End of Life Assistance

Compassionate Veterinary End-of-Life Care: Providing Comfort and Support During Difficult Times

Endo of life programs at Kipling Veterinary Hospital and Wellness Center

End of Life Care Services

Kipling Veterinary Hospital and Wellness Center’s End of Life Service provides pet owners supportive veterinary practices ensuring your pet comprehensive, compassionate, and respectful services during a challenging emotional time.

Age and Quality of Life Calculators

Age and Quality of Life Calculators may be of interest.  If so, please visit our Community Links to find out more.  These calculators have been designed to estimate dog and cat age and life quality.

Hospice Care and Pain Management for Pets with Terminal Illnesses:

  • Provide comfort, pain relief, and support the best quality of life for pets in their final stages.
  • What It Involves:
    • Tailored medical care: This might include pain medications, wound care, special diets, and more, to ensure the pet is as comfortable as possible.
    • Frequent check-ups: Regular monitoring by the veterinarian to adjust treatments, as necessary.
    • Comfort measures: Things like soft bedding, quiet environments, or even simple comforts like favorite toys.

Support and Counseling for Pet Owners:

  • Help pet owners cope with the emotional challenges of seeing their beloved pet in its final stages and making tough decisions.
  • What It Involves:
    • Grief counseling: Sessions with a counselor who specializes in pet loss.
    • Support groups: Joining other pet owners who are going through similar experiences can provide a sense of community and understanding.
    • Education: Understanding the pet’s condition, prognosis, and what to expect can help owners make informed decisions.
    • Resources: Providing literature or references about pet grief, loss, and the decision-making process.

    Euthanasia Services:

    • Ensure a peaceful and humane end for pets when their quality of life has deteriorated to an extent where it is the kindest choice.
    • What It Involves:
      • Discussion and decision-making: The veterinarian and pet owner discuss when it is the right time, weighing the pet’s quality of life against the progression of its illness.
      • The process: The veterinarian will explain how euthanasia works, and what the pet owner can expect. This typically involves an initial sedative followed by the euthanasia drug, ensuring the pet’s passing is painless and peaceful.
      • Aftercare: The client and doctor discuss options for cremation, burial, and memorializing the pet.
      • Comfort measures: We have a special room for euthanasia, designed to be calming and comforting for both the pet and the owner.

    Pre-Cremation Consultation:

    • Provide comfort, pain relief, and support the best quality of life for pets in their final stages.
    • What It Involves:
      • Tailored medical care: This might include pain medications, wound care, special diets, and more, to ensure the pet is as comfortable as possible.
      • Frequent check-ups: Regular monitoring by the veterinarian to adjust treatments, as necessary.
      • Comfort measures: Things like soft bedding, quiet environments, or even simple comforts like favorite toys.

    Cremation Services:

    • Offer a respectful and dignified method of managing a pet’s remains after passing.
    • What It Involves:
      • Communal Cremation: This is a group cremation of multiple pets together. Ashes from group cremations are not available for the pet’s owners. This choice is typically more affordable.
      • Private Cremation: One pet is cremated at a time, ensuring that the ashes returned belong solely to that pet. This option is more expensive but provides personal closure and keepsakes for pet owners.

    Post-Cremation Care:

    • Services and products that help memorialize and remember the pet.
    • What It Involves:
      • Ash retrieval: Safely packaging and returning ashes to pet owners.
      • Memorial products: The pet’s owners select urns or keepsake jewelry, photo frames, or other memorabilia to store the pet’s ashes.
      • Certificate of cremation: A document certifying the pet’s cremation, especially important for private cremations.

    Grief Support and Counseling:

    • Help and support pet owners emotionally during and after the cremation process.
      • What It Involves:
        • Referrals to grief counselors specializing in pet loss.
        • Information on groups for pet owners navigating the grieving process.
        • Resources, literature, and online platforms where owners can share memories of their pets.
        • Please see our Community Links for more information.