Animals Unfolded

There have been instances in my practice where, during a conversation, an individual who I’m providing pet loss & grief companioning support to expresses difficulty with all manner of issues not directly related to the distant, recent or anticipatory loss of their pet. It’s expected from time to time. And to some degree, it can be linked to the work we’re doing together. It’s often a fine line that I need to carefully consider & be honest with myself about, & so a little curiosity & reflective listening goes a long way. In some cases, its not blurry: the sticky wicket of something like the death of a human loved one, or maybe having a complicated relationship with a human loved one or experiencing conflicts in the workplace has clearly taken a place front & center for the pet guardian—which is actually a pretty common thing to happen when one is wading through the viscous territory of the grief surrounding pet loss, or feeling the effects heavy duty caregiving....

Pet health insurance is a topic that comes up at least a couple of times per week in my work, & that’s no surprise. After well over 20 years participating in various professional capacities adjacent to veterinary medicine, & now working with families as a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner focused on senior & geriatric care, animal hospice & palliative care support for pets of any age, the involvement of vet care is common. And, of course I’m frequently liaising with other members of veterinary interdisciplinary teams, so I’m part of these conversations when families are moving through decision making.  I’ve made some interesting observations.  The first of which is that pet guardians understand that they can expect a better experience in meeting the changing needs of their pets, no matter the life stage or health status. That’s due to advances made in vet med, including testing & treatments that weren’t available even 10 years ago, a better understan...

If it’s one thing I’m known for professionally, it’s thinking ahead to what things could happen & having a plan to pivot on the fly. Of course, this is essential working in animal hospice. Though from a practical standpoint, when we’re responsible for a pet of any health status or age it makes good sense to consider how we might navigate an unexpected situation since they can’t fend or advocate for themselves. I can’t count the number of occasions I’ve gotten a phone call from an accident scene, or the hospital from a frantic family-of-record after an unexpected event like that or a serious illness unfolds & their pets are waiting for them at home—alone.  ‘You’re the first person I thought to call, Lorrie.’ I’m usually able to step in at a moment’s notice when I get a call like this to bridge the gap with short term emergency visits for the pets, but given the nature of my work, providing longer term custodial care just isn’t feasible. And yet, there are cases where a ...

Eating is an activity of daily living (ADL) that looms large in the work that families & I do together. We track the usual aspects of this activity: the pet’s interest in food, how much they’re eating, when they’re doing so, & what they’re eating. And that gives the pet guardians, the core members of the vet interdisciplinary team (vets, vet techs) & me good information about how well a pet is doing & coping with symptoms & changing needs as they navigate this time, whether they’re senior or geriatric, coping with recovery through injury or illness, or, as is a focus of my practice—when they’re benefiting from the program of care that is a nimal hospice & palliative care .  If a pet is demonstrating a change in appetite, our identifying what’s happening, when, how often, to what degree, & what has or hasn’t worked is par for the course & then relaying that information to the vet team. Routinely submitting quality of well being assessments ...