End-of-life care for your pet

End-of-life care for pets focuses on providing the best quality of life possible for a pet with a terminal disease or condition until the pet dies or is euthanized. End-of-life care also helps you as a pet owner by providing you time to make decisions and adjust to the coming loss of your companion. The care is tailored to the needs of both you and your pet.

A veterinary end-of-life care service typically includes on-call availability of the veterinarian to provide urgent care as needed; extended appointments including counseling and support for decision-making; in-home care; medications and other therapies administered to relieve discomfort, stress and pain; euthanasia options tailored to your and your pet's needs (which may include in-home euthanasia); and pet loss support/grief counseling.

If your regular veterinary team does not offer a particular service in which you are interested (such as in-home euthanasia), they likely can refer you to a colleague who does offer the service. Don't hesitate to ask about further options.