Animal Grief

From the moment pets come into our lives, we know the day will arrive when we have to say farewell. Still, we are never emotionally prepared for the last adieu. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet.

Sid Halley, the ex-champion jockey turned private investigator, is facing new dangers, new deeply demanding decisions. His friend Ellis Quint has everything he could want: fame, youth, money, good looks, and talent. What Sid has to figure out is why he has committed such an obnoxious crime. On the morning set for the opening of Ellis’s trial, at which Sid is due to be called as a witness, other people’s miseries explode and send him spinning into days of hard rational detection and heart-searching torment.

More than 84 million Americans - almost three-fourths of the US population - own a pet, and our society is still learning how to recognize and dignify that relationship with proper mourning rituals. We have only recently allowed the conversation of how to grieve for our nonhuman family members to come front and center. Lost Companions fills a specific, important demand, a massive need in the market for an accessible, meaningful book on pet loss.

I still remember a lot of things about my cat. He passed away two years ago.

This book goes beyond mere consolation. It delves into the complexities of pet loss, addressing the unique challenges that arise when dealing with a sick pet, the sudden loss of a young companion, or the overwhelming grief that can accompany the death of a new pet.