Pawspice (rhymes with hospice) -
End of Life care:
Pawspice is a term that means hospice for animals. With pawspice we give palliative (keeping the pet comfortable), and hospice care, for pets with end-stage diseases. I feel that all pets diagnosed with advanced or life-limiting disease deserve compassionate medical care; and the family of the pet deserves emotional support. Some Veterinarians, intentionally or not, may opt for an "either/or" choice for pets with end-stage diseases: they offer the options of either a complete work-up and treatment; or euthanasia Because some owners may not be ready for euthanasia, or have moral issues with it; they may feel forced to opt for a complete work up, which can be quite costly. Please note, in many cases, we can not give you a diagnosis without a complete workup.
Our House Call Vet will use a Quality of Life (QOL) scale, adapted from Dr. Alice Villalobos' Scale as a guideline for our clients, to nurture the human-animal bond during the End of Life (EOL) care. This QOL scale can help an owner to decide when the time may be appropriate for euthanasia, if they so chose. It puts a numerical score on such things as pain, how well hydrated the pet is, how well the pet can move, etc. When the score gets below a certain numerical value, that can indicate that the pet is having a poor quality of life. In the interim, we will do what we can to help your pet to have a quality of life.
We also can discuss with our clients that a slow, decline towards "natural" death may not really be "natural" at all. In the wild, animals that are old or sick, do not die slowly. They are spared this, by natural predation. We can talk about how euthanasia may be a valid option, when the owner feels that it is right.
Our House Call Vet will use a Quality of Life (QOL) scale, adapted from Dr. Alice Villalobos' Scale as a guideline for our clients, to nurture the human-animal bond during the End of Life (EOL) care. This QOL scale can help an owner to decide when the time may be appropriate for euthanasia, if they so chose. It puts a numerical score on such things as pain, how well hydrated the pet is, how well the pet can move, etc. When the score gets below a certain numerical value, that can indicate that the pet is having a poor quality of life. In the interim, we will do what we can to help your pet to have a quality of life.
We also can discuss with our clients that a slow, decline towards "natural" death may not really be "natural" at all. In the wild, animals that are old or sick, do not die slowly. They are spared this, by natural predation. We can talk about how euthanasia may be a valid option, when the owner feels that it is right.