Losing a pet is undeniably hard. The grief can be overwhelming and people often express feelings of loneliness and being unseen as they struggle to come to terms with their bereavement.
It can be hard to know where to turn for comfort but some people find it helpful to read the words and wisdoms of others who have experienced their own losses, both animal and human, to feel a little less alone.
Knowing this, we’ve put together 60 pet loss quotes to bring you comfort or if you’re looking for something supportive to say to a friend who has recently lost a beloved pet.
General quotes about grief and pet loss
- “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Anatole France
- “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. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
- “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” From an Irish Headstone
- “The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.” Hilary Stanton Zunin
“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 - “There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” Aeschylus
- “I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence.” Alyson Noel
- “Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love [them].” Amy Sedaris
- “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” James Herriot
- “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.” Unknown
- “They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite.” Cassandra Clare
- “If there is a heaven, it’s certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.” Pam Brown
- “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” Washington Irving
- “To call him a dog hardly seems to do him justice, though inasmuch as he had four legs, a tail, and barked, I admit he was, to all outward appearances. But to those who knew him well, he was a perfect gentleman.” Hermione Gingold
- “When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” Khalil Gibran
- “Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, may looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow.” Author Unknown
- “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Helen Keller
- “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
- “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” Pierre Auguste Renoir
- “Grief doesn’t have a plot. It isn’t smooth. There is no beginning and middle and end.” Ann Hood
- “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
- “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
- “Pets’ lives are too short. Their only fault.” Agnes Sligh Turnbull
- “I feel about my pets now, and all the pets I had before this, the way I feel about children — they are that important to me. When I have lost a pet I have gone into a mourning period that lasted for months.” Mary Tyler Moore
- “The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude.” Robert Brault
- “They bring us love and happiness and comfort without end. It’s hard to face such sadness without your furry friend.” Unknown
- “No matter how or when we lose our furry friends, their love lasts a lifetime.” Unknown
- “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Winnie the Pooh
- “Gradually… and with time… letting go of the pain of our loss, bit by bit, never means letting go of our love.” Barbara Schulte
- “No time on earth is long enough to share with the animals we love, or prepare our hearts to say goodbye.” Unknown
- “It’s the depth of love that determines the depth of grief, not whether the loved one was human or animal.” Unknown
Comforting quotes about losing a dog
- “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
- “Dogs are small rays of light caught on Earth for a short time to brighten our days.” Unknown
- “Dogs leave pawprints on our hearts” Author Unknown
- “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
- “The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.” Konrad Lorenz
- “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?” Sir Walter Scott
- “I guess you don’t really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease.” Joe Garagiola
- “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” Will Rogers
- “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
- “The worst thing about losing your dog is not having someone there to lick your tears away.” Unknown
- “Having a dog will bless you with the happiest days of your life, and one of the worst days.” Unknown
Comforting quotes about losing a cat
- “The loss of a cat is immeasurable. But so is the love left behind.” Unknown
- “Your favourite chair is empty now, where you would lie and sleep.
But the memory of our happy times is mine to always keep.” Unknown - “What greater gift than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens
- “When the cat you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure.” Unknown
- “Sometimes a very special cat enters our lives…their presence changes our hearts forever. And we can call ourselves blessed for having known them.” Unknown
- “If you have a cat, you will most likely outlive [them]. To get a cat is to open yourself to profound joy and prospectively, to equally profound sadness.” Unknown
- “One day all the cats we’ve ever loved will all come running towards us and that day will be a good day.” Unknown
- “No one can truly understand the bond that we form with our cats we love until they experience the loss of one.” Unknown
- “The memories and paw print of a beloved cat remains in our heart and soul forever.” Unknown
- “The love of a cat is like a symphony. It is a waste of time trying to explain its depths to those who don’t cherish it.” Unknown
- “No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch.” Leo Dworken
- “Someone asked me what the most difficult thing about having a cat was. I replied: ’the goodbye’.” Unknown
Pet loss quotes for a special horse
- “Once touched by the spirit of a horse, your soul remains forever enlightened.” Unknown
- “Horses lend us the wings we lack.” Anonymous
- “Always remember that once a horse has touched your soul, they will always be with you.” Unknown
- “While time will fade these hoofprints, the ones left on your heart will never disappear.” Unknown
- “The love of a horse knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” Unknown
- “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
We hope these quotes provide you some comfort. Please do take a look around the other articles on our blog for more pet loss grief support.
You are not alone.Shailen and The Ralph Site team
The Ralph Site, non-profit pet loss support