Why can't I stop worrying about my pet dying?
Pet owners get consumed by constant anxiety about the inevitable death of their animal, which makes it hard to fully enjoy the present moment with a healthy pet. Thinking about that fateful day causes anticipatory pain and leaves people feeling like they will never be prepared for it.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1trying to spend as much time as possible without making the pet dependentDid this help you?
- 2trying best not to think about it and ignoring the thoughtDid this help you?
- 3getting pets admitted to the clinic for critical careDid this help you?
- 4giving surviving pets vitaminsDid this help you?
- 5Delaying the procedureDid this help you?
- 6Seeking reassurance and statistics from online communitiesDid this help you?
- 7Paying extra for safer anesthesia optionsDid this help you?
- 8taking pets to the vet for general wellness exams and check-ins to rule out health issuesDid this help you?
- 9trying to learn specific physical tips like checking for dry noses, panting, or airplane earsDid this help you?
- 10catifying the home and removing dangerous items like ingestible plastics or loose stringDid this help you?
- 11Refusing to return the foster animal and offering to pay adoption fees or medical costsDid this help you?
- 12Pleading with the shelter manager or director to reconsiderDid this help you?
- 13Contacting the approved adopter directly to ask if they will step asideDid this help you?
- 14relying on yearly vet checkupsDid this help you?
- 15focusing on hydration with wet food or bone brothDid this help you?
- 16accepting that there is no absolute way to guarantee pet health and doing the best you canDid this help you?
- 17Seeking positive success stories and reassurance from online communities.Did this help you?
- 18Asking the vet to perform a full body exam while the pet is anesthetized to check for hidden lumps.Did this help you?
- 19Using a soft flower collar instead of a plastic cone to make the pet's recovery easier.Did this help you?
- 20switching to a senior diet earlyDid this help you?
- 21doing any preventative care possibleDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Today we got the message that his adoption process is already through. We weren’t even given notice.”source ↗
“My fiancé is destroyed. I can’t stop crying. He’s so happy with us. I don’t want to let him go. Feels so unfair :(”source ↗
“ever since finding out he’s no longer a young cat i’ve been crying 24/7, even at work.”source ↗
“i’ve been mentally preparing for his passing since he was 2 months old but im now realizing i will never be prepared.”source ↗
“i was just wondering if anyone else is dealing with or has dealt with anticipatory grief with their cats like this?”source ↗
“I already feel pain when I think of that fact that some day she will pass away.”source ↗
“i was away from my hometown because of uni and i wasn't able to take so many photos of our kittens before they passed away, so most of these photos are updates of my family about them.”source ↗
“last sunday night, my mom messaged me that one of the kittens, her name's paprika, passed away suddenly and they didn't know why.”source ↗
“i felt so helpless.”source ↗
“a few hours later, i received the news that we lost cinnamon already.”source ↗
“So now, I’m questioning if I’m just unlucky, or if I’m a bad cat parent.”source ↗
“How do I make sure my cats don’t have some terminal illness under the surface?”source ↗
“I’m just lost, and I miss taking care of my babies. I don’t want to lose another one so soon again.”source ↗
“Posts I’ve seen in here when researching are cats that have had these tumors, then end up getting them all over which absolutely terrifies me!”source ↗
“Is there anyone that has had a this kind of tumor removed from their kitty and it **didn’t come back?**?”source ↗
“I knew neutring is the right decision but I'm sooooo scared of complications and the possibility that I might lose either of them...”source ↗
“I'm very scared and I don't know what to do, this situation has been stressing me out for weeks and I feel lost.”source ↗
“Sometimes I find it hard to fully enjoy the time I have with my baby because I’m constantly worrying about that fateful day.”source ↗
“i’m always so so anxious and nervous that they’ll get into something or something will happen especially at night or when i leave them throughout long periods of the day.”source ↗
“i don’t want them to be trying to tell me something and me not pick up on it and smth end up happening to them when i could’ve done something to prevent it.”source ↗
“any advice on being able to differentiate between signs of distress and normal behavior would be greatly appreciated so that when i get anxious that something happened while i was at work or smth i can try to notice them and calm myself down.”source ↗
“overall they seem to behave normal but trauma has made me paranoid”source ↗
“I know, I ussualy ignore it fine, it's just a pain to think about.”source ↗
“Ill never be prepared for the day my sweet baby aurthina passes the rainbow bridge.”source ↗
“I am also pretty scared as the last and youngest of our 4 cats is getting spayed in November. And I’m so scared something will happen to her, I love the little gremlin so much it would hurt me so much to lose her.”source ↗
“I'm glad to hear your little boy went through it safely ❤️ I know they are rare but the fact that the probability is never zero still scares me 😭 it's so difficult”source ↗
“now that im the only one caring for them it’s nerve wracking for sure!”source ↗
“I recently lost a kitten after 1 week with him so i guess I'm slightly paranoid as to not miss any signs that might be a call for help”source ↗
“My lovely soul cat was about 9 years old at the time, and I was devastated.”source ↗