Here are ways you can continue your bond…
About a month ago, my team and I lost a patient we all loved.
I got the message, took a breath to steady myself, wiped my eyes, and walked straight into a wellness visit.
All day, my team and I had to hold it together for the families who still needed us. And at the end of the day, when we came together for afternoon rounds, we all broke down.
(At the Integrative Pet Wellness Center, our pet patients become like our own pets 🥺)
This is a topic that Sophie Gamand, artist and animal advocate, and I dived into on my podcast.
We talked about how, when there is the loss of a pet, both the pet parents and the vet team have to find ways to make meaning of the grief 💖
While I can’t compare the weight of my loss to that of what her parents were going through, I still needed to move through the grief. And for me, meaning came to me in the form of a little tree that had been abandoned after someone moved out.
For almost a month it survived the summer heat, stubborn, resilient, still alive. I kept thinking someone would rescue it, but no one did. Finally, we asked management if we could give it a new home.
It came to us on the very same day our dear patient, Chloe, crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
Somehow it felt symbolic, like this tree was ready to carry forward a little piece of healing energy, reminding us that life finds its way even in the hard seasons ✨
That’s our Chloe Tree
That same sense of quiet resilience came up in my conversation with Sophie Gamand.
She shared beautiful ways to navigate grief and transform it into something sacred. Here are a few that really stayed with me…
🌷 Holding a Ceremony
Sophie hosts remembrance ceremonies for shelter volunteers when pets have been euthanized, it’s a ritual that reminds us we all need space to grieve.
As pet parents, grief can often be discounted. People sometimes tell you it’s not as serious as losing a person. But as both a vet and a pet mom, I can tell you it absolutely is.
So if you want to have a ceremony to honor your pet, please go for it. Light a candle, gather a few friends, say their name out loud, or simply take a moment of quiet gratitude.
💞 Continue the Relationship
Sophie shared a concept called continued bonds. Our pets may be gone physically, but the relationship doesn’t end.
You can still talk to them, dream about them, or take the same morning walk you once shared.
When we find small, tender ways to let that love keep flowing, healing quietly begins to find us too. It’s like the love just changes form—it doesn’t disappear, it just softens into something we carry differently.
🎨 Invite Creativity In
Creativity isn’t only about painting or sculpture. It can be anything done with intention.It could be as simple as choosing your outfit for the day and a color you love to wear.
🕯️ Hold Space for Each Other
Sometimes healing doesn’t come from words at all, but from simply being there.
There’s no right or wrong way to grieve. What matters is that you give yourself permission to feel, to remember, and to let your love continue in a new form 💖
🌳 Our Pets Are Our Teachers
I believe our pets are our teachers, and I often ask, what did this soul come here to show me? What did I learn from being their vet?
From Chloe, and actually as a direct result and in honor of her life, we’ve launched what we call the Kidney Protection Plan.
I can’t, as a vet, cure renal failure, but I’m going to do my damn best to stay in front of it and give our kidney pets as good a quality of life as possible.
That’s sweet Chloe and this plan is her legacy.
And if preventing kidney disease before it starts is something that’s on your mind go check out our Concierge Membership
With so much love,
🦄Dr. Lily
P.S. If you would like to take a look at the beautiful ceramic talismans Sophie Gamand has created for grieving pet parents, or anyone who just wants a way to honor their pet, you can shop here 👉 Sophie’s Shop