A loss is a loss

They're not called companion animals for no reason.

The BBC News Magazine has an article by Finlo Rohrer that looks at the mourning process when a pet dies.

Rohrer writes about Labor leader Roy Hattersley losing his dog Buster, who had lived with him for 15 years.

"I sat in the first floor room in which I work, watching my neighbours go about their lives, amazed and furious that they were behaving as if it was a normal day," wrote Hattersley. "Stop all the clocks. Buster was dead."

Margot Clarke, manager of the Pet Bereavement Support Service, said many people who contact her are surprised and disappointed at the reactions of others to their loss.

"They often trivialise that loss and don't recognise it as being special and unique," says Ms Clarke. "A lot of people say 'just get another pet'. But the time has to be right."

And then there's the issue of euthanasia, with the accompanying guilt that brings when making a really tough decision.

I have lately been thinking about what to do if Kate's renal failure gets worse. Thank goodness, she seems to still be OK, but there will likely come a time when that choice will have to be made.