Animals Unfolded

There are countless ways the human-animal bond can be strengthened, but one that lots of pet guardians really love is co-sleeping. As a pet ages, though, many wonder whether it’s feasible due to some age related problems like incontinence , and as importantly, the pet’s safety: plenty of my families have expressed they’re understandably concerned after their dog has fallen out of bed.  Since the bulk of my practice is devoted to palliative and hospice care support offering overnight stays, I can attest to my families’ concerns about an aging dog’s changing ability to judge the edge of the bed, especially at night.  Some pet guardians decide that doing away with the frame of the bed makes most sense since it lowers the height of the bed considerably, while others have gone in a different direction to keep things safe while not changing their cherished routine. The video below highlights one budget-friendly way that’s done.  With over 20 years of experience in pet...

Many guardians discover as they tend to pets in their final months, their appetite just isn’t the same as it once was. It’s not a happy observation. It’s important to understand that pets aren’t giving up or being willful about their desire to eat: it’s something that can emerge with that time of life.  Disease processes can affect a pet’s appetite, along with medications and changes in physiology can impact how food tastes to them. Pain of all sources most definitely plays a role, in fact it’s the most common reason behind appetite challenges, with anxiousness following closely. Pets who’ve entered the period that leads up to animal hospice supported natural death—usually three months prior, give or take—most certainly see a decrease in food intake, along with other signals, and that’s expected and interpreted differently. While that is a topic for another time, what I will be focusing in on here is that messy, grey area in those final months when families really struggle since...