Comfort, Hygiene, and Safety in Veterinary Palliative Care and Hospice

Abstract

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. End-of-life issues, euthanasia, and death are typically not everyday concerns for the pet owner. Pet owners and veterinary patients rely on the veterinary health care team to help create the structure within which the pet will die. 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.