There is a nurse in san francisco named betty carmack, who is a grief counselor for animal loss. she runs a free group monthly at the SPCA (for 25 years) and has written a book called "Grieving the Death Of A Pet" by Betty Carmack. it's a slim paperback for 12.95, but PACKED with compassion and great information about caring, coping, loving and transforming.
she writes beautifully about her own animal losses, one of which is particularly heartbreaking- she KNOWS about loving animals and grieving the loss of them.

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out. I actually just got 3 books in the mail today that I ordered: Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates, When Only the Love Remains, and Goodbye Friend. I felt I needed some resources since I've been pushing my grief aside in order to get through my normal daily routines. I'm hoping they help.

Thanks for the information.

And, Audrey, keep us posted about the books you received today.

I will Kathleen. I started to look through When Only the Love Remains. It's a book of poems that the author wrote as she went through her first year of grief after losing her rabbit. I read a few of the first ones and I started to tear up. I had to put it down for fear of a neverending flow of tears. I can feel a good long sob session brewing inside me but I just can't right now. I have too much going on at work and I can't feel it again just yet.
A weird thing happened when I picked up the other book, Goodbye Friend. Bailey was sleeping on the couch next to me with the blanket on him. As soon as I picked up the book, he poked his head out and had a funny look on his face. He stared at the book for a few min and then just sat there with his head on my lap, next to the book. It was as if he KNEW what the title of the book was!! It was weird. When I tried to open it to peek at its contents he lifted his head and kept looking at it, as if to say that he was still upset over losing her too. After all, she was his friend too. Then, honest to God, I leaned over and put the book back in the box it came from, and he moved his head back under the blanket and went back to sleep. How weird is that???