Quality of Life
Your Pet’s Most Important Sign
What does Quality of Life (QOL) Mean?
The dictionary defines Quality of Life as the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual or group. What does this mean for your pet? It means – are they able to be the loving pet that they are with little to no pain and suffering? This can be very subjective and open to interpretation especially since our pets do not speak, you may not know the signs of pain and suffering. It is also very dependent on your pet’s personality, any disease processes they are experiencing, and your own personal beliefs.
One thing to remember is that age itself is NOT a disease and should not be the only reason for euthanasia. As we age, wear and tear does happen and this allows diseases to creep in and take hold. That said if pain management or medical treatments can NOT help then euthanasia may be appropriate.
Below are common signs that can affect our pet’s quality of life. Depending on your pet’s issues many of these signs can be treated or helped through hospice. Hospice may be able to increase your pets quality of life and make them more comfortable for the time that they have left on this earth with you. If you after you read through these signs you feel your pet’s quality of life is poor but it’s not time yet we recommend you consider a hospice consultation with us. See hospice tab for more information.
Common Signs that Affect QOL?
- PAIN & ANXIETY
- Our pets display pain very differently than we do as their primary language is not speech but body language. Common signs of pain are panting, sleeping a lot, growling when being touched in a painful place, restless sleeping, decrease appetite, bathroom accidents in the house etc. You should speak with veterinarian about signs of pain that are particular to the disease process your pet is suffering from. Pain can also cause a lot of anxiety for our pets since they don’t know why they feel it and don’t understand why they can’t do the things the used to or want to do. With hospice care we can try to figure out the cause of pain and help mitigate both the pain and the anxiety to make them comfortable.
- APPETITE
- This is usually the ONLY thing owners use to decide if its time to say goodbye. Many veterinarians will tell you that once your pet stops eating that it’s time. However, this should NOT be the only parameter. Many diseases will cause your pet to actually keep eating despite losing all their fat and muscle weight. Or sometimes their appetite is actually the LAST thing to go and meanwhile your pet has been wasting away suffering all this time. Additionally, pets that are highly food motivated who’s appetite is off is a big sign that something is really wrong. Lastly, not eating their daily caloric needs or even food at all for a few days is starving. Appetite is huge and if we can help provide more energy to our pets we can hopefully help them feel better. With hospice care we can try to figure out the cause and develop a plan to get their appetite going.
- HYDRATION
- Just as with food, many pets will become uninterested in drinking. Or some diseases cause your pet to actually drink more water than usual. These are both abnormal behaviors and should be considered when you are thinking about their quality of life.
- MOBILITY
- It’s not uncommon that we hear – “well they are old so they sleep more.” Whereas this is true as any of us age, it can also be a sign of pain and suffering of arthritis or other diseases. If they aren’t getting up as much as they use to, if they are having trouble getting up in the morning, restless during the night and passed out during the day, and trouble getting up or down stairs, or even limping, these are all signs of pain and suffering. With hospice care we can try to figure out the cause and develop a plan to help them get around better.
- HYGIENE
- Uncontrolled urination and defecation is normal as our pets age or diseases worsen. Additionally, as they age allergies can get out of control or you may feel that your pet is too fragile for a bath or nail trim. However, maintaining hygiene is important to prevent sores, urine scalding, and eventually infections. Also overgrown nails can actually make your pet’s pain and anxiety worse as their toes will begin to turn in abnormal ways, causing your pet to walk abnormally and set up shop for arthritis. Finding out the causes for these changes as well as figuring out how to maintain hygiene will help their quality of life.
- HAPPINESS
- As your pet’s guardian, you are the most important person to judge your pet’s happiness. You know them the best and you know what they love to do. Think about the things that your pet loved to do and doesn’t do anymore or rarely entertains. Even if these are negative things like they use to bark at the mailman and now they don’t care. These are very important because they use to use up energy to do these things that made them happy and now they don’t or can’t. If your pet doesn’t do what they use to and all they are doing is just “being” then it’s probably time.
Our Pet Quality of Life Scale
We have several tools that you can download and use to help you gauge your pet’s QOL. These include a quality of life scoring tool one for dogs and one for cats and we have disease handouts that help you understand what is going on with your pet and what to expect. Using these should help you see where your pet is currently and where they will likely go so you can plan ahead.
