Has anyone ever called anyof the pet loss support hotlines???

I was curious as to if anyone had similiar experiences to me.

I found:

a. half you can't reach during their hours

b. if you can reach them, they direct you to memorlize your pet, but don't seem to lend a listening ear.

I gave up on them after New Year's, I had a few okay experiences, but two times they actually said things that made it worse......

just curious if you all had the same experience with them.....

radgirl,

I've never called a 'hotline', so to speak, but did call our local pet loss support group a few months ago. While their phoneline had been a pretty good resource when we lost Sabin years ago, it was much different this time. I waited about an entire week for one of the volunteers to phone me back, then got a lot of pat 'advise' about coping, rather than real listening and thinking about what I'd shared. When the woman ran out of the standard aids, she quickly jumped to wanting to just send me out some written material, most of which I still had from when Sabin crossed. The only good part, really, was that I did get one article I didn't have, and a repeat of a good one that I'd misplaced somewhere. Other than that, it was apparent I already knew much more about grieving than she did, and more importantly, she wanted to 'fix' me and nothing more and had few listening skills, which are among the most important things to have when 'counseling' others. I may have gotten the 'wrong' volunteer, but it put me off ever calling THEM again!

hotlines are generally run not-for-profit and most often manned by students in veterinary colleges. i know the one ive recommended for years, at Iowa State U., has received praise from those who gave it a try. visit my links section here.

Furkidlet's Mom--

I have found the same thing, you hit nail on the head. They seem to offer brochures, and kind of imply to move on rather quickly....it seemed as though through the pet loss support group here (which only meets twice month) I gained more insights than those servicing the hotline......

I had a particularly hard day today, it's sunny and nice and a perfect weekend day for playing with Misty. I also found myself at one of the grocery stores where I used to shop for him.....I went down the cat isle for the first time, looking at some of his favortie flavors......boo hoo.

I want to thank everyone here from the bottom of my heart. I can't explain how much I miss my little black cat which so much personality and love. It has given me a lot of strength this week to know that some others feel the same way. My sister actually told me that she wasn't "into other people's pets" and that I should "get over it."

I don't know about everyone else, but those I do talk to I just act like everything is normal. Everyone seems to expect you to just forget, and I just let them talk about themselves.

THIS MAKES ME MISS Misty more! For my husband and myself, he was the one thing we could talk to that would listen, the one thing you could be yourself around.......

Anyways, thanks for letting me ramble.

LS Support--

I have tried University of Iowa several times. No one ever picks up and you get a recording. I will try again next week.......

Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.....

Misty's Mama

Radgirl,
The day after I lost my Molly girl (3 weeks ago now) I called the Iams Pet loss hotline. I had to call twice to get someone. I think I had to leave a message and she called me back. She did help me by listening to me talk and she told me about her experience. She didn't offer any brochures or anything. She said to call her back if I needed to. But..... I really enjoy this site a whole lot more! It makes me happy and sad. I wasn't sure about doing this at first but I am so glad I did. I really want to put a picture of my girl on here soon to show everyone. Here is that number to Iams pet loss hotline: 1-888-332-7738

Molly's Mom

I didn't even know hotlines existed...
But I find typing better. No tears or those tear induced boogers for anyone to see. I can share my grief, well, without the mess

Molly's Mom,

Sorry to say this, but I wouldn't call Iams if you paid me! I mentioned in another post what they themselves do to innocent animals, all in the name of money, so I hardly think they'd be the ones to expect real understanding from for pet loss, when they torture animals and feed them garbage. You can read what they've been doing here. So I'm not at all surprised at their poor performance regarding providing help to the bereaved. What they're doing, with providing a pet loss hotline is, from my perspective, just a Public Relations scam to cover up their behind-the-scenes abominations.

LS, on the other hand, isn't a for-profit enterprise. Thank God for that! I don't think there's anyone here who would torture animals for a living!

Oh man, I never knew about that!
I'm glad you pointed this info out and educated me!
I don't buy Iams but have looked at it a couple times... now I know for sure I never will.