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FAQ: What Does Pet Hospice Actually Do?

September 21st, 2026 by Ima Admin

Old dog sleeping comfortably after receiving care from the veterinarians at Heaven at Home Pet Hospice in West Michigan.

Pet hospice provides veterinary care focused on comfort and quality of life for animals with life-limiting illnesses. Hospice may include pain and symptom management, mobility and nursing support, home-care guidance, quality-of-life assessment, and preparation for changes ahead. It also helps families make informed decisions about their pet’s care and eventual end of life.

Veterinarian Perspective

Choosing hospice does not mean choosing to do nothing. In fact, hospice is active veterinary care with a different goal.

Instead of focusing primarily on curing disease or extending life at any cost, the hospice team asks: What can we do to make this pet’s life as comfortable and meaningful as possible?

That might include managing pain, nausea, anxiety, breathing difficulties, appetite problems, constipation, or other symptoms. Hospice teams can also help families adapt the home for declining mobility, manage hygiene and nursing needs, recognize changes in quality of life, and understand what may happen as an illness progresses.

Just as importantly, hospice gives families a plan. Rather than facing each new change as a crisis, caregivers can know what to watch for, whom to call, and what options are available.

Clinical Takeaway: Pet hospice isn’t about waiting for a pet to die. It’s about actively protecting comfort and quality of life while helping the family prepare for and navigate what comes next.

FAQ: Why Won’t My Cat Eat?

September 15th, 2026 by Ima Admin

Cats stop eating for many reasons, including nausea, pain, dental disease, kidney disease, cancer, constipation, medication effects, stress, or progression of serious illness. Because cats can develop additional medical problems when they don’t eat, a significant change in appetite should be discussed promptly with a veterinarian rather than assumed to be a normal part of aging.

Veterinarian Perspective

Appetite is an important indicator of health and comfort in cats. Even subtle changes—eating less, approaching food and walking away, licking only gravy, or suddenly refusing a favorite food—can provide important clues.

A veterinarian may look for treatable causes such as nausea, dehydration, constipation, oral pain, medication side effects, or uncontrolled underlying disease. Depending on the cause, medications, hydration support, appetite stimulants, pain management, or changes in food temperature, texture, and smell may help.

For cats receiving hospice care, however, the goals surrounding food may change. As disease progresses and the body begins shutting down, appetite often naturally decreases. At that stage, repeatedly forcing food may create stress without improving comfort.

Clinical Takeaway: A cat who stops eating isn’t necessarily “being picky.” Appetite loss can be an important medical and quality-of-life signal. Contact your veterinarian to determine whether the cause can be treated and whether encouraging food is still helping your cat feel better.

FAQ: How Much Pain Is Too Much?

September 8th, 2026 by Ima Admin

Pain becomes too much when it cannot be adequately controlled or consistently prevents a pet from resting, moving, eating, interacting, or enjoying normal activities. The presence of pain does not necessarily mean a pet has poor quality of life. The important question is whether that pain can be successfully managed while preserving comfort and enjoyment.

Veterinarian Perspective

Pets with chronic illnesses such as arthritis or cancer may experience some degree of pain while still having meaningful, enjoyable lives. The goal of veterinary hospice and palliative care is not necessarily to eliminate every sensation of discomfort, but to keep pain controlled enough that the pet can rest comfortably and continue engaging with life.

Veterinarians consider both the intensity and persistence of pain. They may also look for panting at rest, trembling, inability to settle, reluctance to move, changes in posture, withdrawal, aggression, appetite changes, or disrupted sleep.

When medications and supportive care no longer provide reasonable periods of comfort—or the side effects of medications required to control pain substantially diminish quality of life—it may be time to reconsider the care plan.

Clinical Takeaway: The question isn’t simply, “Does my pet have pain?” Ask, “Can we control this pain well enough for my pet to remain comfortable and still experience the things they enjoy?”

FAQ: Is My Dog Suffering?

September 1st, 2026 by Ima Admin

Dogs often show suffering through changes in behavior rather than obvious signs of pain. Difficulty walking or resting comfortably, excessive panting, appetite changes, withdrawal, anxiety, disrupted sleep, and loss of interest in favorite activities can all signal declining quality of life. A veterinarian can help determine which problems are treatable and how well your dog’s comfort can be maintained. Read the rest of this entry »

Self-Care For A Pet Parent’s Hardest Day

August 31st, 2026 by Ima Admin

The day you say goodbye to a beloved pet may be one of the hardest days of your life.

“Whether you’ve had weeks to prepare or the decision came without warning, it’s easy to focus so completely on making your pet’s final hours peaceful that you forget to care for yourself. But you matter on this day, too,” said Dr. Laurie Brush, founder of Heaven at Home Pet Hospice and Euthanasia. Read the rest of this entry »

Can Ozone Therapy Help Relieve Pain in Senior Pets?

