Our world is not set up to honour the bond between pet and human, but we can reduce expectations of ourselves as we grieve
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The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work
Last week, I sat in the emergency department of a veterinary hospital for hours with my 12-year-old greyhound, Karla. She’d woken screaming in severe pain, so we went to the emergency department after consulting a home visiting veterinarian. The vet recommended we admit Karla for X-rays to see if the pain was caused by osteosarcoma – a common and deadly cancer experienced by greyhounds.
As we waited, I saw a weeping family, their golden retriever lying preternaturally still on a bed in a consulting room. Their sobs were guttural; I knew what had happened. I looked at social media to distract myself and saw a post from Nagi, talking about her beloved dog Dozer’s illness, and felt a sense of connection, but also devastatingly alone in the bond between my dog and me, and the decisions I would need to make about her.