Things to read, and things to do
Grief asks for different things at different moments. Some days you want to understand what’s happening to you. Some days you just need something to do with your hands.
Quality of Life Tracker
A two-week record to help you see the pattern rather than the day. Seven things to notice, a line a day, and a page at the end for reading it back. Most families find the picture clearer on paper than in memory.
Free to download - yours to keep.
The Companion
A short, free guide for the days around goodbye. Where you might be right now, the questions that don’t have tidy answers, what a euthanasia appointment actually involves, talking to children, and what helps in the first week.
Free to download - yours to keep.
For Veterinary Teams
Co-brandable client handouts, preparation guides, and children’s materials your clinic can put its name on - to give to families, at no cost to them.
Get in touch →The Full Resource Kit
The complete set, given to the families I work with. Everything in The Companion, plus the material below - written to be used, not admired.
See the paths →Friends of Paws & Presence
A short list of Canadian makers and services I recommend - keepsake jewellery, handmade gear, and practical help for the weeks afterwards. Hand-picked, none of them paying to be there.
See who I recommend →What’s in the full kit
Written over time, from the questions families actually ask. Each piece stands on its own, so you only ever read the part you need.
The grief journal
Prompts rather than blank pages, because blank pages defeat people in grief. Their story, the goodbye, and undated pages for afterwards so it never becomes a record of days you skipped.
For children, by age
Separate guides for ages 4-7, 8-12, and teenagers - children’s grief isn’t adult grief in a smaller size. Plus one for parents, on helping a child while grieving yourself.
When it was sudden
An accident, a collapse, a diagnosis that became a decision the same afternoon. Almost none of the usual preparation applies when there was no warning, so this is written for that.
The other animals in the house
How they grieve - searching, waiting at the door, off their food. And the part nobody says out loud: they are also living with your grief, in a house that has changed. What helps, and when a change is worth a vet call.
Keepsakes worth making
Paw prints, fur clippings, a photograph in their favourite spot - what to do before, if there’s time, and what can still be made afterwards. Including permission to keep the bed and the bowl for as long as you like.
What to expect from grief
Bursts rather than stages. Why the second month is often harder than the first. Anniversaries. And an honest page on when what you’re carrying needs a registered therapist rather than a doula.
People I trust - a short list of Canadian makers and services, hand-picked by me for the families I work with. See the list →
If there’s something you needed and couldn’t find, tell me. A good part of what’s here exists because someone asked.