Please consult your vet before making any changes to your animal’s healthcare regimen. Creativity is certainly needed in so many areas of care when your animal – or human – loved one is ill or in hospice care. In this handout, we share some good ideas that have worked well for us at BrightHaven.
Feeding
From our experience, feeding can be one of the most challenging aspects of hospice care. Appetites wax and wane, and what is eaten at one meal may be rejected at the next. And all of this is perfectly normal!
Feeding tips and tricks could likely fill a book. Here are just a few.
ª Food tips § Raw meat based diet
v Puree can be easily lapped up § Baby food, raw liver § Raw egg yolk § Canned foods (pate or lumpy, depending
upon ability or preference) § Finger or syringe feeding § A midnight snack
ª Dishes § Low/flat for cats § Raising the plate
v High for large dogs v Elevated on cans for cats
ª Water § Running water can be very desirable – cats
& dogs alike love to drink from a fountain! § Choices of water bowl
BrightHaven Practicalities of Holistic Animal Hospice Care
Feeding a raw meat based diet is a key ingredient of BrightHaven’s Menu for Healing, which promotes health and wellbeing at every life stage. However, during hospice care, we focus more on feeding what works, which is what the animal will eat. Treats and “junk food” are often the more desired choices of a hospice patient, and that fine. It’s also important to keep in mind that during the final stages of the dying process, losing the desire to eat and/or drink is normal.
Adding supplements to water also goes to healing for the highest good! Ones we use at BrightHaven include Colloidal silver, Willard water, trace minerals and flower essences.
Comfort care kit ideas
We’ve found it extremely helpful to have a comfort care kit on hand filled with some necessities for the journey ahead.
Since pain management is probably the most important aspect of hospice care, you may want your vet to prescribe pain meds for use if suddenly required. We keep a CBD oil preparation on hand to try first before next moving to something stronger if necessary. Any pain meds should be able to be easily administered without the need for swallowing or injection.
It’s useful to remember that dying doesn’t cause pain, dis-ease causes pain.
It’s also extremely helpful to obtain a notebook so you can track symptoms, signs and dosages and to keep it handy at all times for quick updates – most especially during the long night hours when one can become tired and muddled.
Here are some ideas for when your loved one becomes immobile or too weak to easily function without help.
ª Steps or ramp § Easy access to furniture or your bed
ª Walking aids § Wheeled cart § Sling
v Towel or adapted store canvas bag (cut both ends out)
ª Drag bag ª If the patient is recumbent
§ Turn regularly to prevent bed sores § Use foam supports for bony areas
ª Enrichment
Remember too that some form of exercise is always great for body, but mind and spirit also. Consider things like birdwatching – loved by some even if only on the TV or computer screen, and music. We’ve found that harp music by Sue Raimond has proven extremely beneficial for animals. Do check out her website at https://www.petpause2000.com/.
Beds & Bedding
Here are some ideas for beds and bedding that may prove suitable. For cats and dogs it may be important to have a variety of choice so that one can curl up or stretch out, or maybe be cooler or warmer, or in a different place… Remember: Comfort – and safety – are top priorities!
Beds
ª Change place or position ª On the floor? Several beds? ª Buy special furniture to serve as a bed ª A basket ª A cozy, fuzzy bed ª The family bed
§ Under the covers or on top of the bed ª High or low sided ª A mobile crib on wheels ª Carpet runners on slippery floors
ª Cool cotton sheets if hot ª Soft fuzzy comfortable blankets if cold ª A sheet – folded or squishy ª A heating pad ª Care not to overheat your patient! ª Layering
§ Waterproof sheeting between layers § Hospital sheeting or baby store § A flannel for under the face
Bedding should be chosen accordingly for comfort. Is the weather and home cool or hot? A heating pad may be useful but careful monitoring is needed when using any kind of warm covering to be sure not to make your patient too warm when they may not be strong enough to shrug off a warm blanket or move away from a heating pad.
And importantly if incontinence or drooling may be an issue you can be proactive with the layering of suitable waterproofing and towels or blankets for quick and easy changing!
The family bed is always a good choice if the patient is safe & comfortable!
Here you will find some helpful ideas for dealing with incontinence issues – something which we are very much accustomed to! And also tips for bathroom set-up.
Incontinence
ª A wrap/belly band for a boy – can add a piece of diaper or other absorbent pad inside
ª Pants for a girl with diaper or absorbent pad inside
ª Diapers (human & cut tail hole; dog and cat diapers also available)
Bathroom Options
ª Litter boxes § A secluded box § Close to sleeping place § Two boxes for choice § Lid on – lid off § Low sided § Larger/smaller § Box with litter (natural) § Box with a towel
ª Garden flower bed
Animals with incontinence needs benefit greatly from wraps, pants and diapers of all designs. There are many offerings on the internet now!
And then for cats of course there are many litter and litter box choices. So much to consider: Not only high or low sided, but also placement – perhaps close to the bed, two boxes for choice or with or without a lid.
Also please consider using a natural litter rather than clay in case of ingestion. Some cats or dogs do best with a towel for their “potty spot” and it can be placed in a litter box or folded flat on the floor with waterproofing underneath.
Of course if the patient is mobile then there is nothing finer than short trip to the garden!
“The home should be the treasure chest of living.”
Have questions about how BrightHaven’s holistic healing or animal hospice care approaches can help your animal? Book a consultation with President and Founder Gail Pope by sending an email to [email protected].
About BrightHaven
Founded in 1990 by Gail and Richard Pope, BrightHaven is a renowned animal rescue, hospice and holistic education center. Our primary focus: senior, disabled and chronically ill animals, a vulnerable population that has an overwhelming need to find love and care in our society. BrightHaven is a pioneer and leader in the ever-expanding field of animal hospice, and our experience with hospice-supported natural dying (we’ve been present at over 600 such deaths) is distinct and well known. At BrightHaven, it IS all about living well through the last breath!.
