Things to Consider for Veterinary Palliative Care
As your pet advances in years, you may begin to be concerned what their last days will be like.
In this article, we will cover some important information that you should be aware of so that you, as a pet-caregiver, can make their last years the best!
1. Have a good relationship established with your veterinary care provider.
It is important to have a good relationship established with your veterinary care provider as they will be an important part of the team providing your pet with the best care possible. As pets reach their senior years it is important to visit your vet yearly, if not every six months.
The physical exam, general health statistics, and blood work results help your vet to recognize physical changes and early stages of disease states allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment for your pet. Oftentimes, chronic disease states such as arthritis, heart, or kidney disease can be managed with simple changes around the home, dietary changes, and drug therapy as needed.
Lawrence Drug can compound prescriptions from your vet into suspensions, capsules, troches, and topical creams to help with ease of administration. Often times we can compound multiple medications into one capsule or troche to avoid the need to give multiple medications separately.
2. Consider filling out a Quality of Life Assessment form.
Another tool I have found extremely helpful in my experience is a Quality of Life Assessment. If you begin using an assessment list even a year or two before the end of your pet’s life it can help you clearly notice changes that are important to report to your veterinarian. For example, I started using an assessment about a year before my cat passed away. In the beginning I filled it out monthly, then as I began noticing changes I did it weekly, and daily near the end. You can keep these as part of your records so you can review them if needed. The assessment can be very helpful near the end days of your pet’s life to help make choices clearer.
3. Veterinary hospice care may often be unknown, but it is an ever-growing practice.
Your established vet may offer these services, but some vets actually specialize in providing this kind of care. This often entails assessments for pain relief or treatment of the disease states, specialized services such a cold laser therapy or acupuncture, and in-home euthanasia.
I would suggest establishing a relationship with the veterinarian that provides these services several months before you anticipate needing them. Two vets that provide hospice care and travel to offer in-home euthanasia are Greener Pastures Hospice and The Traveling Vet.
We hope you consider these items as helpful information which can help widen your options for your senior pets as they near the end of their life!
