A Message from a Customer
One of my customers once shared this with me:
“My beloved pet passed away, and I’ve lost my appetite. My family keeps telling me to eat something—anything—but I feel so down that I can’t bring myself to eat.”
When I received this message, I gently replied:
“If you’re not feeling well, it’s okay not to force yourself to eat.”
Later, the customer told me that hearing those words brought them a sense of relief.
Hello, I’m MiAsa from Knit my Pet.
While listening to our customers share their stories of pet loss, I continue to knit and create custom-made memorial items with care and compassion.
When someone is grieving the loss of a beloved pet, very few people can say their meals taste good or that they’re eating well.
Today, I’d like to share some thoughts from my own experience about loss of appetite during pet grief.
Loss of appetite (my experience)
I was diagnosed with depression a few years after losing a pet.
Read more about depression here.
One of the symptoms of depression is loss of appetite and not being able to taste food.
It was the same for me.
I knew I needed to eat, but my body just couldn’t accept it.
There were days when I spent the whole day in bed without eating anything.
Then, after a long time had passed, I felt better and was able to taste the deliciousness of food, and for the first time, I realized that I had no sense of taste.
Advice from a friend to me
I was lucky to have several acquaintances who had overcome depression.
They all gave me a lot of advice.
One of them did this.
“If you can’t eat, then don’t have to eat. If you can’t sleep, there’s no need to force yourself to sleep.”
I still remember how much those words saved me.
My advice to my friends
A few years later, another friend of mine became depressed in the same way.
It seems that many people become depressed in today’s stressful society.
My friend who became depressed said the following.
“My family tells me that I have to eat properly, so I’m forcing myself to eat, but I just can’t.”
When I heard that, I gave her this advice:
“If you don’t have the energy to eat, then you don’t have to eat. That’s what happened to me.”
She looked very happy when I told her that.
It seemed that she had felt guilty about not eating.
Perhaps being told that she didn’t have to force herself to eat helped her to forgive herself.
Eating takes a lot of energy.
It seems that digestion takes energy in particular.
When you are mentally weak, your physical strength also decreases.
At times like that, digestion puts a strain on the body.
It’s not good to not eat at all, but I think forcing yourself to eat when your body can’t accept food puts a strain on the body.
My advice to customers
When I receive requests to create pet memorial goods, customers sometimes ask for advice.
I’m not a doctor, so I can’t advise them that they don’t need to eat.
I don’t think it’s good to not eat at all.
But there are times when you just can’t eat.
I think forcing yourself to eat at those times will only make you feel tired.
I think it’s best to listen to your body and take it easy.
No sense of taste
As I wrote at the beginning, I also lost my sense of taste.
I realized this after I had recovered.
One day after I had recovered, I thought dinner tasted really good.
I was so happy that I cried.
My siblings laughed at me and said I was weird, but I was still happy.
When we are so depressed that we have lost our sense of taste, our bodies must be malfunctioning.
Try to get a medical examination or talk to someone you can trust.
Don’t try to deal with it alone.
However, it can be surprisingly difficult to realize that you have lost your sense of taste.
If you read this article and think it might apply to you, try to savor your meals.
If you feel like something is wrong, you may be pushing yourself a little too hard.
Please take care of yourself.
We create our products while listening to the concerns of our customers.
I create my products while having these kinds of conversations with my customers.
Some say they had no one to talk to.
Some are very reserved, and we sometimes receive long emails.
All kinds of people have their own problems, and are looking forward to receiving cushions and blankets.
We don’t just make “products,” we make things that embody the feelings and memories our customers have for their pets.
I would be happy if that can reach our customers.
Knitted items made from photos of pets
