The other day we had to put our cat to sleep.  I was trying to find a book about this to help our 7 year old understand, so I called Barnes and Noble and the gal recommended The Heaven of Animals by Nancy Tillman and it was the best book ever.  It was very interesting because before my husband took the cat to the vet, my 7 year old said that we should give her a bath so she didn't meet her "new friends" all stinky and dirty and in the book it says that when they get to heaven, they get a bath so he was very relieved and it shows all kinds of other animals that are there.

Theresa, I am so sorry about your loss of a beloved pet.  Isn't it wonderful there are books to help kids through things like that and book experts who know it? 

When I had to put my much loved kitty down several years ago a co-worker gave me the poem "The Rainbow Bridge."   I'm not much into poetry nor the idea of a heaven but I was deeply moved by the words and thoughts in that poem not to mention having a friend who cared enough to know the pain of losing a pet.