Friday 20 March 2015

Compassionate end

Compassionate end of life care for your pet in the comfort of their home.

The other night I was the Ottawa Kennels Club meeting. The guest speaker was Dr. Lianna Titcombe.
Dr. Titcombe is the owner of Claire Place a mobile Veterinary Service.

Animal Hospice, Palliative Care and Grief Support Network www.HospiceVet.com

I truly was moved by her stories, of the many pets that were able to go peacefully in the comfort of their own homes with the people and pets they shared their lives with, being there for them at the end.

We put Emma down in December of last year and both my husband and I were unsettled by the experience.

Emma cried out and it seemed for a number of seconds a haunting cry of pain. The euthanal was going into the vein, but also going subcutaneously.  The Vet just kept pushing on the syringe, without any adjustment and it took longer then it should have.
It is an emotion time, and a great loss to deal with losing a family member. Hagrid, the picture above is 14year old Border and definitely his time is nearer then I like to admit. We may stay home and do this better next time.

Dr. Titcombe also gave a list to consider when its time:

How much pain our pets are in?
Appetite, weight loss, struggling to get them to eat?
Hygiene, is your pet still grooming?
Mobility how mobile are they, do they still play? Or is all movement a chore?
Incontinent both urine and bowel movements
Demeanor,  Happiness vs Depressed or lethargic
Is sleep all they do?

Really it comes down to how many good days verses how many bad days your pet is having.

Its great to have this option
Thank you!


No comments:

Post a Comment