ASHEVILLE, NC – April 1, 2024 – Grief can affect your mental and physical health particularly after the loss of a member of the family. We can develop such a close relationship to a pet (like a dog or a cat) that we consider our pet to be a member of our family. A feeling of grief in response to the loss of a pet may be similar to the loss of a person. However, the grieving process is different for everyone. According to the American Psychological Association, “grief is the anguish experienced after significant loss.” I definitely think that this applies to the loss of a pet.

Jennifer Breslow, a psychotherapist who specializes in pet loss counseling, said, “The death of a pet is a devastating loss and people often feel overwhelmed by the emptiness and void they feel when their pet is gone.” She added, “Grieving is a process that takes time and is filled with a mess of uncomfortable feelings. But it is temporary and a normal human response to a significant loss.”

I lost my beloved companion Brady on April 1^st at the age of 13 . He was a majestic-looking golden retriever who was always happy to see me with his tail-wagging, infectious smile, and frequent licking. We had many great times together and Brady did some crazy things. After he passed, I read that there is a 61% risk that this popular breed will develop cancer. In 2010, I lost my first golden retriever Rocky to cancer at the age of 11. His passing brought me many days of grief. When I finally got over it, we brought home Brady, one year later.

After age 11, Brady developed 4 different cancers at 4 different times. Three of his cancers got better with surgery. However, the 4^th cancer had the worst prognosis because it was destined to spread.

Amputation and chemotherapy prolonged his life for 8 months. After 1 month recovering, he had 6 good months of being a happy dog. He was running with 3 legs and still had a great life. A second round of chemotherapy was begun after the cancer spread to his lungs one month ago. However, he had severe complications and was unable to walk much. There was a brief improvement, followed by a regression over the final 2 weeks.

It isn’t a good sign when your dog barks to be helped up to go to the bathroom or wants a new location in the yard or the house. When Brady refused to eat his meals, including his favorite treats, we knew that his quality of life had been severely compromised.

When a close relative passes, people pass through the 5 stages of grief as described by the psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in 1969: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. A 6^th stage of grief, ‘finding meaning,’ was described by David Kessler, a grief expert and Kubler-Ross colleague, in 2016. I suspect that these stages are similar after the loss of your pet.

According to Wallace Sife, the founder of the Association for Pet Loss Bereavement (APLB), there are 5 stages of pet grief: 1. shock, disbelief and denial, 2. anger, distancing and alienation, 3. guilt, 4. depression, and 5. resolution.

I feel much better, after having the opportunity to prepare and report this story to you during my grieving process. The ability to communicate with others is a great medicine. If you find yourself like me, feeling down from the loss of a pet, I suggest talking to others and staying active. I will celebrate all the good times that I had with Brady. Boy, was I fortunate to have had such a great companion!

Colleen Roland, a pet loss specialist at the APLB, said that having a pet is “one of the best gifts that life can offer – an unconditional love with an animal companion.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

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ASHEVILLE, NC –  April 17, 2024 – Respiratory infections, like COVID-19, influenza and RSV, are characterized by being more prevalent during the winter months. With the recent onset of spring, the winter surge of respiratory infections has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID-19 infections have also surged in August. Therefore, the weekly update will continue to report on COVID-19 and restart influenza and RSV updates in the fall.

The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on April 6^th shows:  

• Hospital admission levels are low in every county in North Carolina, including Buncombe County. They are low in more than 99% of the counties in the U.S. and less than 1% at medium and high Admissions have decreased in the U.S. and North Carolina from the previous week.
• Between 1-9 deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the lowest level of 6 groups.
• Emergency room visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina. This is about 1% of all ER visits, the lowest level of 5 groups

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on April 3^rd shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at an orange level representing the 2^nd highest level of 5 groups, currently between the 60^th and 80^th percentile relative to the past level measured at the same site.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample has increased from the previous week, between 10% to 99%, the middle level of 3 groups for a positive rate of change.

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour