Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step1
Involve the child in the search for the missing pet. The child should engage in age-appropriate recovery activities. Young children can help hang flyers. Older children can get the word out through their online social networks.
Step2
Reduce the child's feelings of guilt. Children may feel responsible for not protecting the missing pet or preventing the loss. Even if the child left the cage open, keep the focus on recovery efforts, not on the loss.
Step3
Validate the child's emotions. Children might feel angry with the parents, depressed, worried or in denial about the missing pet. All are normal grieving emotions.
Step4
Be honest about the chances of finding a lost pet. Families rarely recover some pets, such as birds, rodents or reptiles. Offer hope grounded in reality.
Step5
Allow the child to decide how long to conduct the search for the pet. Adults know that pets missing for more than a few weeks could be gone forever. Let the child continue the search until he feels closure.
Step6
Inform others in the child's life about the missing pet. Teachers and friends can offer empathy and support.
Step7
Resist replacing the missing pet with a new pet. Children can feel that getting a new pet dishonors the missing pet and dampens their hopes of finding the lost pet.