If you have ever sat with an aging dog or cat and wondered, Are they comfortable? Is it time? Am I doing the right thing? — you already understand why what is happening right now in veterinary medicine matters.
A national group of veterinarians is working to establish the American College of Veterinary Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ACVHPM) as the first formally recognized specialty in pet hospice and end-of-life care. And one of the leaders helping shape that effort is right here in West Michigan: Dr. Laurie Brush, DVM, founder of Heaven at Home Pet Hospice in Grand Rapids.
For senior pet parents, this is the kind of news worth paying attention to.
Why a New Specialty?
Veterinary medicine has specialties for cancer, cardiology, surgery, internal medicine, dermatology, and more. But when a pet reaches the stage where cure is no longer possible — or no longer what the family wants — there is currently no AVMA-recognized specialty dedicated to that part of the journey.
That gap is what the ACVHPM is being built to close. It would set rigorous training standards in:
- Advanced pain and symptom management
- Quality-of-life assessment for chronic and terminal conditions
- Goals-of-care conversations and shared decision-making
- Grief support for the humans in the room
In other words: the same level of care, comfort, and respect we expect in human hospice — formally established for pets.
A Local Voice in a National Effort
Dr. Brush has been practicing veterinary medicine since 1998 and founded Heaven at Home in 2012, when in-home hospice for pets was still rare in Michigan. She was among the first 100 veterinarians in the world to earn certification in animal hospice and palliative care from the IAAHPC.
Her involvement in ACVHPM brings more than a decade of in-home, family-centered hospice experience to the national table.
“Senior pets and the families caring for them deserve a profession that has trained for this moment with the same seriousness it brings to every other stage of life,” she says.
What You Can Do
Heaven at Home will be rolling out specific ways pet parents can support the recognition of ACVHPM in the weeks ahead — from sharing the story to signing on as public supporters of the effort.
You can help by sharing your thoughts with the AVMA before the August 13 deadline at this link: https://www.avma.org/blog/comments-sought-proposed-new-specialty – or to go directly to the comment form, visit: https://form.jotform.com/260904559098064