Hospice
Making them Comfortable & Relaxed
What is it?
Veterinary Hospice – is a collaborative, medical partnership between a veterinarian and a family of a terminally ill or geriatric pet. The goal of hospice care is to provide comfort and better your pet’s quality of life until their death – due to euthanasia or by biological means ie unassisted death. Veterinary hospice addresses the physical, emotional, behavioral, medical and social needs of the pet. It also addresses the emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the family. With the help of a hospice veterinarian, hospice for a pet allows the family to better prepare and anticipate their pet’s death and associated grief experience. Veterinary hospice is about comfort, quality of life, minimizing the suffering of your pet, and to help you go through this grief process in a healthy way. It is NOT about extending life or finding a cure. It is about quality of life and NOT quantity that is the goal for veterinary hospice. Extending a pet’s life is possible with hospice care however, because we are making them more comfortable.
Veterinary Hospice Plan – This is a plan put together by the veterinarian for you to help your pet. It involves your pet’s medical history, a physical exam, assessing your pet’s home life and routines, and their overall quality of life. Additionally, it includes assessing your needs and goals in providing comforting and supportive end-of-life care. All of these aspects are put together into a plan for you and your pet. There is constant communication between you and the veterinarian during this whole process. Rechecks and evaluations may also be needed in order to reassess you and your pet’s needs as time goes on. Overall, we will help you to implement the agreed upon plan and assist you in determining when it is getting close to the time to say goodbye.
Why Veterinary Hospice ?
The goal of veterinary hospice is to minimize your pet’s suffering and to provide them with a good quality of life for the remaining time that they have left with us. There is a gap in our medical care for our pets when they do not see a veterinarian and this gap is usually at the end of their life. Most families do not want to keep taking their sick, aged, or dying pet back and forth to the clinic when it causes stress and anxiety for them and their pet and for what reason? There may not be a cure or fix for what your pet is experiencing. Or you may not think that your pet is suffering because they are not crying out in pain or behaving the way you expect them to if they were suffering. However, this time in their like is actually THE MOST important time that they get care! Why? Because, it is at the end of the life or close to it, that they are likely suffering the most.
With hospice care, we can bridge the gap! As a team, we can provide comfort care for your pet AS WELL AS prepare you for what to expect. We can educate you on what to look for as signs of pain and discomfort. We can give you suggestions IN YOUR HOME on how you can make your beloved furbaby more comfortable. And we can show you how to monitor their progress so you can be prepared and know that saying goodbye is near. Veterinary Hospice care is for the pet AND the family. No one wants to say goodbye to a loved one. But knowing when it’s time to say goodbye will make it easier.
