Hospice is defined as "providing compassionate comfort care to patients at the end of their lives and also supporting their families in the bereavement process.' That comes, not from a human hospital, but from the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians (AAHABV).
The purpose of hospice is to shift the focus from curing the illness, to making your pet as comfortable as possible during his or her final days. During the time of hospice, it also give you time to prepare for the decision you have to make and the eventual gap left in your life once your pet is gone. Nothing fully prepares you for this and each experience will be different. Each time you go through it you learn something new and you find new ways to deal with the loss.
During hospice, you will likely be faced with changing your home to accommodate your pet. You may need to block access to stairs or furniture that may cause harm to the animal. I remember having to take away JJ's favourite chair after she jumped down and splayed out on the hardwood floors - pulling muscles in the process. Her muscles just got too old to handle the jump. Right now Curly is supervised or blocked from going down the stairs because the codeine makes him dopey and unsteady.
Other hospice functions may include administration of medications. It is important to talk to your vet about the types of medications, how the meds will affect your pet's behaviour, appetite, bowel and bladder function. You may have to administer fluids with a needle, or dress an open wound.
Right now, Curly is on codeine which dopes him up and can also constipate him. To deal with constipation, I add a tablespoon of pumpkin puree to improve the situation. My biggest challenge with the pill is getting it down his throat. It must have a bitter taste and he has learned to spit it out of just about everything except a really sticky batch of dog food I made up.
Other hospice items may include special bedding, elevating the dog's food and water for easy access and setting out some paper or puppy pads for middle of the night (or day) accidents.
And have an emergency number handy. Know what clinics are open 24hrs and if your vet has a person on call. You don't to be stuck flipping through a phone book, or in some cases trying to find a phone book, in the middle of an emergency.
You can get more information of hospice here and here. And I really recommend reading a book such as "Caring for your Aging Dog". There is an excellent section of the book which deals with hospice and the final stages. I believe that knowledge helps you make better decisions and as tough as it is to read, you won't be caught off guard especially if this is your first experience with losing a pet. In fact, it is probably better to read this book long before you are faced with any decisions.
近年、生活水準の継続的な改善と、人々の欲望が社会活動に参加しても、ドレスは、より多くの人々は、特殊な状況で使用されているされており、増加しており、過去からリースに着用者のいくつかの購入またはコレクションを表します。一方、過去の市場に比べウエディングドレス販売台数が大幅に増加している。しかし、業界カラードレス格安、製品の品質問題の急速な発展は、非標準の市場はますます顕著になってくる。
Posted by: ドレス | April 29, 2011 at 09:18 PM