Predictors of owner response to companion animal death in 177 clients from14 practices in Ontario

Objective-To identify predictors of grief and client desires and needs as t hey relate to pet death. Design-Cross-sectional mail survey. Sample Population-177 clients, from 14 randomly selected veterinary practic es, whose cat or dog died between 6 and 43 days prior to returning the comp leted questionnaire. Procedure-Veterinary practices were contacted weekly to obtain the names of clients whose pets had died until approximately 200 clients were identifie d. Clients were contacted by telephone, and a questionnaire designed to mea sure grief associated with pet death was mailed to those willing to partici pate within 1 to 14 days of their pet's death. The questionnaire measured p otential correlates and modifiers of grief and included three outcome measu res: social/emotional and physical consequences, thought processes, and des pair. Demographic data were also collected. Results-Approximately 30% of participants experienced severe grief. The mos t prominent risk factors for grief included level of attachment, euthanasia , societal attitudes toward pet death, and professional support from the ve terinary team. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Bivariate and multivariate analyses high lighted the impact owners' attitudes about euthanasia and professional inte rvention by the veterinary team had on reactions to pet death. Owners' perc eptions of societal attitudes, also a predictor of grief, indicate that gri ef for pets is different than grief associated with other losses.