Pet Loss Quotes

It’s hard to find the right words when you’re grieving the loss of a furry friend. Be it your own or someone else’s. They’re animals, yes. But more often than not, our pets end up feeling more like family. This ends up making the grieving process a bit more complicated and yet characterized by an aura of despondency.

Whether you’re offering condolences or looking for support to help with your mourning, here are some pet loss quotes that may be just what you need.

Pet Loss Quotes to Comfort You

Saying goodbye to your pet is not easy. Hopefully, these quotes will help you find the words you were looking for to reach some form of closure.

#1. “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~ Anatole France.

#2. “If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I know will go to heaven, and very few people.” ~ James Thurber.

#3. “The memories of raising a dog can be cherished throughout your lifetime. They never perish.” ~ Anonymous

#4. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” ~ Winnie the Pooh

#5. “Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” ~ Vicki Harrison

#6. “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” ~ Hellen Keller

#8. “The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and freedom.” ~ Sharon Ralls Lemon

#9. “Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog, it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs your heart is very big.” ~ Erica Jong

Inspirational Pet Loss Quotes

Animals not only leave our hearts filled with love, but when you look after them and watch them grow before your eyes, you end up learning a thing or two about life. There are some things only animals can teach you.

#10. “The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man’s.” ~ Mark Twain

#11. “Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we don’t even know we have.” ~ Thom Jones

#12. “Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” ~ Sigmund Freud

#13. “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” ~ Isaac Asimov

#14. “The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made his greatest gift the commonest.” ~ Martin Luther

#15. “The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.” ~ M.K. Clinton

#16. “Dogs die. But dogs live, too. Right up until they die, they live. They live brave, beautiful lives. They protect their families. And love us.” ~ Dan Gemeinhart

#17. “It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.” ~ John Grogan

#18. “Dogs…do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value they have to bequeath except their love and their faith.” ~ Eugene O’Neill

Heartbreaking Pet Loss Quotes

The shock and despair that follow the loss of a beloved pet is indescribable. These heartbreaking quotes from people who have lost their pets are proof that the bonds between humans and their pets run deeper than blood.

#19. “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it.” ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

#20. “With eyes upraised his master’s look to scan, The joy, the solace, and the aid of man: The rich man’s guardian and the poor man’s friend, The only creature faithful to the end.” ~ George Crabbe

#21. “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~ Will Rogers

#22. “Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.” ~ Roger A. Caras

#23. “Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love it.” ~ By Amy Sedaris

#24. “Somewhere…somewhere in time’s own space, there must be some sweet pastured space where creeks sing on and tall trees grow, Some paradise where horses go. For by the love that guides my pen, I know great horses live again.” ~ Stanley Harrison

#25. “Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog. A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes.” ~ Gene Hill

#26. “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

#27. “I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time? The misery of keeping a dog is his dying so soon. But, to be sure, if he lived for fifty years and then died, what would become of me?” ~ Sir Walter Scott

Pet Loss Quotes that Show Sympathy

In dealing with and overcoming the loss of a pet, support from friends and family plays a major role. And the best way to provide support is by showing that you understand the true depth of their loss.

#28. “Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn’t breaking. It hurts because it’s getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.” ~ Rita Mae Brown

#29. “Dogs’ lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can’t support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and the mistakes we make because of those illusions.” ~ Dean Koontz

#30. “If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.” ~ Marjorie Garber

#31. “Gradually…and with time…letting go of the pain of our loss, bit by bit, never means letting go of our love.” ~ Barbara Schulte

#32. “Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives.” ~ John Galsworthy

#33. “Grief is so painfully real, regardless of its origin. The love of, and attachment to, an animal friend can equal that of human relationships. Likewise, the loss of an animal can be just as devastating.” ~ Rev. Joel L. Morgan

#34. “When people say ‘It’s just a cat’, they just don’t understand.” ~ Anonymous

Other Pet Loss Quotes

The relationship between humans and their pets is deep and complex, and often overlooked by those who have never formed that connection. These are just some of the ways pet owners have described their bond with their pets.

#35. “You’ve lost a dog but gained a guardian angel.” ~ Anonymous

#36. “Our animal friends teach us more than we could have expected and love us more than we could have hoped… that’s why we miss them more than we could have imagined.” ~ Lacey Petit

#37. “He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea… With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself.” ~ Gene Hill

#38. “You think the final act of love is setting them free to Rainbow Bridge? That is not the final act of love. The final act of love is releasing them from your leash of grief so they can be free in the heaven on the other side of the Bridge. Until you resolve your grief, you bind them to you in the land between Heaven and Earth while they wait, suspended between the worlds, for you to heal. When you are free of your grief, they are free of your grief.” ~ Kate McGahan

#39. “Animals have come to mean so much in our lives. We live in a fragmented and disconnected culture. Politics are ugly, religion is struggling, technology is stressful, and the economy is unfortunate. What’s one thing that we have in our lives that we can depend on? A dog or a cat loving us unconditionally, every day, very faithfully.” ~ Jon Katz

#40. “There is sorrow enough in the natural way. From men and women to fill our day; But when we are certain of sorrow in store; Why do we always arrange for more? Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware of giving your heart to a dog to tear.” ~ Rudyard Kipling

Looking back on all the time spent with your pets can be either torturous or a pleasure cruise. It depends on how you deal with the loss. Hopefully, these pet loss quotes can offer you or your loved ones some perspective and solace to help you unpack your emotions and be at peace.