I grew up with my cat for 18 years. Had him from when he was 3 weeks old and had to bottle feed him. That cat was my best friend my entire childhood and early adult life. He ended up getting eaten by a coyote. It was horrific and traumatizing.

My actual best friend that I grew up with since diapers killed himself a couple years before that. While I still miss my cat (have had the family dog die as well but I was admittedly never as close to him as my cat) there is absolutely no comparison. It’s orders of magnitude different. And he was only my best friend, not even my child. The effect it has had on his mom, even ten years later, is crushing.

Sure, losing a pet can be like losing a “family” member of you loosen the parameters of what you consider family members. It’s a terrible and heartbreaking experience, I’m not trying to downplay it, but it does the people who have actually lost children a disservice by likening the two.