Sooner or later, all pet owners have to face the realization that the lives of our animals are far too short. Grieving for a lost pet is further complicated by some people who fail to understand what a pet means. Comments like, “It was just a dog” can be very hurtful. A study released earlier this year by researchers led by Lilian Tzivian of Ben Gurion University of the Negev investigates the psychological effects of pet loss.
The study compared 103 dog owners who had been bereaved in the previous two to four weeks with 110 owners who currently have a dog, and who had not suffered a pet loss in the previous two years. The cut-off of two years was chosen to ensure that people in this group were not grieving an earlier pet. Among the bereaved owners, 89 percent had had their dog euthanized due to illness, and nine percent due to an accident.
Although the results will not surprise those for whom pets are family, they may surprise others who do not have an attachment to a pet. The recently bereaved owners had higher levels of stress overall. They also had lower ratings for quality of life. “The levels of Quality of Life in three of the four Quality of Life domains (Physical, Psychological and Relationship) of current owners were significantly better than the levels among bereaved owners,” the researchers write. “These findings reflect the negative contribution to well-being of losing a dog….”
Although the results will not surprise those for whom pets are family, they may surprise others who do not have an attachment to a pet.
Social support was found to be an important factor affecting quality of life, with lack of social support proving negative for bereaved owners. “In the case of mourning for a person, social support is very common and expected, but when a pet dies people do not always grasp the depth of the bereaved owner’s sadness,” the researchers write. “Lack of social support in the case of death of a companion animal may strongly affect owner’s grief reactions.”
They also say that the dog himself (or herself) may have previously been a source of social support to the bereaved owner.
The study involved standardized questionnaires that measure stress and quality of life. The Physical quality of life questionnaire measures ability to function, sleep, and work, while the Psychological scale measures feelings, self-esteem, and enjoyment of life. Relationships refers to people’s friendships and relationships with other people. Only the Environmental aspect, to do with finances, physical safety, and the home was unaffected in bereaved owners.
All of the participants were female and living in Israel. In an earlier study, the researchers had few male participants and so they decided to concentrate on women. Although many studies include more women than men, this raises interesting questions about whether the expression of grief over a pet is perceived as more acceptable for women than men.
All of the dogs lived indoors and were kept as pets, not working dogs. The bereaved owners were recruited via veterinary clinics who verified the pet loss, whereas the other group were recruited by different sources. Although many demographic variables were similar across both groups, there were some significant differences. The bereaved owners tended to be older, and more were parents. Among the current owners there was a higher proportion of students and more had never been married.
This is, in fact, a limitation to the study. Because the two samples were not matched, differences could potentially be due to other factors. This does not affect the finding that levels of social support were important among bereaved owners, however.
The study is a useful step in understanding the effects of losing a pet on people’s psychological health. The results confirm what many pet owners already know, that losing a pet is a stressful life event. Perhaps this will help those who don’t have a special bond with animals to understand.
