At Home Quality of Life Assessment
As your pet enters their senior years, it’s important to prepare for the time when they may pass. Although the symptoms your pet is showing may be indicative of a condition that can be treated, they could also be signals from your pet that they are ready. Symptoms to be aware of include:
- Significant decrease in appetite
- Changes in behavior
- showing more distant or aggressive behavior
- Uncontrolled bowel movements and urination
- Decreased cognition
- bumps into things
- stares off
- wanders
- Decreased mobility
- stumbles
- difficulty getting up
Leading Up To Euthanasia
Though veterinary staff understand the decision is not easy, there is a fair amount of discussion that needs to take place to ensure the proper steps are taken. When you come in for your appointment, doctor may ask questions such as:
- What symptoms has your pet been having?
- How long has each symptom been occurring?
- Have diagnostics been done at a different vet?
- if not, the vet may ask why
Once these questions have been discussed and you’ve opted for euthanasia, anticipate making the following decisions:
- If you would like to be present or not
- If so, are there other members of the family that would also like to be present?
- Type of aftercare
- private cremation: pets ashes are returned to you in an urn
- group cremation: pet is cremated with other pets
- West Coast Crematorium spreads group cremation ashes over the ocean
- take pet home for burial
Euthanasia Process
At Armstrong Pet Hospital, our process for euthanasia is as follows:
- After examination, you pet is taken to the back to have an IV catheter placed in one of the front legs
- typically, owners are not present for this step
- A technician or CSR will come into the room to process your payment and confirm your choice of aftercare during the catheter placement
- Once the catheter has been placed, your pet will be brought back into the room and you will receive a bell to press when you are ready for doctor to come back in
- you are allowed as much time as possible before doctor comes back in, with respect to our hours of business
- After the doctor puts your pet to sleep, you are given more time to spend with them before we take them back or prep them for you to take home
- If you choose to do private cremation, your pet’s ashes will be returned to us within a 3-4 week period. We will reach out to you via phone call or text when they are returned.