Meet Beth Bigler

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Beth Bigler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Beth, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I didn’t find my purpose when my soulmate cat Arnie died. It crystallized.
I already had purpose. I was a storyteller, an educator, someone who helped people make meaning out of what they saw and felt. When Arnie died, it became clear that the world didn’t understand how sacred and devastating pet loss grief is. And I couldn’t look away. Everything I had been doing – writing, connecting, helping people feel seen – had been preparing me for this work. I didn’t need to start over. I needed to show up and change how we talk about, support, and honor the grief of a beloved animal’s transition.
That was the moment I started building what needed to exist.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a pet loss grief counselor, author, and grief educator. I support grieving guardians as they navigate the heartbreak before, during, and after the loss of their beloved companion animal and help them stay connected to that love in meaningful, ongoing ways. My work is rooted in the belief that our relationships with animals are sacred and that the grief we feel when they transition deserves the same tenderness, legitimacy, and care as any other form of loss.
What makes this work special is the depth of trust that grieving guardians bring. They let me witness some of the most intimate parts of their story – the final days, the questions no one else wants to hold, the quiet rituals, the aching love that refuses to disappear. I don’t take that lightly. It’s an honor to walk alongside them.

Professionally, I lead a global practice that includes private grief counseling and small group cohorts. I have a vibrant Instagram community (@honoringouranimals) where I post daily content to validate, educate, and affirm those navigating pet loss grief and host monthly live memorial services and pet grief gatherings.

What I’m most excited about right now is the release of my first book, Honoring Our Animals: 365 Meditations for Healing After Pet Loss, which debuts June 3 from Quarto Books. It’s a daily companion for grieving guardians, filled with reflections, rituals, and invitations to support their grief in real time. It also includes a pet grief feelings wheel, a fully indexed section to help readers find what they need, and tools for working with complex emotions, identity shifts, self-compassion, and, most importantly, continuing their relationship with their beloved. I hope this becomes the go-to resource for anyone experiencing pet loss and a trusted gift for friends and family members who want to support a griever.

Everything I do is in collaboration with my beloved cat Arnie, whose transition started us on our mission. Through this work, our relationship continues to grow and it brings me so much meaning to help others keep their beloveds close too.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three qualities that have shaped my path as a pet loss grief counselor the most are emotional attunement, storytelling, and creative integration.

Emotional attunement is the heart of my work. It means being able to sit with pain, to hold space without needing to fix, and to truly witness someone’s grief without judgement. Pet loss is often dismissed or misunderstood, so being fully present is a powerful form of validation. For anyone starting out, I would say this: practice listening with your whole self. Let people feel what they feel and trust that presence matters more than perfect words.

Storytelling has always been part of my life. It’s how we make meaning. In grief work, I’ve seen how powerful it can be to help someone put words to what they’re carrying. To tell the story of their beloved, of their love, and of who they are now. If you’re drawn to this kind of work, get curious about the stories people need to tell and let them lead.

Creative integration is what makes the intangible feel tangible. Whether it’s lighting a candle, creating an altar, writing dialogues, making art, or drawing a tarot card, I’ve found that creative practices help people move with their grief in a way that feels grounding and real. There’s no one right way to grieve. Let the process be flexible. Let it be yours.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is a grieving guardian who deeply loves their beloved and is now struggling to understand how to live (or how they will live) in the aftermath of that earthside loss. I work with people across a wide range of experiences. Some are in the early, disorienting days, while others are years into their grief and still feel the ache in their bones. Some experienced sudden loss. Others walked through a long decline.
What they all share is a desire to continue their connection.
That’s the center of the work. I support clients who want to keep their beloved close, even as their daily life shifts. Many are wrestling with guilt, regret, or shame about decisions they made or didn’t make. Some are holding anger at themselves, at others, at the unfairness of it all. For a lot of people, the last day plays on a loop, and it’s hard to know how to carry that pain.
There’s often a deep loss of identity. A disruption in their routine. A silence in the spaces where their beloved used to be. Many are asking: Who am I now? How do I live in a way that still honors what we share?
An ideal client doesn’t need to have it figured out. They don’t need to be in a “better place.” What matters is the willingness to show up, to be with what’s real, and to believe, even a little, that the bond didn’t end. They’re not looking to let go. They’re looking to stay connected in a way that feels honest and intentional.
And more than anything, I hope for clients who are ready to start being kinder to themselves. Who are open, even in the smallest way, to offering themselves the kind of love and compassion their beloved gave and will always give to them. Even if they don’t know how to begin. That’s where we start.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://honoringouranimals.com
• Instagram: @Honoringouranimals
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honoringouranimals
• Other: https://a.co/d/49JHNzl
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Image Credits

@honoringouranimals Instagram