Animal grief counselors toll free, or E-mail

[addictedtochins]

I happened upon this site
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/PLHl/

[Lynn &The Chins]

WOW!!! What a GREAT link!!! Thank you for posting it here.

I know that I was absolutely AMAZED to find out when Baby died that Alameda East had a Grief Counselor on staff!!! Don't you just LOVE living in this day and age where that can be an actual job???

She was the kindest, most comforting and sympathetic person I had ever met. She's the one that saw me stroking Baby's long silvery whiskers while holding and crying with him and offered to have his whiskers saved for me, which I most certainly did.

Mods, could we make this a sticky, since not everyone is as likely to have that option at their vet?

[equus_peduus]

The UC Davis Pet Loss Support Hotline is the first, and longest running, pet loss/grief hotline. It is staffed by volunteers (many, but not all, are vet students), and lend an ear to those who need it, whether that involves a recent death, someone who is grieving several months down the line (and everyone around them says, "it's just an animal, get over it!"), or considering euthanasia of a beloved pet. There is no discrimination as to species of pet lost (most common is dogs and cats, but horses, fish, birds, and small fuzzies crop up occasionally).

While not professional counselors, the training to staff the line does involve learning to recognize when a professional might be needed, and recommending callers get that professional help. The training is given by a professional grief counselor who is on-call to give advice to the volunteers if needed.

Call anytime and leave a message - someone will get back to you within a few days (usually that evening, but sometimes if there has been a large volume of calls, it takes a couple days).

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/petloss.cfm

(800) 565-1526

Also check out these sites:
http://www.petloss.com/
http://www.pet-loss.net/

and a list of resources:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccab/petloss.html