Part of the Pet Loss Support Series

Your Pet Is Dying

A gentle guide to loving them, caring for them, and facing what is coming.
If your pet is dying and you do not know what to do, this book takes you through it: what to ask your vet and what to watch for, a plan for the night something changes and the clinic is closed, comfort and care at home, the fear of too soon and too late, and the appointment and what follows. Fifteen chapters and eight practical worksheets.
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Paperback on Amazon, available worldwide. Digital download coming soon.
Cover of Your Pet Is Dying by C. Arden
This book is for you if

You are somewhere in the middle of something nobody prepared you for

Whether you have just received a diagnosis, or you have been living with the knowledge for weeks, or you are standing on the edge of a decision you do not know how to make, this book meets you where you are.
  • Your pet has been diagnosed with something serious, and you do not know how to process what you have been told.
  • You are living in the in-between. They are still here, but something has changed, and you feel it constantly.
  • You are asking yourself: Am I waiting too long? Or: What if I do it too soon? And nobody can give you an answer.
  • You want to know what to expect, what to do, and how to be present for them without falling apart completely.
  • You have already said goodbye, and the guilt has arrived, and you need someone to tell you the truth about what you are feeling.
  • You have looked online for help and everything you found was either too clinical, too cheerful, or too full of checklists you cannot face.
What is inside

Four parts, fifteen chapters and eight practical worksheets.

This book follows the journey as it actually happens. Not the version where everything is clean and orderly. The real one. The messy, painful, love-soaked one.
  1. 01
    Part One
    What Is Happening Now
    When you first know, the conversation with your vet and the seven questions to ask, what quality of life means for this pet, and a plan before a crisis.
  2. 02
    Part Two
    Comfort and Care
    A comfort plan agreed with your vet, making home easier, the person doing the caring, being with them without turning every hour into a test, and the things you want to say.
  3. 03
    Part Three
    The Decision
    Too soon, too late and the evidence between them; understanding the options, including comfort-focused care, veterinary hospice, natural death and euthanasia; choosing the practical details.
  4. 04
    Part Four
    What May Happen
    The appointment step by step, immediately afterward, and the first night and what comes after, including talking to children, other pets, aftercare and what to do if your pet dies at home.
  5. 05
    Worksheets
    The Practical Worksheets
    Questions for your vet, seven days of notes, things they have always enjoyed, medications and symptoms, an emergency plan, appointment preferences, aftercare decisions and support contacts.

What this book helps you prepare for

Understand the changes you may see in your pet's final days, the questions to ask your vet and the decisions you may face. This book brings together practical guidance and emotional support for a time when clear answers can be difficult to find.
About the author

Written by C. Arden

C. Arden is the author of The Pet Loss Support Series, including the Pet Loss Guilt & Grief Workbook, listed under Books for adults on the Pet Loss Resources and Support page of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and The First Year Without You. Her work is honest and steady, and free of the false comfort that makes grief harder to carry.
This book was written from lived experience, not theory. It was written because nothing like it existed. The books about pet loss all begin after the ending. This one begins before it. It sits with you in the waiting, in the deciding, in the impossible space between knowing and accepting. It was written for the person who picked up their phone at 2am looking for someone who understood, and found nothing that came close.
C. Arden is the founder of The Pet Loss Studio, a space dedicated to supporting people through every stage of pet bereavement, from the first diagnosis to the months and years that follow.
Your Pet Is Dying by C. Arden, book cover

For the time before, and the first hours after.

A warm, practical companion for people caring for a seriously ill dog or cat: what to ask, what to watch for, how people make the decision, and what the appointment and the first night can be like. Paperback on Amazon US and UK.
Buy on Amazon US Buy on Amazon UK
Paperback on Amazon, available worldwide. Digital download coming soon.
For the days when you do not know what to do next.