Children are fascinated by baby animals at an early age because of their size, their warm body, their 4 legs, the way they “talk,” they can see and feel it breathe and feel the heartbeat. Kids learn pets are “alive” – like they are. Sometimes parents expose their kids to the birth process through animals.

Kids also sometimes learn their first lesson on death from the loss of a beloved pet. Losing a pet hurts and we go through the same stages of grief when we lose a pet as we do when we lose a good friend or relative. Guilt, denial, anger and depression are natural responses. Talk about it, write about it, maybe put together a photo album about the pet. Tell your kids how you are going to respectively take care of the remains and make sure they understand. Pets give us the opportunity to talk about birth, life & death and hopefully teach our kids about them.