The Pet Loss Guide

by Millie Jacobs

Pets are important members of the family and for some they may even be one of the closest relationships they enjoy, so when they die the devastation can be profound.

In this long-overdue guide to grieving a beloved pet, Millie Jacobs uses her own personal experience and grief counselling expertise to guide readers through 31 days of exercises and support to help process your loss.

Although we are a nation of animal lovers, there is so little emotional support offered to those who are grieving the death of an animal. Millie provides the necessary framework to allow the emotions of this very specific loss to be released and processed.

This very practical guide will help every struggling and grieving owner through the loss of a pet and help them to feel they are, at last, allowed to grieve their best friend and companion.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 31, 2023

Reviews

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Não há palavras para este livro! Só estou grata por ele me ter encontrado quando mais precisava. Sem dúvida que ajudou a aliviar e a compreender a dor. Senti-me compreendida. Ainda tem um apêndice para o leitor preencher todos os dias. Incrível.

[Nina Heemskerk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooie verhalen 🐾🤎

[Marble · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories of others were somewhat helpful. I found a Little bit of recognition in them. But it doesn't heal anything, my soulmate is gone forever, and I'm heartbroken beyond repair.

How do we not talk about grief until it happens to you? It blows my mind how emotionally poorly educated we are. I wish some people around me would read the chapter on "how to support someone who is grieving".

If you know someone grieving their beloved companion, get this book, read it, and then gift it to them. You're welcome.

[Grace Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully sensitive and helpful book for anyone going through the grief of losing a well loved pet

[Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did really enjoy this book for the most part (as much as one can “enjoy” a book about pet loss, perhaps to find comfort would be a better term), however there was a fair bit of repetition.

The book itself is alternated between personal stories of pet loss with moving through the grief in practical and ideas personal to you, then a question and answer with the author and finishing with a program to follow to help move through the grief (just to caveat I haven’t done the exercises in the back, I would like to do these in my own time, however from having a quick look through, they seem simple, yet effective ideas).

I like how the practical ideas of support are paced, and many areas are covered including how to support someone going through grief, support if you are going through grief and helping a child through pet loss. The author is very considerate and emphasises that there is no one size fits all. I felt very validated and heard in my experience, and as I am getting little support from those around me through my grief, the words offered were genuinely comforting and made me feel less alone.

The personal stories are what I feel let’s this book down. There is an awful lot of repetition and perhaps a few ideas that are missing. The first few stories felt a comfort, heartbreaking, but comforting. However they all seemed quite “same-y” and by the end I stopped expecting anything really different. As a content warning too there was also an awful lot of stories of miscarriage/baby loss, I would say perhaps half of the stories had mention of baby loss. I feel to be more inclusive to more people it would have done well to include more stories of helping through struggles such as mental health (especially as there is so much research and evidence that pets can be of support to those going through mental health problems), physical health problems and addiction, as well as other problems. That may be just my opinion though, and I understand it is difficult to condense things into a few pages without being dismissive or generalising.


Overall, to me, there is nothing ground breaking and no magic cure, but how it is written is comforting. The ideas are practical and are the things you need to hear when your head isn’t thinking straight in grief, and a fair part of the book is suitable for those supporting someone through grief, so I would recommend it even to someone who wants to simply learn more about pet loss. I would say yes, read it for those reasons given, but don’t expect anything to “out there”, just expect comfort and validation, which I feel anyone who has lost a pet and is grieving wishes for.

[Diana Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nem sei como avaliar este livro, apareceu na hora certa e quando mais precisava.
Neste livro consegui ler o que estava a precisar de interiorizar e fez-me sentir bem.
Perder o nosso companheiro é muito duro e ler este livro foi um apoio para a superação.✨

Está um livro muito bem conseguido.👍🏼

[Rachel Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a welcome companion during a really hard time. Thoughtful and considerate and full of stories from people who understand the loss. Comforting.

[Pipa · Rating 4 out of 5]

O luto como processo de aceitação de uma nova realidade, onde a dor é transformada em coragem, resiliência, tranquilidade e individualidade a um ritmo próprio.

[Marloes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the book in Dutch, the translation wasn't great. The last part of the book is the best in my opinion, I would have liked a bit more of an explanation about how grief works.

[Cynthia Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book just right after my dog passed away and I loved it. It was really helpful and understandable.

[Ashley McCarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

in many ways its helpful but i really dont heal by listening to others stories. and thats what 90% of this book is. but there were some good quotes so I'm glad i read the parts i shops

[Alexandra Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro que me "descobriu" no momento mais necessário. Um amigo que espoletou uma catarse de sentimentos e lágrimas, cruciais ao processar da dor.

Páginas repletas de amor, tristeza e saudade por aqueles Seres tão especiais que se cruzam nas nossas vidas e as tornam mágicas e inesquecíveis.

Ariel serás sempre a minha luz e o amor mais puro ❣️🫶🐈

[Gabii Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro que responde bastante às perguntas....
Perdi um gatinho e comprei este livro, fez-me ver muitas coisas, muitas perguntas na minha cabeça foram respondidas.

Aconselho a qualquer pessoa que tenha perdido um animal, seja ele qual for