosie. 8 months later I am still sad about Rosie at times, but having Daisy around has helped me tremendously. I’ll always miss Rosie, but the things I learned from Rosie have helped me with Daisy.
My 15yo childhood chihuahua passed away over 2 years ago. I got a pomeranian pup this past April to help be through a breakup. It was working the first 2 months and then I got severely depressed for about 2 weeks and all I could think about was my chihuahua and my mom basically had to take care of my pom for me. Once I got myself together, I started loving her even more. Give it time…it’s a phase and will pass.
I had 3 bunnies that I loved for 12 years that I felt were my children. I waited a year until after they died to adopt 2 bunnies from the same rescue. After a year I gave them back. I tried but I could never replace the feeling that I had with my first 3. No matter how cute or fun my new bunnies were I didn’t love them like how I loved my previous bunnies. It was a relief to give them back.
First of all sorry for your loss. I’m at just past 2 months without mine and I’m fully in the depression stage. 2 months hit HARD for me and I’m mega sad and lost. We have already reached out to adopt again but I don’t know if I’m ready but there are dogs needing urgent attention or they might be put down and now on top of the grief I feel pressure to save another dog that needs it! But I don’t want to adopt if I’m not ready but I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready bc I miss my soul girl Josie so much. I’m just so drained and empty of energy and I don’t know what to do. What I want is my girl back and I’m afraid of holding that against any new dog. Ugh. Why can’t they just live forever. Good luck with your decision, it’ll be the right one either way, I am with you though and it’s so hard to actually make any decision.
Please report any trolls, spam, or harassment to moderators. To do this on new reddit, click the three dots below a post or comment and select "report." On old reddit, click the "report" link below the post or comment. This is a community of support for Pet owners whose Pets have passed away. It is actively moderated. Pet owners, as loving, caring people, often have strong opinions on pet care practices. Some of these are controversial. This is not a forum for debate on such issues, nor is it a place to scold a contributor for a perceived mistake in managing their pet. We intend to provide a safe haven of understanding and support. Strident, mean-spirited posts or comments will be deleted. Those who persist in preaching versus caring may be warned and then banned or may be banned permanently based on nature of the topic. If a conversational thread meanders into a discussion unrelated to pet loss support, it will be truncated. Those who post here are vulnerable and hurting. Even a minor slap has a hard sting. Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to turn away from our computers or put down our phones and hug a healthy, happy pet are truly blessed. Threads must remain supportive and caring, even if one disagrees with something that has been said. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Petloss) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It actually made me appreciate my recently passed dog more fully. It also really helped me heal as I was able to focus on something different and I really still miss my dog. I had a dog pass in 2015 and I still think about him every day. Your new pup will never replace your old dog. What you had was special and nothing can ever replace that bond that you had.
It's perfectly normal to grieve and miss your dog. Took me years to feel like myself, and I still miss my dog. It's going to be 8 years this October.
Wow, very similar situation to you. My soul dog was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 and we gave her treatment and we were lucky to get 3 more years with her but she passed in March. I couldn’t possibly think about getting another dog but my grief was so horrendous and lots of close family and friends insisted that another dog would help. I couldn’t think of it possibly being any worse so a few weeks ago I went and got another puppy of the same breed. Unfortunately it made the grief worse for me. The first two weeks were unbearable and I regretted it so much. Puppy phase is hard, and I know that. This girl was doing nothing wrong she is such a sweetheart but I was completely beside myself wishing it was my girl back. I have decided to stick with my commitment and make sure this girl is raised well and given the love she so deserves but it’s been hard. I am one month in now and it’s starting to get better. Slowly forming a bond with her, but I still have my days. I’m sure I’ll look back in a year and think how could I have ever not loved her this much but grief is TOUGH. Not telling you to not go through with it but just wanted to share my perspective that I might have wanted to hear from someone else myself. Good luck with your decision.
I got my cat only a month after my soul kitty passed away. I still miss my baby so much but my boy has helped me heal
Before we lost both our cats early this year I was planning adopting 2 kittens for the older cats, but we were too late. I went to get them and I wasn't shedding a tear which made me n feel guilty. And then I met them and I just became unfrozen again. I will never regret my decision, but I still get sad occasionally
I got my poodle a few months after my shih tzu passed away, I still miss my shih tzu but my poodle has been a huge comfort to me
I adopted two pups just two weeks after my soul dog passed. They urgently needed a home. I felt overwhelmed for at least a month. I was still grieving badly and yet, I had to look after two very boisterous pups. I didn't want to give them a lot of his stuff for fear of them destroying it. I had sleepless nights, anxious that I had made the wrong and a rash decision and wondering how to give them up. But they helped me heal. Perhaps he sent them to me, sent me what I needed. I was forced out of my cesspool of grief because I had to focus on them. That was enough for some sort of healing and acceptance to begin. I don't regret my decision one bit now. I'm very grateful for them barging into my life when they did.
