A few comments in some other threads make me think that I haven't seen this addressed directly and thought perhaps it would be useful to share what helped you deal with loss. This is a heavy topic, let's try to keep it as light as we can.
My best recommendation is to stay in touch with the community. I had drifted away from the community for a number of years and when my love passed, I went through it alone, foolishly. It's so hard keeping it together for anyone who loses a love, but for us it's harder as we have to keep it hidden and grieve secretly. I don't think there's anything more rage-instilling than hearing "It was just a [dog|horse|cat|chupacabra|etc]". In the community, at least there are others who understand and can relate.
Another bit that helped me was reading philosophy, I found Marcus Aurelius' Meditations to be a very good read for finding sanity when I'd lost much of it. http://seinfeld.co/library/meditations.pdf
I was, at the time of my loss, kicked to the curb by the community, but otherwise I agree.
It can be easy to become angry when confronted with loss. Bitter really. You blame everyone else for the inevitable. Don't do this. Reach out. Don't burn bridges.
That's my advice.
I went through a bad bought of depression when I found my girlfriend was sent away not dead but I'll probably never see her again it's what made my come to accept what I am and I don't know how I'll handle it when my daughter dies.
I have lost lots of animals - most of them animals I didn't have a romantic relation with - and I find that the best support I always get is from my most trusted person. Me.
My close relatives (who are non-zoo to my knowledge) like animals very much and are very supportive and understanding too. When we lose a four-legged family member we can find some support on each other, but support from others never helps me much in any case.
I have never gotten the "It is just an animal" line from anybody, because people around here knows me better than that. Some people I know has gotten one of those, and that always reduces my respect to the one who says it to close to zero.
I once lost a mare I had a romantic relation with to an accident. Since I considered myself partially responsible for that accident, I felt myself extremely bad about the matter. I didn't stop being a functional person, but I felt rotten inside for some time. I don't think that talking to other people about the subject of the loss of a loved one would have helped me much.
Hey, I'm the same as you. Cool.
I haven't actually lost any of my loved ones yet(though I have lost family pets in the past, the bond wasn't the same), but I know the day will come. One of my guys is 5 and the other hasn't even hit 2 yet. They've both got years to go but I'll have one to comfort me when the other passes. I've also looked into some philosophy and spirituality type stuff on my own that I kind of vibe with so I think that will help me with death and losing loved ones as well. It's easy to say you're hypothetically ready, but I don't think you can ever really prepare for the loss completely. Things in your life with change in ways that you wouldn't even previously have noticed and maybe even ways you can't express. I have found it important throughout life to never forget that the future could hold any number of things, and that I need to focus and remember so I can reach those goals and that losing one of my guys won't be the end of the world, even though it'll be crushing.
I can kind of, retroactively, appreciate the sentiment of your post.
I just wish I wasn't so far off the deep end of life that I could still see some solace in a thing like community.
Topic like this runs aground fast because it's of interest to no one until it's happening to them personally in the thick / they can't really get it til it happens to them (the human condition in a nutshell). Not that you can ever totally prepare for it anyhow.
Still I'm sure there's people who could use this advice in their timeline.
Can't give out much myself except that music is pretty good. Then again, there's always some weirdo who claims he doesn't like music. Some people are beyond help.
Or... you know, just different?
I like music but found that a bit over the top.
I rather spare other zoophiles the suffering/depression of my suffering/depression as nothing they can do or say can help me, only time can help. As such, I didn't let people know that my boyfriend die till many many months later, after I already had "get over it" on my own.
So, seem that I did the total opposite of what you suggested.
Everyone is different.
What you suggested would probably kill me. That doesn't make it wrong for you, however.