Our Services: In-Home Pet Palliative Care and Quality of Life

Why In-Home Pet Palliative Care?

Providing hospice care and assessing quality of life is not just for animals with cancer! In-home pet palliative care ensures your companion receives specialized comfort and attention right where they are happiest. Our licensed and highly experienced staff comes to you in your home and takes the time and care to understand your pet’s specific needs and those of all the family members involved in caring for them.

Any condition requiring short or long-term in-home palliative care are conditions we specialize in and focus on:

Osteoarthritis or progressive degenerative mobility conditions
Hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease

Terminal or end stage disease or diagnoses
Cancer, chronic end-stage renal disease, liver failure, heart failure

Behavioral aging, or cognitive dysfunction disorders
Dementia, neurological disorders (brain and nervous system cancer, systemic inflammatory conditions)

Quality of Life Assessment

A Quality of life assessment is an in home appointment to help determine if and when the right time to pursue hospice vs euthanasia vs discuss end of life options. This is a one time visit to your home and may or may not end with humane euthanasia.

Hospice care is a comprehensive assessment and plan following a terminal diagnosis, quality of life assessment or owner determined decision that things aren’t going well and palliative care is warranted/desired. This includes but is not limited to nutritional plan, environmental enrichment, review of medical records and discussion about current medical conditions, medical, pharmacological and alternative treatment modalities to address any issues related to palliative or end of life care. This is initiated by an at home visit and continues on a monthly basis until natural passing or euthanasia is elected.

We work closely with your primary specialty veterinarians to ensure collaborative cohesive integrated care for your pet. With this in mind, we will coordinate with your other veterinary care providers outside of our expertise (lab work, x-rays, other diagnostics and treatment modalities) to provide you with these services.

Read below for a full list of our services:

QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT

Starting at $250 (travel fees may be additional)

What can I expect from a quality of life assessment:

Assess current levels of pain and quality of life
Help you understand your pet’s comfort and wellness
Discussion about pet’s quality of life, nursing care, and environmental improvements
Evaluation of your pet’s disease and if there are other treatment options that can be considered
Prepare you for the emotions in your pet’s last chapter of life
If relevant, support you to decide the timing for euthanasia, share knowledge about the euthanasia process
Provide coping tips and resources for your family, including children, and other pet
Written summary of recommendations
Communication with your pet’s primary veterinarian

HOSPICE CARE

Starting at $600

What can I expect from hospice care?
Hospice care extends for one month from the initial in-home consult and renews at your discretion on a monthly basis

Initial consult
Provides everything included in a Quality of Life Assessment as well as:

Review of relevant medical records from other Veterinary professionals
Discussion of current medical condition and review of treatments
Medical, pharmacological and alternative treatment modalities to address any issues related to palliative or end-of-life care
Comprehensive nutritional plan and environmental enrichment recommendations
Institution of pain management or palliative care with in-home injections and oral prescriptions for ongoing care
A more detailed progress update and coordinated real-time communication with your current veterinary providers

Medications, administration of medications or any added treatments during the visit are at an additional cost discussed with you in advance of providing them.

Ongoing communication
While this is not an emergency service, we do our best to address the ongoing concerns of your pet and family members in a timely fashion. In most cases, texts, email or phone calls will be responded to within 24 hours of receiving them. If more urgent care is needed, a referral to local veterinary emergency hospital will be recommended.

Ongoing visits
Additional visits can be arranged with the veterinarian to assess the progress of current treatments and overall care, to make any additions or adjustments. Also, sometimes a more hands-on exam is warranted to make decisions regarding ongoing care. These visits are agreed upon by you and the veterinarian at an additional cost per visit.