My Pet Spirit, a Canadian company founded by Caroline St-Onge, helps pet owners grieve when they lose their beloved pet. “People who never had a pet often misunderstand those who grieve over the lost of their beloved animal,” says St-Onge. “This makes pet owners grieve alone, in sadness, often without knowing how to find closure or people to talk to about it.”
Her willingness to help grieving pet owners led St-Onge to build an online platform, MyPetSpirit.com, to allow these pet owners to communicate and exchange with each other through her site. But she wanted to go a step further, and her graphic design background and her dream of turning one of her designs into a 3D object led her to create My Pet Pillow, a luxurious cushion in the shape of a specific breed of dog or cat. The concept is simple yet very powerful and soothing for grieving pet owners: they can put something meaningful to them about their animal in the heart-shaped inside pocket in the back of the cushion, and they can hug it as much as needed.
Often, pet owners who lose a pet don’t know exactly what to do to create positive memories in the time of sadness when they just lost their animal. St-Onge recommends creating a souvenir box with photos and small objects that bring back good memories. When you don’t have someone around who you can talk to about your pet loss, writing a journal every day to put down on paper the various emotions that come up is another great way to help.
People who don’t have pets often think that losing a pet is not a big deal, when in fact it can be a huge event for a pet owner who sees their animal as a member of the family. Contrary to some people’s belief, it is not a simple matter of going out and buying another pet when an animal dies. As mentioned by St-Onge, “Pet owners, when experiencing pet loss, need to talk about it, find closure, honor their friend who just passed away, and create positive memories in order to move on with their lives. It is much similar to the loss of a human friend.”
To learn more about Caroline St-Onge and her project, visit: http://www.MyPetSpirit.com.