PAWS Pathway

Hi everyone,

My name is Anna McClain and I am so honored to meet you. I was greatly inspired to start PAWS Pathway when my sweet Toy Poodle Alfie passed away in 2016 and wanted to be here to guide you through this deeply difficult process of pet loss and offer my support and care.

Animals change our lives from the moment they look at us with their soulful eyes, wet nose, precious kisses, playful tails, wiggly bodies, cuddles and purrs, and always their soothing comforting time with us.

No words can ever express the beautiful, precious love our best friends give us with their peaceful presence every day. They love us unconditionally, always and forever. They accept us for who we are and never would judge us.

One day, sooner than we can ever imagine, our precious pets will pass on and leave us. While they are forever in our hearts and memories, they are not physically at our sides, which is more unbearable than we can even imagine. How do we handle these heartbreaking moments? What do we do without our best friend at our side? How do we keep moving?

The answer is PAWS Pathway.

PAWS Pathway is our life path throughs where our pets have imprinted on our hearts with their paw prints, kisses, and cuddles, and we honor their memories through our future words/actions.

PAWS Pathway is also:

A path that helps us better understand our emotions, actions, reflections, and relationships (people/animals).A path of inspiration from our past moments together to our future moments after they’re gone.A path where we can lean on our memories, learn to walk alongside our grief, accept, and embrace it- rather than seeking to forget or overcome. This may be additionally known as “Good Grief” or “Love Living On through Our Grief.Our life path has forever changed with the loss of our best friends, but they are always by our side.We will always love and miss our precious friends. With PAWS Pathway, we can keep honoring our pets, remembering them daily, and learning to maintain a healthier and peaceful state of mind. 

The first step is here... PAWS, take a deep breath and start your own pathway. Please take one step at a time, one breath at a time. I am always here to help support you, guide you, comfort you, and support you along your PAWS Pathway journey. You are never alone and are so loved.

PAWS: Pets Are Wonderful SoulsReactRememberReflectRe-energizeRejoicePAWS: Pets Always Will Support

I offer counseling sessions on understanding quality of life, anticipatory grief, pet loss, compassion fatigue, burnout, self-care, and more and can do either a phone or virtual session. I also offer complimentary virtual support groups on any of these topics and can always send you resources anything.

I also offer educational seminars about any of these topics for your veterinary clinic or aftercare service and can create a specialized session for your team (and a support group if needed). 

I am always here for you.