The unfortunate truth about pet ownership is that few pets outlive their owners. When your clients are facing the loss of a pet, one of the best ways you can show how much you care and help them with the grieving process is by sending a pet loss sympathy card. Keep reading to learn more about how to write a pet loss sympathy card for owners.
Create a Format
It can be hard to know where to start when writing a pet loss sympathy card. For that reason, we recommend using the same format for every card which you can personalise as you go. Here are all the parts of a sympathy card you need to include.
- A greeting: This can simply be the name of the owner or owners. If it’s a couple, try to add both names. If they have children, you’ll want to include “and family” afterwards to include them as well.
- Condolences: The first part of the body should be a simple line extending your condolences. This is where you should include the name of the pet. It can read something like, “We’re sorry to hear about your loss of Max.”
- A personal note: Next, you want to get personal. If it’s a pet that you had in your clinic for many years, you likely have some good memories of them that you can share or were aware of certain personality quirks. Include these here so the owner sees you knew their pet. For example: “We will truly miss Luna’s sweet and quiet nature. She was always a joy to have here with us” or “We’ll never forget Brutus and the way he couldn’t wait to get on the scale. He was such a character.” If you can’t think of something specific or didn’t know the pet well, you may say something like “We will miss seeing Milo on his yearly visits. He was always so healthy.”
- An offer of help: The last part of the body should be an offering of assistance. Many pet owners experience grief but have trouble dealing with it because there aren’t a lot of resources. Encourage owners to call a pet loss counsellor if they need one. If you’re not using one of our cards, provide a phone number or website for them.
- Closing off: A simple “With our deepest sympathies” is all you need to close out your pet loss sympathy card. Then, have every member of the clinic sign it.
Need to buy pet sympathy cards?
Now you know how to write a pet sympathy card using a format. Taking just a few minutes to write out a personalised card makes a huge difference in your relationship with that pet owner. We have a wide selection of pet sympathy cards available for your purchase. On the back of each of these, owners can find information about contacting a pet loss counsellor should they need one.
We are always happy to discuss how best to manage a client after the loss of a pet, and to offer advice on what processes your team can put in place to effectively provide support. Please contact Michael for a chat.