Mobility: Can your pet get up without help? Can your pet walk? Does your pet move without pain or minimal pain? Does your pet have difficulty lying down, or does it just drop to the floor? Arthritis often makes it very difficult for pets to move around as does many other disease conditions.

Appetite and Drinking: Is your pet eating regularly? Is your pet eating normal amounts of food? Is your pet drinking adequate amounts of water based on your pet's past history?

Incontinence: Does your pet exhibit a lack of control of their bowels or bladder? Does your pet need to relieve itself more frequently, or have accidents before it can get to an appropriate spot?  Is vomiting or diarrhea occurring with increased frequency?

Breathing: Is your pet breathing with increased difficulty? Does breathing become more labored with exercise? A number of diseases can result in difficult breathing. Some of these are Lung Cancer or other Diseases of the Lung, Heart Diseases, and Metastatic Cancers.

General Pain Level: Does your pet have a “stressed” look on its face? Does your pet groan when it moves, or does your pet resist moving? Does your pet’s body appear to be “hunched” or “tense”? Often times, touching a pet that is in pain will cause them to flinch or cry from the pain, or in anticipation of pain.

Sleeping: Is your pet having trouble sleeping through the night? Is your pet sleeping much more than usual?  Is there crying or confusion as your pet awakens?

Happiness & Mental Acuity: Does your pet seem to be inattentive, or non-responsive to normal stimuli compared to days or weeks ago? Does your pet have a normal, “happy” response to seeing you, or has responding become too difficult?

Quality of Life: Does your pet have more bad days or bad times than good? When the bad times outweigh the good ones, then the quality of life has been compromised. When this happens, it may be time to strongly consider in-home hospice care or in-home pet euthanasia.

We will discuss ALL of this with you when we do an in-home dog, cat and pet medical consultation and assessment.

When you have done a quality of life assessment and have found that there are few “good times” and a preponderance of “bad times”, it is time to give strong consideration to helping your pet by ending the suffering. We recognize this is a very difficult decision, but not making a decision often ends up causing your pet undue pain and suffering. Natural death can be very painful and agonizing for your pet, so let us help you make your pets' transition an easier one. Please call us if you are struggling with the decision. We will help you to quantify your pet’s condition and help you in any way we can.

Euthanasia actually means “good or peaceable” death. Most pets become quite anxious and stressed when taken to an animal hospital or clinic. You can avoid stressing your pet by allowing the procedure to be done in the familiar, peaceful, quiet surroundings of their home. In-home euthanasia also allows you to grieve and spend time with your pet in the privacy of your own home. We will try to accommodate your schedule to help you and your family and friends to be there so that your pet is surrounded by loved ones.

Hospice care for pets is very similar to the in-home medical care available for terminally ill people. The goal of Caring Pathways in-home pet hospice care is to provide appropriate nursing care tailored specifically to your pet’s needs in the comfort of your home. The goal is to help your pet maintain a good quality of life while managing pain, and keeping them comfortable.

A Caring Pathways Veterinarian will perform a medical consultation assessment exam to determine the best treatment plan for your pet, and to determine if hospice care is the best decision for you and your pet. We will then teach you how to administer pain medication, provide fluid therapy, change bandages, and perform general nursing duties at home to allow the terminally ill pet to be as comfortable as possible. Not only will the Caring Pathways team be supporting you through the medical care of your pet, we will also be helping you to assess your pet’s quality of life and help you to prepare for your pet’s passing. Hospice care is a commitment of time, energy, and emotion.  It can last from a few days to a few weeks.  Hospice care is not the right decision for every pet owner due to the intense, multi-faceted commitment.

Hospice care gives families more quality time with their pet and helps them adjust to the approaching loss. We believe that your pet should be as pain-free and comfortable as possible. In-home hospice care helps alleviate the stress associated with visits to the veterinary clinic, and allows you and your pet to enjoy the last days of their life in the familiar surroundings of home. The decision to pursue hospice care, though not for everyone, strengthens the bond between you and your pet and helps prepare for the passing of your special companion. The Caring Pathways staff will walk with you in these final steps of your journey together, providing the support and guidance necessary for this end-of-life transition.

We will help you with this most difficult decision by offering our expertise and support in every step of the process.  When the decision for in-home pet euthanasia is made, we will come to your home when you need us, 24x7, to assist you with your pet’s peaceful transition.

Either Dr. Larry Magnuson, Dr. Lawson or Dr. Smith  will come to your home at the pre-scheduled time. We will set aside approximately one hour to allow you, your family and friends to have adequate time to say your goodbyes and be with your beloved pet in these final moments.

