Questions pertaining to animals and the afterlife
 

I've lost several pets over the last few years and one again last night. Her name was Fifi. She was a teacup poodle who would have turned 10-years-old last month. She was actually my mom's dog but I had been helping her take care of her ever since she got her 3 1/2 years ago, so she grew close to me as well as her. I was also around her just as much as she was since I currently live at home.

Last night I felt a cool wet sensation on my fingers even though my blankets were covering my hands. Then maybe a little wet sensation on my face. I also felt a drop in temperature. After that feeling went away I felt something plop up against my leg. It felt small and just a tad bit weighted. I couldn't help but think this may have been Fifi. I wish I had said her name. Was this her way of saying good-bye? Or can I expect more encounters like this?

She had cancer, so I tried my very best to give her the best life with what little life she had left. I gave her baths and foot massages. And she LOVED being toweled off, so I would fold a super soft towel in half and she would spread out on it. And I would towel her off for even longer than usual. Every morning she'd bark at me for a cookie. Cookies were her favorite. I tried not to give her too many but it was hard at times! Her favorite cookies were anything shortbread and Nilla wafer cookies. For now on, whenever I see shortbread cookies--especially the kind in the tin that you get at Christmas--or Nilla wafers I will think of her.

My main question is like most humans who pass on, do animals know they are dead? Or does it take them a while to figure it out? I know that once you are in the spirit world you ascend to a higher plane and that you start learning things quickly. I just wonder how animals learn things over there. Do they have some sort of angelic guidance or do they figure things out on their own? I know we have spirit guides and our loved ones that greet us when we pass and who give their help but I just wonder about them.
It has been said that animals cross the rainbow bridge, so I guess she will go there or someplace like that. Hopefully playing with other animals. She was very loving and playful. I just hope she doesn't forget to travel to Earth every so often for a visit!~! She is surely welcome. ~ <3

None of this has been easy for me. I didn't fall asleep until 4:00 a.m. last night then I woke up at 6:25 a.m. I had been crying all night and I had other things on my mind (personal injury lawsuit going on, work, bills...). Too much worry and little rest. I felt better after I spoke to the vet this morning. My vet was very flexible on the cremation payment. Aside from being wrought with grief, coming up with the cremation money in time had been weighing on me. My mom wanted her preserved in some way so she could take her with her when she moved. She told me today that she had wanted her stuffed but said it was too expensive. I'm sad that I cannot give her the $500.00-$850.00 to do it. I could only come up with $165.00 for the cremation and $35.00 for the paw print. She's okay with the cremation, but she wanted her stuffed to keep her on her bed.

I'm sorry to go on and on. What was supposed to be a few questions ended up being a novel. I just feel absolutely sorry for my mom. She is having such a hard time with this. Fifi was always with her, and now she doesn't have her little bed buddy anymore. :'(

I really do miss her. I would call her my "little bedbug" when I held her. No more barks or kisses. No more watching her rub her face on the bed and bite the blanket when you wouldn't listen to her. She had so many little funny quirks. They seemed funny then but not now. *sigh* I hope to look back on these funny moments and laugh again someday.

I think the day after losing a pet is always the hardest because they aren't physically there and you know there will be many more days without them. We knew Fifi was sick but we weren't expecting 10:13 p.m. last night to be the end. I'd give anything to have the day before yesterday back when she was up and walking or at the very least yesterday morning before she went into her deep sleep. At least I got to kiss her and look into her eyes before she died. I even wiped her face. I think I spoke to her, too. :icon_frown:

To those of you who have pets, could you please hug them tight for me? Tomorrow is never promised.

I wasn't sure whether this post belonged here or somewhere else. But I thought my questions could be best answered here.

I also forgot to ask something earlier about when I felt Fifi in bed with me last night. Could she have been there to comfort me because I was crying? That thought didn't cross my mind until now. I know animals can sense when a human is distressed and they will walk over to them. So why couldn't they in spirit? And if human spirits can have feelings why can't animal spirits?

Sorry for your loss. I know how you're feeling.

Pets are able to come back after they have passed to visit. what you were feeling was in all probability your dog paying you a visit letting you know that they are fine now.


Namaste

wozniack....I am so sorry for your loss. My kindest thoughts sent out to you and your Mom.
You will be grieving right now and my thought is what happened in bed was meant as a reassurance and a comfort.

They look and appear to be just nice little "pets" here but they are individual Souls, and they are our Soul friends (of which we have a number) They have an awareness in the next world; a spiritual consciousness, and are very much living.
At the same time they keep their animal look and features, and character, and unique energy signature, so there is no problem knowing them if you meet them!
If there has been a bond of love with another, then that bond remains, in any dimension. It is not forgotten.
That applies to Souls of any species.