July 30th, 2026 by Ima Admin

Photo of an senior dog running through a grassy backyard after receiving ozone treatments for pain management.

The field of integrative veterinary medicine is always exploring new ways to improve comfort and quality of life for aging pets. One area of growing interest is medical ozone therapy. Brazilian veterinarian and researcher Dr. Jean Joachim, DVM, shared his experience as a pioneer of the treatment at the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) Forum.

“Dr. Joachim’s demonstration of his work in this field is both fascinating and promising,” says Dr. Laurie Brush, founder of Heaven at Home Pet Hospice and member of the IAAHPC. “This gentle approach may one day prove to enhance quality of life and reduce reliance on medication in pets with low tolerance.” Read the rest of this entry »

Video – Help with Dog Incontinence

July 6th, 2026 by Ima Admin

What: Michelle Van Harn, LVT, and hospice nurse at Heaven at Home, as she shows you the most common ways pet parents manage incontinence in a senior dog.

Why It Matters: Michelle’s tips and techniques emphasize the importance of making sure these garments are secure and leak-resistant, while still being comfortable for the senior dog to wear. It’s a balancing act, and this video will help you spot issues before they arise.

For more videos about senior dog and cat tips, subscribe to Heaven at Home on YouTube or browse our Video Category in our Resource Center!

Gentle, Joyful Ways to Keep Senior Pets Active This Summer

July 2nd, 2026 by Ima Admin

As pets age, their needs change, but their desire to engage, explore, and connect doesn’t. For senior dogs and cats dealing with stiffness, arthritis, or reduced mobility, movement becomes less about intensity and more about intention. The good news? With a little creativity, summer can be a season of renewed comfort, mobility, and joy.

“Research into canine osteoarthritis points towards combining targeted Monoclonal antibody therapy (such as Librela) with physical activity for a synergetic effect,” said Dr. Laurie Brush, founder of Heaven at Home Pet Hospice and member of two national initiatives that advocate for hospice and pain management for senior pets.

“This “movement plus medicine” approach helps maintain muscle, support joints, and improves overall quality of life,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »

IAAHPC Hosts Webinar on the Future of Veterinary Hospice Care

June 4th, 2026 by Ima Admin

For the first time in the history of veterinary medicine, hospice and palliative medicine is on the path to becoming a board-certified specialty. Pet parents and veterinary professionals can help make that happen by learning more and engaging with the American Veterinary Medical Association’s feedback process.

To help educate fellow professionals and interested parties, the IAAHPC is hosting a special webinar:

From the Field to the Specialty Board: ACVHPM and the Future of Veterinary Hospice Care
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 | 1:00 PM Eastern
Free to attend | Open to all

About the Webinar

The American College of Veterinary Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ACVHPM) is a proposed Recognized Veterinary Specialty Organization currently petitioning the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and American Board of Veterinary Specialties (ABVS) for formal recognition. If successful, it would be the first board-certified veterinary specialty dedicated entirely to hospice and palliative medicine.

IAAHPC is proud to formally endorse this effort — and we want our members to be the first to understand what this means for our field, our patients, and our profession.

Join us for a candid conversation covering:

What the proposed ACVHPM is, and what it is not
How it differs from existing credentials like the CHPV and CPEV
What board certification would mean for veterinarians, veterinary teams, and the animals and families we serve
Where the petition process currently stands and what comes next
How IAAHPC is supporting the effort
What you can do right now to help

Your Hosts

Coleen Ellis, IAAHPC Executive Director
Aja Senestraro, DVM, CVPP, CHPV, CCRP, CAC-IVCA, CVA, CVCH, CTP, CVFT, CTCVMP, CMTPT, CFV Chair, ACVHPM Organizing Committee | Founder, Sea to Sky Holistic Veterinary Services
Tyler Carmack, DVM, CVA, CHPV, CPEV, CVPP, CVFT, CTPEP Vice-Chair, ACVHPM Organizing Committee | Director of Hospice & Palliative Care, Caring Pathways

Why This Matters for Veterinary Professionals

Veterinary professionals are committed to advancing the standard of care for animals at end of life. The practitioners behind ACVHPM are your colleagues, your friends, and in many cases your fellow IAAHPC members. This specialty college was built from the ground up by people who have been doing this work — often without formal recognition — for their entire careers.

Formal specialty recognition would mean that the compassionate, evidence-based, interdisciplinary care you provide every day is acknowledged by the veterinary profession at the highest level. It would create a clear pathway for the next generation of practitioners who want to dedicate their careers to this work. And it would give every pet owner seeking end-of-life care for their animal a way to find a veterinarian with verified, advanced training.

This is the moment our field has been working toward. We hope you will join us.

A Big Step Forward for Senior Pets — and the People Who Love Them

May 21st, 2026 by Ima Admin

AVMA Pet Hospice Specialty advocacy depicted by senior dog and call to action with pawprints and hearts 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