Posts
It’s easy to take the “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” approach to euthanasia work. Many practitioners feel comfortable with what they’ve been doing for years, and as long as the patient has a peaceful passing, it seems reasonable to leave well enough alone. Companion animal euthanasia is emotional work, and let’s face it,…
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Written by Summer Brooks, MS, RVT. This blog article was inspired by a conversation on the Companion Animal Euthanasia Discussion Group Facebook page. A member posted: “I’ve had a few difficult (emotional) cases recently and someone suggested I create a small ritual for myself to complete after a hard or emotional case. I often light…
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Grief is such a hard thing. We live in a death-denying society. We hide away our emotions and are shamed into feeling we should be getting over the loss in some well-defined timeline. But grief in pet loss needs to be witnessed, whether death happened naturally or through euthanasia. Grievers don’t want to feel like…
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Recently I have fallen in love with the love hormone oxytocin. While learning ways to establish rapport and build trust with pet owners, this ‘moral molecule’ as it’s sometimes called was just begging to be explored further. Many of us know oxytocin as the hormone that promotes prosocial behavior such as bonding, wanting to be…
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If you take a moment to reflect on the most dangerous substances we inject into the body, you may come up with the same answer as I did. Chemotherapy. These drugs by nature destroy cells, and cause considerable damage to tissue in areas of accidental contact such as extravasation outside of the venous system. They…
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Dave Shuey, MSW, RVT, CHPT. We all tell ourselves that euthanasia has the effect of ending suffering, both for the terminally ill or injured pet, as well as the owner who may have been carrying burdens of care and concern throughout the course of events leading up to euthanasia. How often do we acknowledge the…
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If euthanasia becomes necessary to relieve suffering, it should be handled with respect and skill. The speed at which euthanasia solution is administered effects two main things; potential pain and active signs of death. For the most part, veterinarians are taught to inject quickly but it turns out this is only correct part of the…
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The effects of stress on both animals and humans has been well documented, showing how stress can weaken the immune system, trigger the onset of cancer, increase inflammation, upset the gastrointestinal tract, and leave the body in a general poor state of health. It can look like the end of days for many pets, especially…
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By Lianna Titcombe, International Director for CAETA When I first became a veterinarian some 20 years ago, I suffered from crippling imposter syndrome. What fool had given me this DVM degree? What bigger fool had given me my dream job? I started out as an emergency and critical care veterinarian at one of the largest…
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Grieving pet owners benefit when they have access to pet loss support information. There are a variety of resources on the internet, however many of them are out of date and no longer in service. The Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) has created this list of mainly US-based pet loss support groups, with some…
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