Animals Unfolded

After many years of hands-on work in animal hospice and palliative care, keeping pets comfortable who are in their final years-to-days is my jam. I’ve had the good fortune of discovering and learning many things along the way and helping families near or far .  But I’m going to show you that you have the ability to provide an enhanced level of comfort for your own pet right now.   Pets who are feeling unwell—especially those who are experiencing pain or nausea—really have a tough time. This includes those with liver disease, or late-stage cancer, and especially those with airway issues like Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis & Polyneuropathy (GOLPP) and primary or secondary lung masses. They experience trouble staying cool or more accurately, feeling cool . And in pets with airway issues, they can’t breathe and pant as efficiently and that can contribute to them working even harder to breathe, and as importantly, anxiety. This isn’t good for any patient, nor their car...

There are a few things that pet guardians rate as important when addressing the needs of their aging or terminally ill pet: they don’t want them to suffer, they want them to eat and they don’t want to see them zorked out and sedated on pain medication. And as a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner, when I’m supporting families as we are discussing pain management with their pet’s veterinarian, the side effects are top of mind for them. (Some medications are sedating, at least temporarily though in many cases the sedation can be a big help, but I digress.) Those concerns about sleepiness are valid. And when a family gets on board with adequate pain management, I can tell you it’s not a moment too soon.  The pet does in fact typically sleep more, but it’s easy to focus so much on how drowsy a pet seems as a side effect of meds and not take into account that maybe, for the first time in a long time, the pet has attained a level of comfort because of the medications doing their inte...

Pets are living healthier lives, thanks to the advances in veterinary medicine and better understanding of their needs, both behavioral and emotional. Healthier also means longer , and that has implications that families might not have expected with their current generation of pets: challenges surrounding age-related decline. Having seen many families through what is now their third generation of pets, and walked with them through their pet’s fourth life stages, there have been so many advances in medication and complementary therapies to enhance comfort — which in turn supports mobility — along with tools in helping that go more smoothly. All pets experience age-related decline. And I’m going to focus on talking about one area that invariably comes to the forefront: how dogs and cats are able to manage changing mobility and independence with the use of products and tools.  With cats, we know they have certain spots in the house that they really love to hang out in, and they’re us...

I often come into a family’s life at a time that’s fraught with fear of the known and unknown, sadness, murky territory. Did I mention tension?  That kind of strain is so pervasive in the area of the fourth life stage and end-of-life. And when it involves our pets, it can be very complicated. No matter if there is one human involved, or   multiple members of a family, the tension is expected. It’s an understandably scary time. In my years working with families finding themselves walking in what some have initially characterized as quicksand, bearing witness to words being tossed like the harshest of barbs is par for the course.  Recalling a stern warning from the instructor at the helm of the professional end-of-life doula training that I took part in years ago, I thought,  ah... I recognize that. “You should not be tolerating verbal abuse in the course of your work...”  And the instructor is absolutely correct: as a professional, as a human being, I need not in...

"Let's schedule a consultation well before any trip you've in mind to meet and get a feel for whether or not we're all a fit," I always implore once a family and I have a chance to make that initial connection by email or phone.  They can also be assured that I'll be asking a lot of questions about their pet's health and behavior, as well as a history on both had how they've changed as they've aged or how their co-morbidities have progressed. I also do periodic re-assessments with my existing families with pets in fragile health or advanced age. Because of my experience, it's not uncommon for families with pets with special needs—usually geriatric pets—because of their health and behavioral considerations to reach out for help with their care. It could be that they'll be traveling or need a hand while they're at work to tend to little or big things that contribute to the pet's comfort and well-being, not to mention the fami...

I recall one of the things that Harold Rhee and I chatted about during one segment of the Pawprint Animal Rescue Podcast were the challenges that families face in medicating pets who are in fragile health or receiving palliative or hospice care. Whether it's pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals or supplements, what is meant to provide comfort care, pain or anxiety relief or even treatment for a disease can be a source of struggle for both pet and human.  Having had plenty of personal experience with that, I use what I learned during that period and beyond to administer what is prescribed by way of the most humane, safe methods possible and to get the most cooperation from pets. Though I'm not Fear Free Certified yet (still waiting on that to become available), I have participated in Fear Free training , which built on my previous experience and existing philosophy: interact with pets in the most safe and humane ways while getting their permission. I use these skills and tea...