Animal Chaplaincy
Hospice and palliative care for your animal companion
Until Sherlock was diagnosed with cancer in May 2022, I had never heard of hospice and palliative care for animals, I thought it was only for humans! Once our vet had confirmed Sherlock's cancer, we asked about way's to remove the cancer, very sadly due to age and minimal survival rate from surgery (even young animals have a low survival rate of this surgery due to the location of the tumor) he was given 6-12 months! Our veterinary practice told us about holistic vet care, and directed us to a local vet who practiced palliative and hospice care, and in home euthanasia. At our first meeting with the vet, she went over the courses of treatment she uses, and we set up individual plans for Sherlock and Missy with acupuncture and various Chinese herbs, and also talked about realistic expectations. It's important to realize that this service is not a cure, it's there to help our animal companion's life's more comfortable. We continued with palliative and hospice care until we had in home euthanasia for Sherlock on March 10, 2022, and then continued with the service for Missy until we had in home euthanasia for her on July 17th 2022.
Here is a quote from the "International Association Animal Hospice and Palliative Care" website on their page "Faqs for Pet Parents" "What is Animal Hospice/What is Palliative Care"
Both are approaches to care for your animal friend that can be adopted when the goal shifts from cure to comfort. Both involve an interdisciplinary team of providers who offer comprehensive care on the physical, emotional and spiritual levels and include veterinarians, animal and family services providers. The term “animal hospice” is not a place; it is a philosophy of care that became popularized in the 1970s. Since the 1990s, the hospice model has been applied to also care for our pets and thus hospice and palliative care for animals is growing across the US and the world.
If you have a sick animal companion, please check out their site, they have lots of information for pet parents, I've included a link to their website at the bottom of this page.
End of Life Preparation
When we are facing the end of our relationship with our animal companion, for whatever reason. It can be important to us to honor their life, just as we would our human companion. Some of you may have your animal companion in palliative or hospice care, whereas others maybe facing hours until the end of that relationship. Below are just a few ways that you can honor this time you have left with your animal companion.
- Give them their favorite treats and food
- Take family photos with your animal companion
- If they or you can, take them on their favorite walk or their favorite to place to walk. If your animal companion is too sick or immobile, what creative ways could you come up with to take them to this place. This of course would depend upon size of animal and transportation logistics
- If your animal companion loved going camping with the family (my two did) could you set up a tent in your back yard and have a backyard campout with them.
- Have a celebration of their life, this could involve inviting friends’ round, preparing human and animal food while spending the time celebrating all the wonderful unconditional love and memories your beloved animal companion has given you.
In-Home Euthanasia
If you have decided on home euthanasia with your vet, please talk with your vet about your wishes and concerns before the visit. Having this conversation early will enable you to think more clearly rather than the time of the visit…I talk from experience here!
The following are some of the questions to ask your vet.
- If you want to bury your animal companion in your garden or yard, your vet will be able to let you know if this is possible, as some municipalities don’t allow animal remains to be buried on residential property.
- If you decide upon cremation, do you want a public cremation (other animals are cremated at the same time) or private (just your animal companion.) There are a couple of different types of cremation, so check with your vet to see which ones they offer.
- If you’re going to keep the remains after the cremation, ask your vet if they offer caskets or urns, and if so what type. If they don’t offer this service, they will probably be able to direct you to that service.
- If you want to have; a nose or paw print, clipping of fur, paw cast in clay etc. be sure to ask about that before the visit. I’ve sadly heard many folks regret that they were too upset and forgot to ask for this.
- Collar – If you want to keep your animal companions’ collar (I kept both of mine) it’s important to remember to take it off them before the vet administers the injections. I say that with sincere kindness to everyone, as it’s something else that in the moment of grief can easily be forgotten.
If for whatever reason you are unable or don’t choose to have an in-home euthanasia, you can still ask any of the above information questions.
To find out more information on Animal Hospice and Palliative Care, please check out "Pet Parents" under their Resources tab https://iaahpc.org
