Is it possible to get PTSD from the death of a pet?

[eveningprimrose]

I was just wondering...because there was a website which claimed that you can, indeed, get PTSD from the death of a pet. There was a news agency that kind of made fun of the website's claim, saying that there is this "trauma gold rush" in which everyone claims that anything can cause PTSD.

This is just my opinion, and I posted this thread to see how far from the truth my opinion is, but I believe that you can get PTSD from the death of a pet. I witnessed the euthanasia of my 10 year old dog late in 2013, and although it didn't cause me any PTSD, it was not pleasant, and I still feel a bit sad nowadays.

I don't want to offend anyone, or say that ANYTHING can cause PTSD. I'm just saying that, in my opinion, you can get PTSD from witnessing the death of a pet, especially a pet as complex as a dog. But once again, I'd like to see whether or not my opinion is true.

[Tml1999]

I think it’s possible. I watched my dog get shot by someone who was scared he would get attacked. Ever since then I have been having back anxiety and feeling unsafe. I can’t even sleep anymore it seems like. And I’m thinking it’s from the death of my dog.

[HalFrances]

I'm here because I lost my pet rat a few months ago and still cry about it and
Blame myself for it. I have three rats now, two of which I adopted to console the sister who was left behind after the others death. She has been sick a few times since but nothing as serious as her sister. I constantly worry and have anxiety about it and am always checking her and the others at night. Every time they sneeze or have porphyrin around their noses I get stressed that they will get sick and die. I can't sleep well at night because I stay up listening to them making sure they aren't showing signs of something serious and checking on them several times before I go to bed. I don't think this counts as ptsd but it's definitely affecting my quality of life and I just want to be able to stop worrying and feeling guilty.

[RyanThea]

Us humans develop intense attachments to animals. You can develop PTSD following the unexpected loss of a human partner, because - even if their death wasn't traumatic - the adjustment to life without them absolutely was. We are even more affected by the death of pets because we feel almost nothing but affection towards them for most of their lives. There's some annoyance, but we forgive them. We love our pets as unconditionally as we love young children, and the deaths of young children are almost always traumatic for the parents, regardless of the circumstances. This is part of why the death of pets is so traumatic: we treat them as our children.

Additionally, some people have pets as emotional support animals or as service animals, and these deaths are even more traumatic. These were dedicated companionships that were cut tragically short in the perspective of the human brain.

[Amberluv16]

I developed ptsd from the death of my conure parrot mainly because I already have multiple  disorders and it’s hard for me to interact with humans for that reason and my bird oddly enough knew everything about me from knowing  what he did to make me happy to knowing when I’m going into an anxiety attack and knowing what to do to help me with it. He would even sense my anxiety and Sreech until I picked him up so he could snuggle into my neck to console me and he definitely knew what he was doing because he would look me in the eye when I snapped out of it as if to ask if I was ok then when I would let him know I’m fine he would flip onto his back into my hand and be silly to make me laugh. Tonight the other bird that we have stretched his wing out the same way that max used to and I picked up Daniel and broke down. And of course when that happened I had my service dog and Daniel trying to help me which is good because animals are the only creatures that don’t make me feel alone. But anyway I should stop rambling about it so I can finally stop crying for the night.

[Amberluv16]

I haven’t stopped blaming myself for not being a good enough mom to him and to this day we still don’t know what caused his death fully and from that a never got closure so I can’t get over it and break down crying every time something that he would do or love happens like certain songs and YouTube videos as well and sounds and even bird food that is in a box all because I can’t handle anything that is remotely related to his life. His favorite song to dance to was adrenaline by rupaul and since his death the most upbeat song sends me into a ptsd attack and I hyperventilate and collapse and am just a mess. Even though parts of my disabilities cause the side effects to some of the attacks.

[Pua_means_fl0wers]

For me I believe you;re able to gain PTSD from the death of your pet thats traumatic. For me on December 22 2017 a little before that date I just found out my Lab had a special disease that is supposed to only go to cats, but with my luck it got her. She stopped eating, couldnt go the restroom,, anything. I knew she wasnt getting better so I asked to go to Big Bear and that was the last time she ran in the mountains and was free. It became December and on the 22 she got back from the vet and she wouldnt move so I slid her in my room with her bed and a minute later she stated to wheeze. I got a bad feeling and jumped off my bed and grabbed her holding her she started to cough up blood and her stomach acid at the same time. I literally held my dog while she died and after that I feel like I became a different person. Every time I hear my step moms dog cough or wine while sleeping, my heart starts to race, I cant breathe, I start to cry and I get pictures of my dog dying in my hands in my head. Its not pleasant. Or even hearing a song will make me have a panic attack. Its not fun having this happen to you when your so young.

[Pua_means_fl0wers]

Even with photos of her and any sound of a dog wheezing, whining , any sound other than a bark will trigger me making me burst into tears. Or even when I'm trying to sleep I'll be fine but then I'll open my eyes feeling my neck like I lost my locket of a photo of her but when I finally feel it I'll burst into tears.

[Pua_means_fl0wers]

( I'm sorry for adding to my thing..) and when I go to bed with step moms dog i need her to lay next to me for I can keep my hand on her chest so I can feel her heartbeat.

[ALittleBirdToldMe]

I understand exactly how you feel.. I’m going on 5 years.. mine is just as bad as the day it happened.. I’m so very sorry.

[SonnyMaevis]

I believe it is possible to get PTSD from the death of a pet. 3 months ago I witnessed my dog Phoebe die in my mother's arms. She was hit by a car and my sister came rushing in with Phoebe's little dying body in her arms. At first we thought she was going to make it and I was preparing to rush her to the vet ER. But then I looked over and had seen my mother sobbing and cradling our dog's body in her arms. Blood was everywhere. Unable to do anything, my mom sat her body down and asked me to bag her up as she calmed my sister down. I've had nightmares and flashbacks ever since, especially because Phoebe's neck and ribs were broken and I felt all of it as I bagged her up. And now, three months later, just about any type of screaming can trigger memories. I can't even look at pictures of her or be remotely close to the spot she died in.