It’s been 3 years since I euthanized my Daisy, a sweet old Jack Russell Terrier with a love for chasing bunnies and keeping a watchful eye on her family.  As a veterinarian, what I remember of that day was my need to play two different roles. On the one hand, I was loving mother, having…

Written by Dr. Kris August. Shared by the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) as a reminder for our readers about the importance of taking time in pet loss; to embrace what is all around us as we grieve. As the seasons change, the days get shorter, and we move into winter in the Northern…

Earlier this year, a member of the CAETA Euthanasia Facebook Group asked a very important question about behavioral euthanasia.  In particular, they wanted to know what questions should be asked of pet owners when they request a euthanasia based on their pet’s behavior, plus professional support questions like how do you decide if it’s “right”…

I’ve often wondered what pet owners would do if euthanasia wasn’t a choice.  We know that today, veterinary teams have the expertise and drugs to perform highly skilled euthanasia procedures, as well as the authority to do so. If the pet owner requests it, and the veterinary team agrees (or animal shelter), the procedure is…

The average veterinary college offers students less than 4 hours of euthanasia training before graduation.  As 2022, the Virginia-Maryland (VA-MD) College of Vet Med, part of Virginia Polytech University in Blacksburg, VA provides 30+ hours to its veterinary students, something no other school has accomplished thus far.  That’s impressive and deserves some special praise.  This…

“My beloved dog has died.  I wonder if I can do some good and donate his body for teaching.”  This is what many pet owners ponder but aren’t sure how to go about it.  Back in the day when I owned a mobile pet euthanasia service in northern Colorado, I offered a deceased pet educational…

Ask anyone who has experienced a difficult euthanasia (dysthanasia) with a beloved pet and they will tell you they never want to go through that again.  For many, the emotions are as real today as the day it happened, no matter how long ago. A difficult euthanasia can mean the pet experienced more pain and…

In early 2021, the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) brought a short trivia presentation to a few veterinary conferences around the United States. It proved quite popular with veterinary teams and really sparked some interesting conversations around this most sacred procedure.  It takes great skill to effectively deliver a gentle, peaceful companion animal euthanasia.…

Thanks to a recent pet owner survey, we can now say with certainty that a quality companion animal euthanasia is more than just the medical procedure itself.  Owners want (and need) more, and veterinary medicine is poised to deliver.  It just takes know-how and dedication to the modern approach.  For many years now, the Companion…

Recently, it was brought to my attention the number of owner-requested euthanasias in animal shelters may be increasing.  This is when humane euthanasia is provided for pets owned by members of the community. Pet owners may not be able to afford euthanasia services at the local veterinary hospital or cannot be seen by a local…