“It’s as if a piece of me has been ripped away.”

LleidaTrini Porta, a 52-year-old resident of Montoliu de Segarra, lives alone with a dog and two cats. Last January, she suddenly lost Cupi, a powerful dog she adopted from the Cervera pound ten years ago. An irreversible liver disease forced her to have him euthanized to prevent further suffering. The void he left is still raw. She doesn't hesitate to compare this loss to the loss of a person. "I've lost a member of my family, and many people don't understand that," Porta admits.

She is one of the patients from one of the only mental health centers in Lleida that offers specific psychological help to manage grief over the loss of petsAccording to Judith López, one of the few professionals who provide this specific psychological care, the loss of a pet is neurologically no different from the loss of a loved one. "The pain stems from the loss of an emotional connection," explains López. "The need arises to do something to regulate that pain, and if it isn't resolved, the nervous system becomes blocked and, over time, transforms into post-traumatic stress," concludes López.

"It's only been a few days since I lost my dog, and I have something here in my chest that feels like a piece of me has been ripped away," confesses Porta, "it's an incredibly strong feeling." It so happens that Trini Porta is also Veterinary medicine, an activity that precisely presents a suicide risk four times higher than the average for the population, according to the Galatea Foundation. (an organization created in 2001 by the Council of Medical Colleges of Catalonia to safeguard the well-being of healthcare professionals). "We must address the importance of death education," insists Judith López, who believes this topic needs to be incorporated into schools. "Life has very basic rules that we aren't taught, and one of them is that the moment a life is born, by default, there will be a death," concludes the psychologist.

One of the resources Trini Porta uses to manage her grief is to talk openly about Cupi's death. But she acknowledges that she can't do that with everyone. "Despite everything, people are starting to lose their fear of talking about it," adds her psychologist. Grief is difficult for the animal to manage because many don't recognize it (including the authorities), and even those affected are often unaware of it. "The suffering and stress we carry inside cause cortisol levels in the blood to rise, and this produces both physical and psychological consequences," explains Judith López, who warns that these initial physical symptoms often appear before a severe case of depression. "The death of a dog should be faced like any other loss," López argues.

In any case, the presence of a specialized grief counseling service in Lleida demonstrates a growing demand. Not surprisingly, Catalan society is experiencing a demographic turning point. According to data from Idescat, In 2024, 53,793 babies were born, while the pet census recorded 109,755 registrations.In this regard, it's worth noting that many dog ​​and cat owners are vulnerable individuals (elderly or with disabilities) or simply live alone and need companionship. In all these cases, the pain of losing a pet is intensified.