A place to begin.

Why losing a dog or cat hits as hard as it does, what the research says, and where to find someone to talk to today.

Edna Clyne-Rekhy, a Scottish artist, wrote it in 1959 after her Labrador died. Most pages about it reprint the poem. We'd rather tell you the true story behind it, who wrote it, and help…

If you've lost a dog or cat and the world seems to think you should be over it by now, this is for you. It's real grief, it has a shape, and there are things that help.

Use clear, plain words. Use the pet's name. Say 'died', not 'gone away'. What to say at each age, and what to avoid.

What the five stages describe, why they're not a fixed sequence, and what helps in the first months after losing a dog or cat.

Every free UK line for people who have lost a pet, with its number and hours, checked against each organisation's own site on 21 October 2026. Start with Blue Cross on 0800 096 6606,…

Phone your vet first, even at night. Then there is time: you do not have to decide anything about burial or cremation in the first hour. The steps below go in the order they usually come.

The signs that a cat may be nearing the end, how a vet judges quality of life, and what happens if you decide it is time.

A eulogy, a card, a poem, or the thing you say to a friend who has lost theirs. What to write when nothing sounds right.

Pet eulogy examples for a dog, a cat and a pet who died suddenly, the structure that works, and what to do when the words don't come.

Anatole France did not write it. Kundera did not write it. Before a line goes on a headstone or into a eulogy, this is what we could establish.

Words for when you cannot find your own. Every line traced to the work it came from, grouped by where you are, not by species.

Verse for a reading, a card, or a moment alone. Full poems you can use freely, properly attributed, with clear notes on copyright.

The blank inside is the hard part. These are real lines you can use: grouped by situation, with the clichés to avoid and the one thing that makes any message land.

Say the pet's name, skip the platitudes, and offer something concrete you'll do: that's most of it.

Ashes, a stone, a garden, a keepsake. Practical choices, and what each costs.

Memorials for cats, and ways to remember yours: specific to the way cats inhabit a house, indoors and out.

Ideas for a dog garden memorial: planting, stones, benches, ashes, and the spots that were always theirs.

A few hundred pounds for an individual cremation with the ashes returned, more for a larger dog, and less for a communal one. Two UK crematoria's price lists are below, re-read on 15…

Ways to remember a dog or cat: the full range, including the things we don't make.

Most of what people buy in the first fortnight does not survive the year. These are the ones that do, including two that have to be arranged before cremation or burial.

We do not make one. This page covers what the format does well, what to watch out for, and how it compares with the thing we do make.

There's no deadline, and no single right answer. These are the options most families consider: what each involves, and how people decide.

In all four nations the official guidance allows a pet to be buried at home. Each one is quoted below in its own words, with a link to the page it came from.

What two named UK vets charge to put a dog to sleep, at the surgery and at home, what changes the price, and how the decision is usually made.

Every dog's nose has its own pattern of ridges, which is why a nose print makes such a personal keepsake. What you need, how to take one, and how to keep it.

If a dog or cat has died this year, Christmas has a gap in it the shape of them. Nothing here will close it. It is a short guide to getting through the day, and to helping someone else…

The one thing we make: a portrait of your animal in a painted style, from your own photograph. Styles, formats, and what it costs.

Practical, gentle writing for the days after losing a dog or cat: the words, the grief, and the decisions no one prepares you for.

Craig Fearn runs Small Goodbyes and reads every email that comes in. The quickest way to reach us is by email: hello@smallgoodbyes.com. Write whenever you are ready; there is no rush.