Do pets grieve? How do I help my other pets after a loss?
Many dogs and cats do change after a companion dies, in ways that look a great deal like grief: searching the house, eating less, sleeping more, becoming clingy or withdrawn. We cannot know exactly what they feel, but we can see that something has shifted. The most helpful things you can do are keep their routine steady, give them calm attention, and call your veterinarian if the changes go on or look like illness.
What grief can look like in a pet
The most common changes are in appetite, sleep, and where a pet chooses to be. A dog may lie on the other dog's bed or wait by the door at the hour the walks used to happen. A cat may call through the house at night or stop coming to the kitchen when the food goes down. Some pets become velcro, following you from room to room; others go quiet and take themselves off to a closet. Some show nothing you can see at all, and that is not a sign they did not care.
Pets also read us. A household that is crying, sleeping badly, and skipping walks is a changed household, and part of what you see in your pet may be a response to you as much as to the absence.
Should other pets see the body?
Many veterinarians and behaviorists suggest letting surviving pets see and sniff the body briefly, and many families find that pets who did so seem to search less afterward. It is a choice, not a rule. Keep it short and calm, on a leash or in your arms if you think your pet may be startled, and do not force a pet who wants to leave. If your pet was euthanized at home, this often happens naturally. If it happened at a clinic, you can ask whether you may bring another pet in, or whether the body can come home first.
If your pet died at home overnight, keep the others in a separate room until morning apart from that brief visit; we cover the practical steps in My pet died at home. What do I do now?
Keep the routine steady
Routine is the single most reassuring thing you can offer a pet whose world has changed. Feed at the usual times, walk at the usual times, keep bedtime the same. If the pet who died was the one who set the pace, whether the confident dog who led the walks or the cat who started every meal, your surviving pet may seem lost without that cue, and you may need to step in as the one who signals what happens next.
Offer attention, but try not to reward the behaviors you do not want to cement. Comforting a whining dog every time can teach whining. Calm company, short training sessions, and a new game or route give a pet something to do with the restlessness.
When to call your veterinarian
Call your veterinarian if your pet stops eating for more than a day or so, drinks or urinates differently, hides for days, vomits, or shows any change that could be a symptom as easily as a mood. Grief and illness look alike from the couch, and a pet that lived with a companion for years may have been quietly unwell without anyone noticing while attention was on the sicker animal. Cats in particular can develop serious problems after only a short stretch of not eating, so do not wait long.
Your veterinarian can also advise on whether a behavior consultation or, in some cases, medication for anxiety would help. Those are decisions for the two of you, not for a website.
Should I get another pet?
Not right away, and not for the surviving pet's sake alone. A new animal is a stressor as well as a companion, and a grieving pet is often less tolerant of a stranger than they would be otherwise. Give it weeks at least, watch whether your pet seems to settle on their own, and choose a new pet because your family is ready for one, not as a replacement. When you do, introduce them slowly.
The same is true for the people in the house; we wrote about that in How do I move forward after losing my pet?
You are grieving too
Caring for a grieving pet while grieving yourself is heavy, and it is all right to need help with it. The ASPCA Pet Loss Hotline at 877-474-3310 is there for you, and our grief support page lists groups and other resources. If there are children in the house, they are often the first to notice a pet's grief, and How do I help my child through the loss of a pet? may help.
Ondara will offer aquamation in Boulder beginning in early 2027 and cannot accept pets before then. If you need aftercare today, please see providers who can help now.