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Feeling your Feelings is Important:

There is not a right or wrong way to feel sad and grieve the loss of a furry loved one, but some things can help

*Grief or sadness is a natural response to loss.

*Sometimes the feelings can be overwhelming.

*You may feel shock, anger, disbelief, guilt or sadness, but it is important to feel your feelings.

Healing Starts with Feeling

*What can help us heal is to know more about what we do with our feelings.

*Do you express your honest emotions?

*Do you push your emotions down and show anger?

*Do you hold everything inside?

*How you feel can depend on your personality, coping style, your experience, your faith and how hard the loss was for you.

Things That Can Help

*Name your feeling

*Be brave enough to feel the feeling

*Remember there is no right or wrong way to feel feelings

*Talk to others you trust

*Make a list of things that make you happy and take care of you by doing one each day.

Things that Don't Help

*Ignoring pain wont make it go away

*Pretending to be strong

*Not expressing honest emotions

*Thinking, if you live your life you are forgetting your furry friend.

Losing my Furry Friend:

Al the Alpaca

By: Nelly the Emu

I have been friends with Al for a long time, longer than I remember. He was like a brother to me. We were different, but it didn’t matter to us…we were friends. One day my friend fell asleep and did not wake up. I felt sad, my tummy hurt and I didn’t want to talk to my other friends. Then one day I talked to Oreo the goat and she said she was hurting too. Then our newest friend Simon, the goat, said he was sad and confused. We all talked about memories, good ones, hard ones and then happy and funny ones. Talking to each-other helps us all feel better. Everyday we all feel a little bit better.

“Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and more loved than you will every know”

-Winnie the Pooh