End of Life Pet Care

golden retrieverWhen "cure" is no longer the focus, a quality-of-life assessment can offer peace of mind and renewed hope for a comfortable and peaceful transition for your cherished companion. At Valley of the Moon we understand the challenges faced in trying to care for a terminally ill or geriatric pet...the worries, fears, and feelings of helplessness...because we've all been there.

When you schedule a Quality-of-Life Exam and Consultation, we start by discussing your concerns as well as your goals. We then become a team: you, the doctor, nurses, and entire support staff, all focus on providing you with the information, options, and help you'll need to ensure your best friend stays pain free and comfortable. We'll review current medications and a home-care kit may be assembled. At each subsequent visit, we'll reassess pain control and quality-of-life indicators to be sure we're doing all we can. These follow-up consultations are as frequent as necessary, from monthly to daily, whenever you need help.

In addition to prescribing medications, we'll teach you ways to keep your pet clean, hydrated, fed, and free of pain. We also offer nurse visits to provide medical treatments such as applying pain patches, administering fluids, and changing bandages.

And when it becomes apparent that no more can be done, when your pet is struggling more than living, we'll be there to provide a compassionate, humane euthanasia, either in your home or at the clinic. We will also arrange for the care of remains.

We won't promise it will be easy or painless for you, but we do promise we'll do everything we can to help give your best friend the greatest gift we can - a peaceful, pain-free transition.