Deciding when it’s time to say goodbye is perhaps the most agonizing decision you’ll make during your beloved pet’s lifetime. You may worry that if you decide too soon, you’ll miss out on precious time, but if you wait too long, your pet may suffer until help arrives.

Although there’s no precise formula for the “right” time to say goodbye, various considerations and tools can help you assess your beloved pet’s condition, anticipate their decline, and make the best decision.

Assess your pet’s quality of life

When you love your pet deeply, you’ll likely find accurately assessing their well-being a challenge. Quality-of-life tools are objective, easy-to-use assessments that help measure your pet’s overall health, comfort, and happiness. Quantifying these matters as a numerical score can provide clarity and help you see past your emotions to your pet’s current status and condition.

While many quality-of-life assessments are available, The Mobile Hospice Vet recommends Dr. Alice Villalobos’ HHHHHMM scale, which analyzes key areas of your pet’s well-being, including:

  • Hurt
  • Hunger
  • Hydration
  • Hygiene
  • Happiness
  • Mobility
  • More good days than bad

Like us, our pets can experience highs and lows—including during a terminal illness or their final life stage. Routinely assessing your pet’s quality of life can help you recognize negative trends and prompt important conversations with your veterinarian or a virtual quality-of-life consultation with The Mobile Hospice Vet.

Recognize pain and distress

Pain is one of the most critical factors that affects your pet’s quality of life. Poorly managed pain (i.e., pain that medication or therapies cannot control) can cause intense suffering and emotional distress that affects your pet’s ability to move and breathe, or to act normally. Unfortunately, pain isn’t always obvious, so watch for changes, such as:

  • Decreased appetite or thirst
  • Increased lethargy
  • Increased respiratory rate (e.g., panting while resting)
  • Increased vocalization (e.g., whining, yowling, or barking)
  • Decreased social interactions
  • Unusual aggression, irritability, or anxiousness
  • Reluctance to get up, go outside, or use the litter box
  • Shaking
  • Weakness

If your pet is suffering with uncontrollable pain, euthanasia may be the most compassionate option.

Anticipate decline

When you face your pet’s terminal illness or an end-of-life decision, anticipating their decline can help you preserve their dignity and comfort. For example, osteosarcoma (i.e., bone cancer) typically causes progressive, deep pain and often results in a fracture of the affected bone. An owner of a dog diagnosed with osteosarcoma may choose to euthanize their beloved companion before the disease progresses to that point to prevent pain and suffering.

It’s critical that you work with your veterinarian to understand your pet’s condition, learn and monitor your pet for progression signs (e.g., difficulty breathing, weakness), and track your pet’s quality of life scores. When you are attuned to these changes, you can make informed decisions that prioritize your pet’s comfort and well-being.

Consider personal values and beliefs

Your values and beliefs are important and should be reflected when choosing your pet’s end-of-life care. Consider talking to family, friends, or others who share your values and beliefs, especially those with personal pet loss experiences. Their insights and perspectives can be invaluable during this difficult time and help you find peace and comfort in your decision. However, only you can decide what’s best for your pet.

Consult your veterinarian

A veterinarian wearing gloves gently examines a senior brown dog, resting a hand on the dog's head. The dog appears calm and relaxed during the check-up.

Your veterinarian has in-depth knowledge of not only your pet’s health and well-being but also your special bond. They have clinical expertise, combined with personalized understanding, and can talk you through your pet’s condition, weigh potential outcomes, and help you make timely and compassionate decisions.

If you’d prefer a more private experience, The Mobile Hospice Vet offers virtual quality-of-life consultations. We will assess your pet’s condition objectively, make personalized recommendations, and provide compassionate end-of-life planning and support.

Consider your pet’s end-of-life care experience

How would you like to say goodbye to your pet? You’ll have more control over your pet’s farewell with thoughtful, timely decision-making—you can schedule an appointment when loved ones can be present or select a private, in-home euthanasia, instead of rushing to the nearest available clinic. While planning your pet’s goodbye may seem impossible, it can be the best way to ensure your pet’s final moments are as beautiful as the life and love you shared.

Understand anticipatory grief

Anticipatory grief is an emotional response that may occur as pets near their life’s end. Anticipatory grief can complicate decision-making by triggering guilt, anxiety, and sadness around the pet’s death, and owners may postpone important end-of-life decisions out of fear or denial. However, pet owners who acknowledge their grief can process their emotions rather than becoming overwhelmed and will be empowered to treat their pet with love and kindness and ensure their final days are as comfortable and meaningful as possible.

Prioritize your pet’s well-being

The best advice for knowing when it’s time to say goodbye is to ensure your pet’s comfort, health, and happiness are the center of every thought and action. Setting your own emotions aside is difficult, but critical. If you are too focused on your own feelings, you may miss significant changes in your pet’s condition—and miss more opportunities for extra snuggles.

Deciding when to say goodbye to your pet is rarely straightforward, but The Mobile Hospice Vet is here to help. Our compassionate, dedicated, Certified Hospice and Palliative Care veterinarian (CHPV®) will guide you through this difficult time and provide your special companion with a gentle, tailored, end-of-life experience. In general, we ascribe to the belief that it’s better to say goodbye to your pet a little too early than a moment too late. In other words, we’d rather provide pets with a peaceful, dignified passing when they can still enjoy their last moments than wait until they are suffering.

Contact us to discuss your pet’s needs or to schedule an appointment, or request our services online.

References:
Oncology Outlook, by Dr. Alice Villalobos, Quality of Life Scale Helps Make Final Call, VPN, 09/2004; Adapted from: Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human-Animal Bond, Blackwell Publishing, 2007.