After placing your pet comfortably where you have chosen, a special place in the home or yard, or wherever you choose, we will administer a sedating medication.  We do this because we believe that there should be no pain in the last moments of life.   Afterwards, we will then administer a medication that will allow your beloved friend to pass quietly and peacefully. 

We will respectfully allow you and your family all the time needed to spend with your pet during and after the procedure. 

We will fully discuss all of this with you throughout the procedure, and answer all of your questions.

This question is best answered by those who know your pet most intimately. Witnessing the change from life to death is a powerful experience and often helps begin the healing process. Because euthanasia is so personal, you should allow whomever you feel is appropriate to share in this special time, but no one should be made to stay. There are many factors that can complicate grieving, so family and friends should be able to choose what is right for them. If children are present, we will explain the procedure in a way they will understand. Other pets can also be present as long as everyone is comfortable. We have never seen negative effects from other animals bearing witness to a companions passing.

Caring Pathways serves the needs of small animal pets who are candidates for in-home hospice care, or who are ready to make a peaceful end-of-life transition. We offer our services to owners of dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, small mammals and pocket pets such as gerbils, hamsters and rats. If you have a question regarding our services or the types of pets we care for, please contact us at (720)287-2553.

Before the euthanasia, we will discuss with you what your desires are for the appropriate body care for your pet. We offer the following alternatives:

Burial Options

Home Burial: We will provide a nice cardboard casket for a pet that weighs up to 70 pounds. We suggest that you check with your local city or county as to their regulations and the legality of home pet burial. We also encourage you to have the burial plot prepared before we come to your home for the euthanasia procedure. This allows you to have more time for memorializing and honoring your pet before and during the burial.

Pet Cemetery Burial: If you are interested in burial at a pet cemetery, we can help you in making those arrangements. Please make a note to discuss this option with us in more detail.

We have listed three pet cemeteries below:

• Evergreen Pet Cemetery (303) 674-7777
• Denver Pet Cemetery (303) 288-0177
• Precious Memories Pet Cemetery in Fort Collins (970) 482-7557

Pet Cremation

There are two categories of cremation available, individual cremation and communal cremation.  We will make arrangements for the transportation of your pet to the crematory facility.  We will also arrange for the payment of crematory services at the time of euthanasia so that you have one less thing to worry about during such a difficult time.

Individual Cremation: With individual cremation, your pet is cremated individually and your pet's ashes will be returned to you for memorialization and/or burial.

Communal Cremation: In this type of cremation, there will be multiple pets cremated with your pet. The ashes are scattered in a peaceful setting along with other pets. In this option, your pet’s ashes are not returned to you after cremation.

The honoring of your beloved friend is an important part of both the grieving and healing process. You have already honored your pet in life, as you have given your pet a loving and quality filled life. Now, as the end of life approaches, the honoring of your pet can be as simple as sharing a touching or humorous story about the times you or others have shared with your pet. The following things can also be done to honor your pet:

• Paw prints in clay with their name and dates
• The purchase of a keepsake item
• A photo album
• A scrapbook with memorable items and photos
• A CD or DVD with favorite stories, photos and videos of your pet
• The release of balloons as a tribute
• A simple ceremony of sayings, poems, stories and sharing about your pet

There may be other ways that you have chosen to honor your special pet, and we are always open to suggestions so that we may help other families such as yours.

Any of us who considers our pet a friend and companion or family member knows the intense pain that accompanies the loss of our pet. Following are some tips on coping with that grief, and with the difficult decisions we face upon the losing a pet.

We will provide you with a copy of a book written by world renowned grief specialist Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. entitled “When Your Pet dies: A guide to Mourning, Remembering and Healing”.

Other grief and loss resources can be found at www.petlossdenver.org. Another great resource can be found at www.pet-loss.net where you will find a wealth of resources for most of your grieving questions and concerns as you work through accepting the loss of your pet.  This site has a list of Counselors for many cities and states. Once on the website, click on "Links and Hotlines”, and then click on “Colorado” to view a list of support groups and counselors in your area.

Your other pet(s) will very likely have a time of “mourning” when they lose their friend. Depending on how close the pets were, there may be a time of adjustment for the remaining pet(s). A number of things you may notice are:

• Clinging to you
• Looking for their friend
• A decrease in appetite
• Lethargy
• Wandering aimlessly
• Restlessness or Depression

These behaviors will gradually decrease and be eliminated over time. It is interesting to note that dogs often grieve for the loss of a cat, and a cat may grieve after losing their canine friend.