Summary
If you’re searching for:
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You’ll find resources, comfort, and personal stories here.
Common Questions:
“How do I deal with guilt after euthanizing my pet?”
“Is it normal to feel grief after pet euthanasia?”
“Are there books for coping with pet euthanasia?”
“How do I heal after putting my pet to sleep?”
For more on these topics, read Goodbye My Pet: Grief and Guilt After Choosing Euthanasia
If you’re reading this, you may have had to make the hardest decision a loving pet guardian ever faces: saying goodbye before nature takes its course. I wrote Goodbye My Pet: Grief and Guilt After Choosing Euthanasia because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to love an animal so much that you’ll do anything to protect them, even when protecting them means letting them go.
This isn’t the kind of book anyone wants to need. It’s the book you reach for when you’ve had to do the hardest thing love can ask of you.
For Titan, Who Was the Best Bunny Ever
This book is dedicated to Titan, our giant chinchilla rabbit. She was with us for eight and a half years which was extraordinary for a bunny her size. Titan wasn’t just a pet; she was family. She slept in our bed, snuggled up as the little spoon. She danced with us in the kitchen. She was stubborn (never play poker with a rabbit, they hold their cards close), mischievous, and full of personality. After a nail trim, she’d make a show of turning her back on us, but she always forgave us after a bribe of fruit.
When the pandemic hit, Titan was our anchor. While the world felt like it was falling apart—my mother-in-law died, my husband got a cancer diagnosis, and the walls seemed to close in—Titan gave us moments of pure joy and comfort. We honestly don’t know how we would have gotten through those years without her.
The Hardest Goodbye
When Titan began to show her age, we noticed the little things first: the bones we could feel through her fur, the way she struggled to jump up, the accidents around the house. We bought puppy stairs so she could still reach the bed. We bought washable bath mats for every favorite spot. But no matter what we did, we could see her slipping away. She started making small, sad noises when she moved. We gave her gentle care, but it became clear she was in pain.
We took her to the vet, hoping for a miracle. There wasn’t one. We were out of options. Keeping her with us any longer would have been selfish. Loving her meant letting her go.
Because it was the pandemic, the process was strange and clinical. The vet tech took her from the car, but we were allowed in to say goodbye before the end. Titan got all the banana she wanted, we held her, kissed her, told her what a good girl she was. And then we left, because we needed to be able to get home safely. There will always be a Titan-shaped hole in my soul.
Why Write About Pet Euthanasia Guilt and Grief?
After Titan’s death, the guilt hit just as hard as the grief. Did I wait too long? Was it too soon? Did she know? Did she forgive us? That cycle of doubt and replaying every moment is what so many people go through after euthanasia, and yet, nobody talks about it.
This book was born out of that silence. I needed a place to process, to write, to reflect, to forgive myself—and to offer that same permission to anyone else suffering in the aftermath of an impossible decision.
Goodbye My Pet: Grief and Guilt After Choosing Euthanasia isn’t a how-to or a list of platitudes. It’s a companion: a book of gentle prompts, reflections, and rituals designed to help you name your feelings, honor your pet, and make space for both the sorrow and the healing. There’s no schedule for moving on. There are no right answers. There is only the slow, real work of loving and grieving in your own time.
If you’re carrying guilt or second-guessing yourself, know that you aren’t alone. The ache you feel is a reflection of your love and your willingness to put your pet’s comfort first, even when it broke your heart.
For Anyone Walking This Path
This book is for anyone who has sat in the hard, sacred space between hope and mercy. It’s for the ones who made the decision and are now left with memories, doubts, and love that doesn’t know where to go. If that’s you, I hope you’ll find comfort in these pages, or at the very least, the knowledge that what you’re feeling is normal, human, and worthy of compassion.
If you want to check out the book, it’s here.
We carry them in our hearts. Always.
—Kymba