Similar to human hospice services, animal hospice care focuses on providing comfort and quality of life for your pet with terminal illnesses or conditions due to aging. This is a fairly new practice in veterinary medicine.

The goal is to manage pain, alleviate symptoms, and offer emotional support to both pets and their owners during the end-of-life process.

If you choose a natural death for your pet, this means your animal companion will pass away on their own without any medical intervention.

While natural death can be a peaceful and gentle process for some pets, it can also be accompanied by pain and suffering. Pet parents must monitor their pet’s quality of life and comfort during this time. There may be times or situations where intervention may be needed.

Some animals react strongly to riding in a car or visiting places like the groomer’s or the vet’s office. If this description fits your pet, you might want to consider an at-home visit from your vet. If your vet does not offer that service, you might consider a mobile vet or a company that specializes in home euthanasia.

If you and your vet have reached the sad conclusion that euthanasia is the best option for your animal companion,  your vet may advise you that right now is the time to proceed.

If the health of your pet is manageable for the short term, your vet’s office may have you schedule the procedure in the near future. These appointments are typically scheduled early or late in the day to ensure the clinic is less busy and quieter.

Many people hide their feelings—at least those that might be visible, such as tears and other displays of emotion. The problem lies in pushing away and covering up emotions connected to the death of someone important to us.

Staying busy can keep your mind occupied. Being physically active can sometimes help you fall asleep easier. The problem is that we can’t always stay busy. At some point, you will need rest.  During or after an activity filled day, you will experience a moment of stillness or quiet. It is then you realize that staying busy doesn’t lessen your pain. It just delays it.

The regulations of burying your pet at home have gone under some legal changes over the last few decades.

Some regulations depend on if you live in a rural area or a more populated area. Please be sure to check your local guidelines before proceeding.

If you select to cremate your animal companion, you may arrange this through your veterinary clinic. If your pet passes away at home, you may also have the option of connecting with a local pet crematorium.

Typically, you will have several choices when choosing to cremate your beloved pet. Most providers will allow you to decide whether to get the cremains back or not. 

This is a fairly new process and may not be available in your area. Aquamation is also referred to as alkaline hydrolysis. The process uses an alkaline water solution to slowly and gently break down your pet’s physical remains into a powder-like substance similar to cremated ashes.

This choice is certainly not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a way to give back to the veterinary community and make your pet’s passing mean something more, donating their remains to a vet education program might be the right next step for you.

This option may sound unusual, but there are companies that provide this service. They specialize in the preservation and lifelike reconstruction of your family pet.

While we hesitate to broach this topic, there are circumstances that might require this type of service. The size of the animal and cremation expense can be two reasons for selecting this option. Typically, your vet will coordinate this service.

A pet funeral is similar to a human funeral. In most cases, the pet’s body will be present during the service. The service may include flowers, music, guests, and an opportunity for friends and family to talk about the beloved animal.

Following the funeral, you may choose to have your pet’s body buried or cremated.

Like a human’s celebration of life, most often the service will be performed without the presence of the animal’s body. Instead, there may be the pet’s cremains or only a photo.

Much like a funeral, the celebration of life may include flowers, music, guests, and an opportunity for friends and family to talk about the beloved animal.

Friends and extended family may have built a relationship with your pet. For this reason, some people find comfort in writing an obituary when their pet dies. This is especially true if your animal companion works with the public as a therapy dog or working animal. The obituaries are commonly placed on social media, such as making a post on Facebook or Instagram.

It is not uncommon for a pet to have a special, or favorite, spot, and many people choose this spot for the location of a memorial.

One common practice is to create an outdoor memorial by planting a tree or flowers in your pet’s favorite spot. You might decide to place a simple marker in the location honoring your pet.

Another option is to create an indoor memorial, including a framed photo, shadow box with favorite memorabilia, and even the urn containing your pet’s cremains.

A common practice is to make a physical or online scrapbook containing your favorite memories with your animal companion.

Jewelry to contain a bit of your pet’s cremains, as well as charms, or figurines to represent your pet are popular.

Making a donation to a local rescue or animal organization in honor of your pet may be a good choice.

You may also consider donating your time to a good cause helping support animals in honor of your pet.