When your pet dies

Your animal is dying, or already has.

Start wherever you actually are. Every one of these is free, none of it needs an account, and none of it will tell you they are in a better place.

Still deciding

You're trying to work out whether it's time

This is the hardest one and almost nobody feels ready. There are things vets look for, and there are questions you can answer at home about eating, moving, and whether the good days still outnumber the bad. Knowing what those are makes the decision less like guessing.

Trying to understand

You want to know what is actually happening to them

Cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, and a handful of others account for most of it. Knowing what your animal has, what it does, and how it usually ends helps you ask your vet better questions and stop searching at 2am.

It just happened

They died and you do not know what to do next

Whether it happened at the vet or at home, there are practical things in front of you in the next few hours: what to do with the body, what your options are for burial and cremation, what it costs, and what you are allowed to do where you live.

After

People are telling you it was just a pet

Pet grief gets dismissed more than almost any other kind, which is why it so often gets carried alone. You are allowed to be flattened by this. Nothing is wrong with you.

Before anything happens

You want to make sure your animal is looked after if you die first

A pet cannot inherit money. Leaving your dog to your sister in a will asks her a favour and funds nothing. A pet trust names a carer, sets aside the money, and names someone to check the carer is doing it.

One thing worth knowing about the vet bill

Cost decides this for a lot of families, and being honest about that with your vet opens doors more often than people expect. Ask directly what the options are at different price points, and ask whether they know of any local fund. Many practices do and will not raise it unless you do.