Fifi may be still nearby you for a little while before transitioning fully. My own dog was.
However, there never really is a "goodbye"....only a "see you again!"
They do go for times, I have found, and come back at times, as they wish, and whenever they wish. So you could be visited any time throughout the rest of your life here!
"phenomenal"-type things can and do happen (physical and semi-physical sensations and events) But mainly it is a greeting which is on a Heart-felt level. Always with very much love and frequently a peacefulness and joy....sometimes even with a quirky humour !
They are content, where they go and never forget us.

So send out your love to Fifi. Any time you like. She will know, and be glad. Don't worry about "holding her back" or anything. She is doing what she wants and needs to do. Give her your blessing.

Kind thoughts from me.

Thank you all for your comments. I honestly do think she was paying me a visit that night, and I hope she visits me many more times. I think what gets me through pet loss is knowing that it is not the end. I believe when one crosses over not only are they greeted by family and friends on the other side but their furbabies, too~! It's just hard going through life without that special being that brought you so much joy and loved you unconditionally.

Out of all the pets I've had only two did I have a super hard time getting over. One was my gerbil when I was 11. I cried over him throughout my adulthood. And my cat Apple that I lost in 2011. I went into a deep depression that went on for months and months. And now Fifi. Apple and Fifi were very affectionate and had the best personalities, which is what makes their passings so hard. They were those "one of a kind" pets that you could never find if you looked all over the world.

I haven't felt this way since Apple's passing. I just hope I can get through it. I did not want to get this close to another animal since Apple passed away because I did not want to endure that pain again. I know time heals but its going to be a long time before it does for me.

I just thought of something else Fifi used to do. After taking the clothes out of the dryer I would pour them out on my bed to fold. She'd see them and lay down on top of the clothes or on the wash bag itself, lol... I'd say, "Fifi, now how am I supposed to wash these clothes?! :smile:" I would have to lay out some warm pajama bottoms, a robe, underwear, towels, you name it just so she could lay on it while I folded the laundry. If her blanket was in there I gave her that instead.

Which reminds me... I always wrapped her up in my robe when I carried her around. I'm starting to think of all these things I did with her and it's driving me crazy. I can barely get through these posts without crying. I hate this. I can't believe she's gone. I just want her back. :icon_cry:

I feel what can definitely help depression after a loved one leaves our world, is realising that we can reach them in their new place! And that it is possible to have a kind of "dialogue" with them.
That isn't as hard as it sounds, and doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with words, but the language of the Heart.
It is not too hard to sense their love (at least sometimes...though in my experience it has not been ALL the time.) It is possible to send out loving energies and kind thoughts to them, and receive back brief "answers"....whcih come as heart-felt connection.
In those moments, it really is as if they "never went anywhere" and are right with you....their essence, their character, and whatever they have picked up since they left.
I found that what my loved ones "picked up" was a stronger feeling of love....as if it was more focussed somehow.
So that is a beautiful thing to sense.
I think many people are capable of that, only perhaps do not believe that they are.
But the best contact between loved ones (of any species!) are the two Souls involved!

I am sorry for your loss. I dread the day when my little ones decide to leave their bodies and move on. They are brother and sister Shih tzu Pug mix, almost 10 years old. My girl is diabetic and blind.

Anyway, I believe as Native Spirit and Tobi do. I am Hindu, so reincarnation and a living soul (jeeva) is very much a part of our beliefs. Souls of our family and friends, whether human or otherwise, can hang around for a bit. So yeah, I believe that was Fifi. :hug2:

I asked my angels and spirit guides to watch over Fifi's spirit while showing them her picture. I'm sure she's fine but I just wanted them with her. I guess its the thought of her wandering around alone is what depresses me. I know our pets are supposed to cross the Rainbow Bridge and play with other animals. I'd like to think she's doing that but my mind can't help but wonder about her. She was very playful and loved other animals.

The afternoons and evenings are the hardest for me, because ‭I am missing my daily interactions with her. The evenings are by far the worst as its another day coming to an end and all I can think of is the last time I saw her alive. Pet loss didn't hit me this hard when I lost my cat in October, but certain animals just leave a lasting impression. ~ <3

My mom asked me yesterday, "Will she come visit me?" I said, "She will. She will never leave us no matter where we go. She will always visit us." I also told her that she can hear us, and she will listen if she talks to her.

The cremation company picked her up from the vet today. They're supposed to call us right before they cremate her. I don't know what's worse. Receiving that phone call or getting the ashes back. We've been through this with other animals and I think the phone call is worse. Personally, I'd rather them not call us and just wait for the ashes. Too hard to think about what is going on.