What to Say When Someone Loses a Pet—and What Helped Me

My friend told me about this kind of memorial piece. I’d already been sad for a long time. People talk about the stages of pet grief, but for me it comes and goes. Some days are fine. Some days I see a leash in the drawer and I’m back to zero.

I ordered a small pendant with my dog’s outline and an engraving of her nickname and date. Ordering was simple. I placed it on a Monday, and it arrived a little over two weeks later—faster than I expected. I got a few updates during the process, and one message asking for extra photos of her tail and belly so they could get the shape right. That felt respectful and careful.

The day it came, I set up my phone and recorded the unboxing because I knew I’d want to remember it. The first look hit hard. They got the markings I remember: the white on her face and the tiny patch on her paw. I sat there saying “that’s her” over and over, trying not to cry, then I cried anyway. Friends saw it later and said it looked exactly like her. One of them asked me what to say when you lose a pet to someone who’s still raw. Honestly, the best line I heard was, “I’m sorry. Your bond was special. I’m here.” No fixing. Just being there. 

Since getting the pendant, I keep a small routine. It’s my simple way of Manifest—not magic, just focus. My version of How to Manifest is one sentence in the morning (“Choose gentle today”), touch the pendant at lunch and take a slow breath, then at night I repeat a few lines that feel true to me (my own little manifest affirmation examples). On bad days, this is what to do when you lose a pet for me: keep a memory close and do one small thing that doesn’t ask too much. It’s been over two years since I Lose a Pet, and there are still mornings I miss her so much I have to sit down. The pendant doesn’t fix that. It just gives my hands something to hold while the wave passes. That’s enough.