When your pet mourns the loss of its companion?
What can you do for your dog, cat, or other pet that is left behind after the death of its companion?
Supporting Grieving Animals - how do you go about this?
When your pet is grieving – and you don't know how to help
Supporting grieving animals? How?
What if your dog, cat, or horse feels grief that you don’t fully understand?
What if they keep searching for their buddy, sniffing around the empty spot, or falling silent where they once played?
Animals feel loss.
Deeply.
Often even more deeply than we realise.
And while they don’t speak as we do, they express their grief through behaviour, body language, and energy.
They miss their friend — their companion, their playmate, their calm.
Grief in animals is real.
It can show itself in restlessness, withdrawn behaviour, loss of appetite —
or, on the other hand, in sudden clinginess.
And sometimes, in something we can’t explain…
a look, a sigh, a silence that moves us.
Your dog has been lying quietly in his spot for hours.
Your cat wanders aimlessly around the house, sniffing at the empty basket.
Your horse keeps looking at the empty stall next to him.
They know something is missing.
And they too are grieving. Just like you.
And they too seek answers, reassurance, closeness.
In their own way.
In silence.
Through behavior, gaze, scent, rhythm.
Honden
🦴 Changes in behaviour: becoming more clingy, or more withdrawn
🦴 Searching for the scent or favourite places of their companion
🦴 Losing appetite or energy
Katten
🐾 Often visit their companion’s sleeping spot.
🐾 Make themselves invisible
🐾 Don’t complain, but suffer in silence
🐾 Sometimes meow more — sometimes fall completely silent
.
Paarden
🐴 Suddenly running to an empty paddock
🐴 Staying in the place where the farewell took place
🐴 Changing herd behaviour or becoming restless during grooming
In the book Als ik mag kiezen (If I Could Choose), you read words that touch you —
as if your friend is speaking to you themselves.
Have you ever felt that, too… that they are still with you, in their own quiet way?
Summer feels different without you.
As if the sun shines a little less brightly.
As if time moves a little more slowly.
And yet… there is something that remains.
A feeling of closeness.
Of connection.
Sometimes in a gust of wind.
Sometimes in a memory that suddenly appears.
Sometimes in the silence.
What can you do for a grieving animal?
Be there for them - they are hurting too.
🫶 Provide structure
Maintain the daily routine as much as possible — feeding, walking, grooming.
This gives your animal predictability, and with it, a sense of security.
🕯️ Allow space to grieve
Let your pet sniff the blanket of the deceased animal, or a familiar toy.
Animals often understand more through scent than we realise.
📦 Use rituals
Animals respond to energy and rhythm.
Lighting a candle together, sitting by the basket for a moment, or taking a farewell walk can be meaningful for them too.
They look straight through you
through your grief,
right into your soul, shattered into pieces.
You want to help and, in reality…
they are the true healers.
When is additional assistance required?
At times, you need to get the help of a professional.
When behavior continues to change, or even worsen?
Your animal continues to refuse food.
Your animal withdraws completely or becomes destructive.
Your animal searches obsessively for the other animal.
Talk to a veterinarian,
behavioral therapist,
or
specialized grief counselor.
The animal’s well-being comes first.
Regenboogpootjes offers:
Personalised advice tailored to your animal
Guidance with rituals or saying goodbye
Referrals to specialised animal professionals
“When Lex died, Luz was quiet.
Too quiet.
She lay down in his spot.
She refused to eat.
I sat there, a tear on my cheek, and suddenly she rested her head on my shoulder.
As if to say, ‘I miss him too.’
Animals don’t speak in words.
But they mourn in gestures.
In scent.
In closeness.
And in silence.
If you learn to listen,
you will hear so much more.
"You don’t have to solve your pet’s grief. Just acknowledge it — and stay present.”
What are soul contracts between animals?
Just as there can be soul contracts between humans and animals, there are also soul contracts between animals themselves.
Invisible agreements at the soul level — to live together, to learn, to support one another.
Some animals choose each other even before their life on earth, to walk a certain path side by side.
And when one of them dies, the other is often left in the void — searching for meaning, direction, and peace.
You, as a human, are also part of that soul fabric.
You are a bridge between worlds — between farewell and healing, between energy and the tangible.