Differentiation of our services
It is important to differentiate between the 4 main services we provide and, understanding this, you will see how the need to schedule these in separate visits may be necessary.
1. Euthanasia
Our primary service is Euthanasia. A Euthanasia visit is just that. The doctor comes to the home and performs euthanasia and, depending on the family’s choice, may or may not take the remains with him/her for aftercare/cremation.
A euthanasia visit is not a Quality of Life visit. It MIGHT be possible to perform a QoL visit just prior to a euthanasia within the same visit, but when the QoL visit extends beyond 30 minutes from the time of the doctor’s arrival, it is unlikely that the doctor will be able to perform a euthanasia in the same visit if there is another family scheduled immediately after.
Similarly, if a family needs more time than usual to say goodbye after the pet has passed away, it might be necessary to schedule an Aftercare visit separately and having one of our staff go back to the family’s home to pick up their pet and take him/her for Aftercare services.
2. Quality of Life Assessments
Often times, a family is unsure about whether or not it is time to say goodbye. They are often misled by some well-meaning friends and even veterinarians who may tell them “You’ll know.” or “When he doesn’t eat anymore.” or “He’ll tell you”. These statements are misleading and can confuse the family as they think they should know and since they “don’t know” then it must not be time. Unfortunately, this can lead to the family waiting too long and the pet suffering needlessly. There are many, many factors to take into consideration when dealing with a life or death decision and they are much more complex and numerous than the 3 statements above. A full history of the pet’s medical history, past treatments and effectiveness thereof, pet’s background, family’s conditions and dynamics, pain assessment, family expectations, etc, etc, etc,… are needed to make such a decision and know you have made the right choice.
A QoL visit takes time. It may or may not be feasible to perform euthanasia within the same visit due to time constraints.
Similarly, it may or may not be feasible to turn a QoL visit into a Hospice visit within the same visit for the same time constraints reasons. A QoL is a QoL and is not a euthanasia and is not a hospice and requires to be scheduled by itself.
3. Hospice
A hospice visit follows a QoL visit. A hospice visit cannot be done unless a QoL visit has been done previously by one of OUR veterinarians. A hospice visit involves devising a plan of action, educating the family on the course of a disease, devising treatment plans, educating the family on how to care for their pet, educating the family on what to look for to make the euthanasia decision or natural death decision. It is VERY time consuming and will likely require several follow up visits and a huge commitment on the family’s part and on the veterinarian’s part. Our doctors have to be compensated commensurately for a Hospice visit to make sense to them financially. Therefore, if a family wishes to have a Hospice visit, they must first schedule a QoL visit and they must be made aware that the Hospice visit will have to be scheduled separately and subsequently and will also be charged separately. It is impossible for a doctor to do a full QoL assessment and devise a plan of action within an hour visit. A hospice visit is not a QoL and is not a Euthanasia. It is its own thing and has to be scheduled separately and the family HAS to expect that it will require several follow up visits and a huge commitment on their part.
4. Aftercare Services
Our aftercare services include picking up the pet from the family’s home, hair clippings, Paw Print service, Communal Cremation, Individual Cremation, Private Cremation, Cremation Viewings, return of Ashes, etc… Please refer to our website on the Aftercare section to familiarize yourself completely with the different types of aftercare. https://www.homepeteuthanasia.com/services/aftercare-body-care
Please read each section carefully so you fully understand the difference between each of the types of aftercare. There is also a section regarding home burial which is important to know so that you can inform families correctly about this option.
Some families will call and say they “just want the euthanasia”. In those cases, it is very important to clarify with the person calling and say something like: “So you only want the doctor to perform the euthanasia and you want us to leave Fifi’s remains on your premises and you will arrange for the aftercare yourself?” A lot of people who say they “just want the euthanasia” are saying this because they don’t want anything “special” regarding aftercare and they want the minimal charge. It is important for you to explain that the most minimal service that we can provide for body disposal is the communal cremation. There is no option to “not do anything with the body” unless we leave the pet’s remains on their premises for them to take care themselves.
If the family says they want a burial, make sure they understand that they will have to make the arrangements themselves and that we do not provide any assistance for burial. We do have a section on our website which gives them guidelines for burial, but we do not physically assist them with this.
The aftercare can be scheduled separately if the pet has passed away naturally at home (ACO or “Aftercare Only”) OR if the family anticipates needing more time to say goodbye to their pet after the euthanasia. We give the family a reasonable amount of time to say their goodbyes after euthanasia. We allow a few minutes for this (5-10 minutes is within our reasonable frame of time).
If the family anticipates needing more time than this to say goodbye, the Aftercare Services will have to be scheduled separately and will be charged separately. In such a case, the doctor will charge for Euthanasia Only (NAC) along with any after-hours fees and travel fees applicable. Upon the Aftercare visit, the family will be charged for the ACO fee, the cremation fee, any paw print they may want to have as well as any after-hours fees, travel fees and assistant fees applicable.
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The above description of each of our services and differentiation between each service will keep us all sane and will keep the doctors able to deliver what we promise and will allow the doctors to be able to arrive to the next family in a relatively timely fashion and also to be compensated fairly for the services they provide.
Please make sure that you read the above and that each of the above services is very clear for you and if you have any questions about any of those services, that you read the appropriate section on our website, your hats materials and if you are not able to clear it up on your own, get with you senior or Dr. Annie for clarification.