Many of the hospice and palliative-care principles that have been successfully adopted in human hospice for decades are now being embraced to provide end-of-life care for terminal pets and their families by veterinary professionals. Steve Miles, MD, said, "Death is not a medical event. It is a personal and family story of profound choices, of momentous words and telling silences." Although death has remained a constant over the course of history, the process of dying has changed for humans as well ascompanion animals. Medical advances have changed death, frequently, from a sudden event into an often long journey with many events. We have increased the life span of our pets, created complex medical choices, and shaped a new population of pets with chronic illnesses.
展开▼
