- Joined
- Dec 22, 2004
- Messages
- 25
- Purraise
- 1
Hello, everyone.
I learned of this group last month, after struggling with the decision to get another cat.
In October, after much heartache and soul-searching, I decided to put my most favorite kitty, Timon, to sleep after his three-month fight with kidney disease. This was a great shock, as he was only 10, and I thought I'd have many more years with him.
As a newspaper reporter, I am often researching various topics. So, of course, when I was hurting (and, to be honest, the hurt is still with me, though not as severe), I got on the Internet to find people who could relate to my loss.
I found various sites on pet grief and started posting to pet-loss.com. The members there were all were quick to tell me I wasn't alone. Since then, I've been amazed to find out about the many, many resources available to folks missing their pets (including this board).
I decided to pitch a story to my editor about how pet bereavement is a topic that is being taken seriously by vets, therapists, pet societies and people like you, who reach out to others in their time of need.
And while this, no doubt, will be a hard story for me to write, I feel it can help educate people who perhaps aren't as Internet-savvy and don't know where to turn.
So, here's where you come in...
I'm looking for folks who would be willing to talk with me on the record about their experience with grief and what resources they used to help cope with it, from posting on a message board like this one, to seeing a therapist who specializes in pet grief, to support group meetings, etc.
Please feel free to post to this message with contact info, or e-mail me directly at meechmelon (at) yahoo (dot) com. I will fill you in privately about the newspaper chain for which I work and the kind of reporting I do.
Thanks for thinking about it.
-- Michele
P.S. I actually did adopt another cat. Two, actually. Kitten brothers who are adorable and sooooooooooo energetic. So, you'll normally find me on thecatsite's behavior message board, trying to figure out how to calm them down! :-) And, every day, I fight the urge to compare them to my Timon, who is still very much alive in my heart...
I learned of this group last month, after struggling with the decision to get another cat.
In October, after much heartache and soul-searching, I decided to put my most favorite kitty, Timon, to sleep after his three-month fight with kidney disease. This was a great shock, as he was only 10, and I thought I'd have many more years with him.
As a newspaper reporter, I am often researching various topics. So, of course, when I was hurting (and, to be honest, the hurt is still with me, though not as severe), I got on the Internet to find people who could relate to my loss.
I found various sites on pet grief and started posting to pet-loss.com. The members there were all were quick to tell me I wasn't alone. Since then, I've been amazed to find out about the many, many resources available to folks missing their pets (including this board).
I decided to pitch a story to my editor about how pet bereavement is a topic that is being taken seriously by vets, therapists, pet societies and people like you, who reach out to others in their time of need.
And while this, no doubt, will be a hard story for me to write, I feel it can help educate people who perhaps aren't as Internet-savvy and don't know where to turn.
So, here's where you come in...
I'm looking for folks who would be willing to talk with me on the record about their experience with grief and what resources they used to help cope with it, from posting on a message board like this one, to seeing a therapist who specializes in pet grief, to support group meetings, etc.
Please feel free to post to this message with contact info, or e-mail me directly at meechmelon (at) yahoo (dot) com. I will fill you in privately about the newspaper chain for which I work and the kind of reporting I do.
Thanks for thinking about it.
-- Michele
P.S. I actually did adopt another cat. Two, actually. Kitten brothers who are adorable and sooooooooooo energetic. So, you'll normally find me on thecatsite's behavior message board, trying to figure out how to calm them down! :-) And, every day, I fight the urge to compare them to my Timon, who is still very much alive in my heart...