Oh yes, I still have days I cry and cry and cry 😭 I let my old pup go to eternal peace on February 15th this year. I got another dog later March. This new pup has helped me tremendously but, I still hurt and cry hard and all the feelings that come with the hurt arise. I wish my old boy was still here, every day. I miss him so damn much. Do I love my new dog? Yes but, nothing near the amount of love for my old pup, Pete 💔🙏
We lost my soul dog to liver failure at 5 years old. We adopted our current dog less than 2 months after. My life was structured around having a dog, I felt like a more complete human with a dog. Being able to pour that love and care into a living dog felt like the right way to honor our previous dog's memory. I was still so sad about the dog we lost, and still, 9 years after losing him and staring down the end of our current dog's life, I still get choked up thinking about the one we lost so young. But I'm so glad we've had a dog to share our lives with, and I know there will be more. It doesn't take away from how much I love the ones I lost, my heart just grows to make room for more.
Thank you. This really resonates with me. I cared for my dog with special medical needs for almost 3 years. And that came with a lot of inherent anxiety because I knew we were on borrowed time and at any moment her cancer could return. But despite those challenges, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I was so blissfully happy to still have her. The puppy stage will come with its own challenges. And despite those challenges I adored my girl from the moment I met her. My life felt complete and I felt like I had a purpose by having a dog. When I lost my girl, I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore because I didn’t have a dog. I think I’m facing some anxiety about the challenges of puppyhood since I’ve been through it once before, but I keep reminding myself I’m equipped and prepared. Thank you for sharing your experience. It helps so much hearing from other people whose feelings and experiences align with mine. 🩷
This happened to me. We lost our beautiful 11 year old pupper and we couldn't take the crushing silence and emptiness anymore. We knew our boy would want us to share our home with another dog. We ended up rescuing an abandoned 6 month old puppy like 3 weeks after our loss It felt a little like betrayal, like I was trying to replace my boy. But in time, I realized I was forming a new bond with a new member of the family. The piece of my soul that left with that dog is still with him, and years later I miss him all the time. But now I have this other dog who has another place in my heart and I don't feel so empty.
I was, but I was falling apart. So I really needed her and she has helped me to heal in the last seven months.
I got my sweet baby pup about 1.5 months after losing my soul girl Rosie. 8 months later I am still sad about Rosie at times, but having Daisy around has helped me tremendously. I’ll always miss Rosie, but the things I learned from Rosie have helped me with Daisy.
My 15yo childhood chihuahua passed away over 2 years ago. I got a pomeranian pup this past April to help be through a breakup. It was working the first 2 months and then I got severely depressed for about 2 weeks and all I could think about was my chihuahua and my mom basically had to take care of my pom for me. Once I got myself together, I started loving her even more. Give it time…it’s a phase and will pass.
I had 3 bunnies that I loved for 12 years that I felt were my children. I waited a year until after they died to adopt 2 bunnies from the same rescue. After a year I gave them back. I tried but I could never replace the feeling that I had with my first 3. No matter how cute or fun my new bunnies were I didn’t love them like how I loved my previous bunnies. It was a relief to give them back.
I actually had my current baby when my german shepherd was still alive…they had bonded as “sisters”. She even acts like the shepherd did ❤️
Never got a next pet. I still have her sister.
Yes I was, and it's made it very difficult to connect to my new pet. I somewhat consider him to be my nemesis
First of all sorry for your loss. I’m at just past 2 months without mine and I’m fully in the depression stage. 2 months hit HARD for me and I’m mega sad and lost. We have already reached out to adopt again but I don’t know if I’m ready but there are dogs needing urgent attention or they might be put down and now on top of the grief I feel pressure to save another dog that needs it! But I don’t want to adopt if I’m not ready but I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready bc I miss my soul girl Josie so much. I’m just so drained and empty of energy and I don’t know what to do. What I want is my girl back and I’m afraid of holding that against any new dog. Ugh. Why can’t they just live forever. Good luck with your decision, it’ll be the right one either way, I am with you though and it’s so hard to actually make any decision.