Q&A Insight Into Upcoming BBC Radio Appearance with Project Lead

The Reality of Finding Your Pet Dead

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

In all honesty, I’ve recently found my grief becoming more challenging and causing different thoughts and feelings. I’ve come to recognise that a huge reason why my grief is becoming so substantial – more so than I feel it has ever been with the loss of a pet – is because unlike my previous three pets (Dolly, Pixie, and Emmy), Gracie wasn’t euthanised. In fact, she didn’t even make it to the Vets because I found her dead in my sitting room just hours before her appointment. I feel – and so many important people in my life have validated this and actually, they’ve even suggested it themselves – that finding her like that was a trauma. Now, in creating Gracie’s Way, I’m discovering that I’m not alone in this experience and as sad and heart-breaking as that is, it’s also reassuring to know I’m not completely alone in this. So, I wanted to do this article to not only reassure those people that their thoughts and feelings etc are absolutely understandable but also, to provide their professionals and their loved ones with insight into what they may be experiencing and how to better help and support them more effectively…