![]() They all have the potential to result in pain.īeing aware of this and monitoring your dog for signs of pain (which are different to the signs of pain in cats) is really important. This includes cancers, chronic end stage arthritis, various intestinal and organ diseases. A lot of conditions that present towards the end of life are painful. Pain relief plays a huge role in palliative care. We can come up with an alternative plan so don't be afraid to share this vital information with us. As vets we can only know that something either isn't working or is just proving too difficult if you let us know. Let them know that you're going to struggle (or you’ve tried and are unable to make the plan work) because there may be other options. If your vet is suggesting doing x, y and z, but you would simply be unable to give a specific form of medication or carry out a suggested intervention you really must let your vet know. You also need to be realistic and honest about what you want to do and what you will be able to do. If they know what the lines in the sand are for you and your pet then they can better help formulate a plan to maximize quality of life. Having a think and then communicating your goals with your vet is very important. We get such a small snapshot of what they like at the vet clinic, it's also a stressful environment and so they may also behave very differently. You know your pet much better than we as vets ever can. ![]() Work closely with your vetĮvery pet will be different and every family will have different goals and aims for their pets end of life care. Remember we need to put quality of life above everything else. If they're not interacting with the family, they're not going to your children to play or for cuddles then once they stop this then that might be a key quality of life kind cut off for you and your pet. If they love their walks and they're starting to become really reluctant to go for walks or they're not exercising with their normal enthusiasm, then that might be the kind of a key quality of life indicator for your pet. If they're really into their food, then stopping eating might be a key thing that says your pet is starting to suffer and their quality of life is deteriorating. One thing that is worthwhile to do is record what the key quality of life indicators for your pet are. It’s really important to have realistic expectations and realistic goals, and for each individual pet and for each family this will be different. If you’re thinking that you just want your pet to be around forever then unfortunately that's just not going to be possible. This involves addressing several key aspects in a pets day-to-day care.įirst though you should be very clear about what your beliefs are as a family and what your end goals are. ![]() We do this by trying to address whatever it is that is causing our pet to struggle with their day-to-day life, and reducing the symptoms of whatever is causing them pain or distress. We really want to optimize quality of life so that the time they have left with us is as happy, comfortable and as full of joy as it can possibly be. We're not really focusing on quantity of life (or how long they're going to live). What then is palliative care for pets? Really, it's all about trying to optimize the quality of life of our dog or cat and holding this as the most important thing above everything else. If you watch the video above you can see some pictures of the area! What is cat and dog palliative care? If you who follow me on twitter (and if you don’t then why not!), you'll know that I was fortunate enough to attend the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) Congress, 2018 a 4 day conference held in Singapore. My thoughts today were actually prompted by a recent lecture that I attended. ![]()
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