Support for bereaved owners of pets

Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2003 Apr-Jun;39(2):49-54. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6163.2003.tb00676.x.

Abstract

Topic: The bond that exists between people and their pets and its impact on physical and mental health.

Purpose: To review the current literature and explore the clinical implications of bereavement related to pets.

Sources: A comprehensive review of the bereavement, veterinarian, and agricultural literature related to attitudes and response patterns to pet and animal death.

Conclusions: The death or loss of a beloved pet can be a life-changing event.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Animals, Domestic / psychology*
  • Attitude to Death
  • Bereavement*
  • Death
  • Funeral Rites
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Human-Animal Bond*
  • Humans
  • Life Change Events
  • Male
  • Mental Health
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Psychiatric Nursing / methods
  • Psychotherapy / methods
  • Social Support*