Based on the human concept of hospice, pawspice helps you to provide quality care for your pet with a terminal illness. You can feel comfortable knowing how to care for your pet and having the support of our staff to help you with your pet’s end of life decisions. A number of factors are considered and monitored for your pet. These quality of life issues include: hurt, hunger, hydration, hygiene, happiness, mobility and more good days than bad days. Together with the Animal Pain Management Center, we can help you properly address each factor and develop a personalized plan for you and your pet.
Quality of Life is probably the single most important factor to most pets:
We can help you monitor the “score†of 0-10 for each of the following quality of life issues, helping you to provide care through your pet’s final days.
Hurt: There are many options available to help control your pet’s pain. We can discuss what to look for at home to determine if medication adjustments are required or if an alternative therapy can help.
Hunger: Ailing pets may have different nutritional requirements. We need to ensure that your pet is receiving the caloric intake he or she needs. This may include feeding your pet by hand or adding enticing foods.
Hydration: Maintaining hydration is important in helping your pet feel better. Our staff can show you how to tell if your pet is dehydrated. If so, they can tell you how to give your pet fluid with an oral syringe or by subcutaneous injection.
Hygiene: A plan needs to be in place to keep your pet clean and brushed. We can help you come up with solutions for incontinent pets such as disposable pads and diapers. Medication may help in some cases.
Happiness: This is important for you and your pet. He or she should have interaction and mental stimulation. Is your pet willing to interact with you and other family members? Is there something your pet still looks forward to?
Mobility: There is a lot of variability for this issue. Small pets are generally easier to manage when they experience reduced mobility. Can your pet enjoy life with assisted mobility and can you manage the challenges? There are a number of mobility assistance devices available from slings to carts. Adding things such as non-skid flooring and ramps can be a big help, too.
More Good Days Than Bad Days: When there are too many bad days in a row, your pet’s quality of life needs to be considered. Bad days could be a progression of your pet’s condition or days when there are undesirable experiences such as sustained nausea. There may be aspects of your pet’s care that can be adjusted to maximize good days.