Did you know when we woke up this morning how things would end? I doubt it. I went to the gym and you hung out with the kids, because it was a Saturday and they were home. We vacuumed, because as usual pieces of you were starting to accumulate on the ground where you lay. Did you know how hairy you were? Did you know that yesterday, I was supposed to go to spin class but when you saw my shoes you got so excited I stayed home with you instead and we took a walk? It was the longest walk we took ... Read more »
Euthanasia/Hospice
The Dying Pet’s Bill of Rights
As I prepare for my third year at IAAHPC, the veterinary hospice conference, I've taken pause to reflect on this journey and how it affects the way I view veterinary medicine. Personally, I have only euthanized a personal pet in a clinic (versus at home) one time. It was Nuke, my vet school coonhound, and he was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma just a month after I graduated and came back home. The veterinarian was lovely and did as great a job as one can do in that situation, but so many ... Read more »
An open letter to Kevin Smith and his dog Mulder
Dear Kevin, I'm sure you get fan letters all the time, from people who love your art: Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy. I think Chasing Amy was one of the first movies I watched with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. He thinks you're the cheese. I think you are a great writer, and like all great writers you have an amazing willingness to share things that other people hold close. Painful things, like a humiliating experience with an airline or, in this case, the terribly personal loss of a ... Read more »
The midwife at the end of life
Like many of you, I’ve been mesmerized by the bravery of Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old woman who is dying of Stage IV brain cancer. After hearing the course of the disease progression from her doctors and considering what the end of her days were likely to be like, she made the incredibly difficult decision to move to Oregon, one of a handful of states in which assisted suicide is legal, and choose the day and manner in which she will die. While her story is compelling and ... Read more »
Do we need pet care advocates?
In the depth of my despair when Apollo was dying, the medical resident at the specialty hospital made a comment I will never forget. He was dying of a blood clot, a sequelae of hyperthyroidism and heart disease. I was in shambles, having come home from the gym to find him immobile on the couch, and rushed in straightaway, sweaty and spandex-y. I scribbled his medical history as quickly as I could, which the resident pored over with her intern as I sat in the room planning to say goodbye. I ... Read more »
A place of passing
"I'm never going back," I have heard more than one pet owner say. They are talking about the office of their veterinarian, a person with whom they have built a relationship for years, someone they like and trust. But their pet died there, and the painful memories are too strong. So strong for some people that they go and find a new vet, even if they liked their old one just fine. It's one of the reasons I like having the option that I offer, of performing in-home euthanasia and pet hospice ... Read more »
