Losing a pet is hard, especially if you’ve built a deep and long-lasting connection with them. I remember when my pet dog died, I really loved him and even though I wasn’t the type of person to cry a lot, I couldn’t stop myself from crying.
It can be just as hard as losing a loved one. And those who have lost a pet might need some time to mourn their deaths depending on how great their connection with their pet was.
For an outsider, it might be hard to understand why they feel that way. But, if your friend or anyone close to you has lost a pet and you want to make them feel better and help them with dealing with their loss, one of the best things you could do is give them a gift.
Words of consolation are good, but gifts to help them get through grief are even better. So, here are gift ideas that you could give to someone who recently lost a pet.
Memory gifts
People who lost a pet will think back on the good days where they were able to enjoy their pet’s companion. Now that their pet is gone, they will most likely want something to remember them by. Gifting them something that will help preserve and treasure those memories could go a long way in helping them feel better.
Pet portraits
The memories that owners have with their pet are precious, and having a picture of the owner and pet, or only the pet, is a way of treasuring and preserving those memories. By having something to hold on to, they will be much more able to handle grief and eventually move on.
You can do this by creating custom pet portraits. You can paint a portrait of the pet they lost (if you have the artistic skills) or it could be as simple as framing a picture of the pet.
You can get creative with pet portraits by decorating the frame with paint or stickers, but you can also have it professionally framed at a store and custom-designed to your liking. Don’t stress too much, however, on creating perfect custom pet portraits. Keeping it nice and simple is perfectly fine.
Album
Why just have one framed picture when you can have multiple pet portraits? If an owner has a strong connection with their pet then it is most likely that they will have taken a lot of photos with their pet. A great way of preserving those photos is to put them all in a photo album.
In this way, they’ll always have something to look back on and help refresh those memories whenever they want to relive them.
Get creative with it by adding decorations and color to it. You can even get creative with the order in which you put the photos. You can create a timeline that shows the very first photo that was taken to the very last photo on the last page of the album. You can even highlight special events like the times they went to the park, or the clinic, or maybe even the amusement park!
Sympathy gifts
Not everybody will have the time nor resources to create custom pet portraits or an album and that’s okay. There are other ways you can help someone that is mourning and one of the simplest ways to do so is through giving them sympathy gifts.
These are gifts that don’t necessarily have to relate to the pet that they lost. They are simply gifts that help the owner feel better.
Helping them out
In times of grief, you may find that they have a hard time finding the motivation to do anything. This might result in health problems and even more issues down the line.
One way of “gifting” them is through offering to help them do chores in the house or do the groceries for them. They’re small gestures of kindness, but it will really help them with eventually getting back on their feet because they naturally wouldn’t want to burden you.
Treating them
You can treat them to some ice cream or some homemade comfort food. People cope in different ways and food can be a good way to help them feel better, though it should be in moderation since too much may raise health concerns.
Listening
You may find that they are really taking it hard and that they would love someone to talk to about it. Just being a good listener and understanding their feelings will help them with releasing their pain and emotional turmoil. Even your attentiveness and time can be a gift.
There are many gifts that you can give to someone that recently lost a pet. It doesn’t have to be flashy and it doesn’t even require a lot of effort. Do your best with what you have and keep it simple.
What helped me get over the death of my pet was simply talking to someone that I love and trust.
Author bio: Rufy Ashta is a writer based in the Philippines. They have written multiple approved articles already and are looking forward to writing even more high-quality articles.