Here is My Story on How I Began Blogging About Pets

My Family and My Story

My Family and My Story 2021

Hello everyone, and welcome to my site “Keeping Your Pet’s Spirit Alive”.  My story starts with my love for animals. My love started at an early age (whenever I could get my hands on a kitten or puppy) and continues through this day (although, I want to love on all ages and breeds). I have shared my home with cats and dogs for as long as I can remember, and the one thing that always stood out was how difficult it was when my pet passed away.

As hard as it was to lose a pet, I was consistently reminded that “it was just a pet” or “you can get another one”. I didn’t understand this sentiment because when I lost a human family member, no cost was spared to keep them in remembrance, through flowers, donations, keepsakes, and even obituaries. Unfortunately, there were not many options in keepsakes or communities where I could continue to remember my pet family members.

We are now in an age where pets are truly considered a part of the family (and in some cases they are considered more of a family member than our blood relatives)! These pets have their own Facebook, Tik Tok, or Instagram pages, or may even have their own wing of their pet parent’s house.

Over the years, I have been through the loss of mine and my family’s pets, and I have learned very valuable lessons from each loss. As we move forward into 2021/2022, I am excited to share some insight and ideas on how you can keep your pet’s spirit alive even when they are no longer physically with you.

My Story

My life has always been intertwined with pets in one form or another. When I was young, my family either included dogs or cats who we doted on daily. Whenever we would see a stray animal on the side of the road, we would stop and see if we could help the animal and find if they had a home. When I moved out of my parent’s house, I adopted a Maine Coon named Harley from the Humane Society and then introduced a little 4 week old female DMH to the family whom we named Aprilia.

When my husband and I moved from Washington State to Arizona, I needed to find something to do with my time while my husband was in school. Where did I turn? Animal welfare, of course! Pets became my life. I volunteered at a cat rescue where I was introduced to animal behavior and my love for pets grew from there.

I trained under a top Animal Behaviorist and learned how to read body language, train volunteers on how to handle pets, and taught dog obedience classes, but also did some difficult things like testing animals for intake and help the vet staff when a dog or cat needed to be euthanized.

Euthanasia was difficult, but regardless of if the pet died  because of  behavior or illness, I was there to help show them they would not die alone. They were loved. Each one took a piece of my heart with them.

A New Generation

Now as I have grown my family by 3 little boys, 2 Alaskan Malamutes, and 1 DSH cat, I want to return to my love of animals by helping their human counterparts. I want to help people go through the mourning process with no judgment. Everyone should be able to share their stories in hopes of helping others. Here, in this blog, I want to provide ideas and helpful tips to get through these difficult moments.

Not only do I want to help in times of absolute grief, I want to help pet parents understand how to keep their furbabies healthy…longer. It is quality over quantity; however, if we can extend the quality of life, both pet and parents can enjoy that extra time.

The times have changed from the days when pets were only used for work. They are now our comfort, our confidants, our lives… Let’s build a community to remember them.

Let’s Build a Strong Community

The goal of this website is to teach, be taught, and to lend a shoulder for those who are experiencing or have experienced the loss of their beloved pet. My hope is that the website will be interactive where everyone can share their thoughts, ideas, and dreams.

Let’s work together to remember our fur babies!

My Baby Beckham

If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.

All the best,

Kelly