Last updated on July 14th, 2024 at 01:44 am
The loss of a pet leaves a gaping hole in our hearts. They become more than companions; they’re furry (or feathered, or scaled) family members. So, when they’re gone, it’s natural to feel lost for words.
This post is here to offer a helping hand. We’ve gathered pet loss quotes that capture the range of emotions you might be feeling – the deep sadness, the cherished memories, and the enduring love.
Perhaps these words will resonate with you and bring a flicker of comfort during this difficult time.
My Dog Pearley
A few years ago, I lost my best friend, Pearle. I rescued her as a spunky six-month-old puppy and for twelve years, she was a part of our family.
We gave her a great life but as she entered her senior years, Pearle’s behavior changed. She would stare off, bark at walls, and have urinary accidents in the house. She didn’t seem happy anymore and I became concerned about her quality of life. I slowly began to see that she was developing doggy dementia.
We could see that she was getting confused – so we made sure to keep that she could always easily find her food, water, and bed. Slow walks down our street at her own pace was something I could tell she still enjoyed. I would try to play short games with her in the backyard, but she wasn’t interested. Medications didn’t really help because she would sleep most of the day.
I could tell that her quality of life was declining and made the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep.
I was overwhelmed with grief and cried for days.
But in that darkness, the beautiful quotes shared by family, friends, and coworkers became a beacon of solace. Those words helped me heal, and now I want to share them with others who might be experiencing the pain of losing a beloved pet.
Me and Pearle – 2019
Inspirational Quotes For Pet Loss
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” –Vicki Harrison
“Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.” –Robert Louis Stevenson
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
“So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.” –E.A. Bucchianeri
“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; all that we have loved deeply, becomes a part of us.” –Helen Keller
“When we think of those companions who travelled by our side down life’s road, let us not say with sadness that they left us behind, but rather say with gentle gratitude that they once were with us.” –Unknown
“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” –Isaac Asimov
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.” –Rumi
“You were my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye.” –Unknown
“The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” –Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“And they all said ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ as if you were someone who could ever be taken from me.” –Robert Brault
Quotes Reflecting The Bond With Pets
“A pet is never truly forgotten until it is no longer remembered.” – Lacie Petitto
“They may only be a part of your world, but you are their entire world.” – Unknown
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” –Winnie The Pooh
“Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn’t breaking. It hurts because it’s getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.” –Rita Mae Brown
“Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” –Kabil Gibran
“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” –James Herriot
“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.” –Hilary Stanton Zunin
“Dogs…do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value they have to bequeath except their love and their faith.” –Eugene O’Neill
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” –Anatole France
“Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because, in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love it.” –Amy Sedaris
“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but instead I am deeply honored knowing you spent the rest of your life with me.” –Camille Marcotte
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” –Winnie the Pooh
“Having a dog will bless you with the happiest days of your life and one of the worst days.” –Unknown
“Never. We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don’t disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms.” –Paulo Coelho
“The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.” –Konrad Lorenz
“Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.” –Emily Dickinson
Comforting Words For Coping
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.” –Jack Lemmon
“His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears.” –Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“Pets teach us the purest kind of love.” –Unknown
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” –Thomas Campbell
“You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.” –Fannie Flagg
“Tears are words the mouth can’t say nor can the heart bear.” –Joshua Wisenbaker
“It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch.” –Anonymous
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
Quotes About The Loss Of A Dog
“The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made his greatest gift the commonest.” –Martin Luther
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” –Josh Billings
“I guess you don’t really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease.” –Joe Garagiola
“A person who has never owned a dog has missed a wonderful part of life.” –Bob Barker
“To call him a dog hardly seems to do him justice, though inasmuch as he had four legs, a tail, and barked, I admit he was, to all outward appearances. But to those who knew him well, he was a perfect gentleman.” –Hermione Gingold
“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you feel rich.” –Louis Sabin
“You do not own a dog. You have a dog. And the dog has you.” –Chelsea Handler
“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” –Kinky Friedman
“Before you get a dog, you can’t quite imagine what living with one might be like; afterward, you can’t imagine living any other way.” –Caroline Knapp
“A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.” –John Grogan
“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had.” –Thom Jones
Quotes About The Loss Of A Cat
“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” –Sigmund Freud
“No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch.” –Leo Dworken
“It’s funny how…cats know the inside of folks better than other folks do, isn’t it?” –Eleanor H. Porter
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” –Albert Schweitzer
“I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.” –Jules Verne
“A home without a cat—and a well fed, well petted and properly revered cat—may be a home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?” –Mark Twain
Quotes Focusing On Healing And Moving Forward
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest.” – Sabaa Tahir
“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Pet Loss Quotes – Final Thoughts
The love we share with our pets leaves an imprint on our hearts long after they’re gone. While these quotes may not erase the pain of loss, we hope they offer a sense of understanding and a reminder of the beautiful bond you shared with your furry friend.
Perhaps they’ll bring a smile to your face as you recall special memories, or a tear as you acknowledge the depth of your love. No matter how you grieve, know that you’re not alone.
And as you move forward, remember the lessons your pet taught you – about loyalty, unconditional love, and the simple joys of life.
Additional Resources
Letters to Pushkin allows you to express yourself and find healing through letter writing. You can write a letter directly to your pet, upload a photo, and if you wish make your letter public so that others can read it. You can also return to the website and read your letter days later.
The Pet Loss Doctor guided journal, written by Katie Lawlor, Doctor of Clinical Psychology, is an effective and heartfelt tool for processing this grief. Intended to meet you where you are on this journey, the objective is understanding and progress, not perfection.
The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement is a nonprofit group that’s knowledgeable about the tender subject of pet death and dedicated to helping people during their bereavement. The website contains an extensive list of pet loss resources.
Two Hearts Pet Loss Center contains pet loss and grief counseling resources for families with pets, as well as veterinary professionals.
For Kids
Are you looking for a way to help a child gently understand pet loss? Check out the recommended book below.
From award-winning author/illustrator Elisha Cooper comes a moving tale about friendship, new beginnings, and cats.
Big Cat, Little Cat
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