User:Bonnie Mader

ANIMAL HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE

Animal Hospice is a philosophy and/or a program of care for animals in advanced stages of life limiting illness. The term is synonymous with the term Veterinary Hospice. The phrase "to neither hasten nor postpone death” is often associated with human hospice philosophy. In caring for seriously ill animals, death may occur through hospice-assisted natural death, or through humane euthanasia which is a legal and widely accepted option in veterinary medicine for relieving animals’ suffering.

The International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care (IAAHPC) uses the term Animal Hospice to include the continuum of care from the time of a terminal diagnosis through the death of the animal, inclusive of death by euthanasia or by hospice assisted natural death.

Palliative Care delivered during hospice is often referred to as comfort care [pain relief and supplemental oxygen are examples], while life-saving measures such as CPR or artificial respiration are no longer helpful or desirable.

As with Human Hospice, Animal Hospice philosophy endorses a team approach. Animal Hospice provides care for the psychological, emotional, physical and medical needs of the animal patient and, importantly, also addresses the psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the human caregivers.

Origins of Movement EOL choices as a Veterinary Client's Right Differing Philosophies

Members of the Animal Hospice Team

Ethics and Standards of Care

Oversight/Quality Control/Consumer Protection