For people who have lost pets (died, but not lost)….

My condolences to your friend
After a week of non stop crying we got another dog. He healed us. Its the only way it helped me.

The initial "back to myself" took about 3 months. After that I was able to go through the whole day without crying and could function a bit more normally. Unless something reminded me of her in any way. It's been since July.
Personally, getting a new pet has been a welcome distraction, the pain has faded but it is nowhere close to being gone.
I was told that because she was the first pet that was mine and I had her for 16 years, that made it all the more difficult to "come back".
However, losing her did also change who I am.

@DoubleRings it is forty years since we lost our last et smokey our cat i was so upset as i buried her in the garden . 😣i am hating the thought this time comes with our current cat jess as she was my world after we got her in 2014 . she helped me tremendously too help me cope with with my bereavement of my dad

Never thought about how long before but over a year. How long over a year, i don't know. For me its more traumatic losing a pet ( I consider them my children) than a person.

It was months before I was convinced to take in my current cat.

Never have regretted it.

Shady was killed by coyotes.

In some ways, like any death involving a loved one, you never really get over it.
Getting back to normal will vary from person to person.

we have 6 dogs 4 small 2 pit bulls Sense my wife and i married we have always had a dog most of our dogs dies of old age , every time we lose one we cry ,and soon after some gives us an unwanted dog , when we get the rabies tags we get them at the local shelter and it breaks my heart to see all the homeless dogs there mostly pit bulls , all of our dogs are neutered . we have a dog grave yard behind our house when i die ill be cremated and buried with them .

it would absolutely kill me inside if my cat got outside and never returned home

pets become a family member so them being lost or stolen is hard to get over

Daughter had to put her very elderly dog down today. The grandsons are taking it hard. I grew up on a farm and was introduced to death very young. Dogs cats chickens cows pigs turkeys ducks etc. I don't want to say I have a hard heart but death is a part of life and when an animal dies it dies.

Mine passed in April. And I’m still not over it. I lost my best friend.

It can really hurt and last months.

Even though I have always adopted a new dog within months of a pet's death, it still takes me at least a year to get over the loss. With one exception, our pets live a long time, which is good.

I lost a cat with which I had a close bond about 15 years ago. I still think of her with sadness as she was very special.

About a month. I was part of a rescue and we took in the older dogs so I've had many dogs die on me.

My dear sweet Kitten died on November 12, 2017, at the ripe old age of 15. I still miss her every day.

A few weeks.
It took me two years to consider getting a new one.

as the cat was old it was just waiting to pass. i already made my peace!

six months .. then i bought a puppy . who says money can not buy ya love...

Back to being functional? A couple days. Back to being able to be cheerful and "my regular self" a few weeks. Some people have far stronger emotional attachments to pets than others. People with smaller or non- existent emotional support networks can get hit even harder.