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Notes -
Parents of young kids with a pet that is not long for this world: how did you navigate this? My eldest kinda knows about death but not the rest and Larry the basset hound has got maybe a year tops left. We got him before we were married so he's been a permanent fixture in the family. We've been through a lot with him and I may, in fact, cry about it this time.
I'm leaning towards getting another dog, probably a Golden, before he goes as a way to soften the blow. I'm aware this is a known strategy but is this considered bad form?
(Also accepting input from former little kids of dead pets.)
Our family dog dying (of old age) when I was young was a formative event for me.
More impactful, though, was the death of my hamster because I was actually present and watching when he took his last tiny breaths. I actually wanted to take the poor thing to the vet to try to fix him, I hadn't understood just how little lifespan most rodents get.
Our cat got hit by a car and we only found out from a nice lady leaving us a voice message about finding the body after we put up Lost Cat signs. That did a number on all of us.
Also, I will always, every time, cry about the ending of Old Yeller.
Point being, its going to be a traumatic, stressful event no matter what. Only thing I can suggest is to help them redirect any blame/anger they feel away from any particular persons and also be ready to help field questions about their own mortality too.
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