The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · May 2011
Historical ArticleIn the shadow of a rainbow: the history of animal hospice.
This article outlines the young history of animal hospice by first focusing on the history of human hospice, with special emphasis on the last 200 years. It then examines similarities between the two, showing how human hospice has informed its animal counterpart and defined it as specialized comfort care benefiting terminally ill companion animals in their home setting as well as a unique journey wherein the caregiver understands that quality of death is as important as quality of life. The article includes a bibliography and two specialized reading lists-on human hospice and on the growing field of animal hospice.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · May 2011
Delivery systems of veterinary hospice and palliative care.
There is great flexibility in how palliative medicine and hospice care can be delivered to pet owners. The veterinarian needs to develop a plan based on the professional's individual preferences. ⋯ Marketing and legal issues must be addressed when considering to offer palliative and hospice care. An organizational worksheet is provided at the end of this article to help with planning.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · May 2011
Comfort, hygiene, and safety in veterinary palliative care and hospice.
Hygiene, comfort, and safety during pet palliative care and hospice are usually straightforward. The veterinary health care team must coordinate care to ensure that the pet and the family are fully informed and engaged in the process. ⋯ The veterinary team can give the family-pet unit the gift of structure and multifaceted comfort. The veterinary profession must take seriously this unique niche of care.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · May 2011
Pain management for veterinary palliative care and hospice patients.
When negotiating the challenges of end-of-life care for animal patients with clients, veterinary health care providers must continually engage in ongoing evaluation of the pet's quality of life, as well as assessing the client's quality of life to ensure that the best decisions possible are made. By combining regular physical evaluations, including careful palpation to unmask pain, with open and honest dialog with the client about the pet's day-to-day reality, the partnership of pet owner and veterinary health care team can accept the challenge of anticipating, preventing, finding, and relieving pain in the veterinary palliative care and hospice patient.
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Starting a palliative or hospice care plan as soon as possible after a pet qualifies allows for better care of the pet and the family. The process is made more efficient by applying the 5-step strategy for comprehensive palliative and hospice care. The veterinarian and staff can immediately begin applying the philosophy of palliative and hospice care by following this protocol and be sure that no area of care is being neglected.