Facing Those Final Days With the Special Care Your Pet Needs

Because most pet owners tend to outlive their pets, there comes a time in most pet-human relationships when time starts to run out for your beloved cat or dog.

- By Iris Zinck

Because most pet owners tend to outlive their pets, there comes a time in most pet-human relationships when time starts to run out for your beloved cat or dog. Until just a few years ago, this simply meant dread-filled days of watching your fur child deteriorate until it finally crossed the Rainbow Bridge, with or without your help. Today, there is an alternate route—and it’s one about which all of us should be aware. Just as hospice care options are becoming increasingly available to terminal human patients, a “new breed” of veterinarians has emerged to help support pets and their caregivers through those final days, weeks or months. While it is not yet considered an official veterinary specialty, Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Veterinarians provide an in-depth focus on comfort, peace, quality of life and alleviation of pain, as well as offering education and support to the pet's caregivers. In most cases, these veterinarians do their work in the pet’s home environment rather than the clinical atmosphere of a veterinary office.

Connecting With a Hospice Vet