Both hospice care and palliative care are valid approaches for your animal companion that can be adopted when your goal shifts from cure to comfort. Palliative care refers to relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease at any stage of an illness or a natural decline in health whereas hospice care begins after a terminal diagnosis is given and curative measures are ceased. 

Both approaches include caring for the entire family--animals and their closest caregivers--on the physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual levels.

The following most frequently warrant hospice or palliative care for animals:

• cancer
• organ failure (kidneys, liver and heart are common examples)
• mobility issues
• cognitive dysfunction or dementia
• situations in which geriatric animals are gradually approaching the natural completion of their life
• any life-limiting condition that gradually contributes to an excessive burden of caregiving 
• treatments or interventions that the family deems unacceptable
• any condition that negatively affects quality of life to the point where it has the potential to cause suffering.

Many animal caregivers choose hospice care in order to have the time to say goodbye to their companions, to plan for their death, and to ensure that all decisions about the animal’s needs are guided by their personal view of the animal’s particular requirements. If you have the resources to support comfort care, the time and desire to care for your animal during the last days or weeks at the end of life, and a good support team in place, then hospice care may be the right choice for you and your companion animal.

Making after death care arrangements ahead of time helps you prepare emotionally so you won’t have to be confronted with these decisions during the time when you are grieving and most vulnerable. Consider memorializing and paying tribute to your animal companion’s life to promote emotional healing, as well as a richer understanding and validation of your family’s loss. Dr. Kathryn Marocchino will be lecturing about aftercare, memorialization and remembrance in Module 8 (see Curriculum).

The following IDT members can benefit from animal hospice education and experience:

• Animal Caregivers
• Animal Hospice Case Workers
• Chaplains and Clergy
• Counselors 
• Integrative/Alternative Therapy Practitioners (i.e., those who use Bach flower essences, aromatherapy, animal communication, medical intuition, etc.)
• Grief Counselors and Bereavement Support Facilitators
• Massage Therapists
• Pet Sitters
• Pharmacists
• Rehabilitation and Warm Water Therapists 
• Reiki and other energy workers 
• Rescue and Sanctuary workers
• Spiritual Counselors
• Veterinarians
• Veterinary Nurses/Technicians 
• Veterinary Assistants
• Veterinary Support Staff
• Volunteers

You will be qualified to become a member of an interdisciplinary team (IDT) and by working alongside veterinary practitioners, you will be able to provide comprehensive hospice care for your own or for others’ animals with confidence and competence.

Graduates who earn their “CAHP” are well-qualified to collaborate with caregiving families and all team members to contribute to the shared goal of achieving optimal quality of life until the end of life for animal family members.

For example, offer your services in collaboration with:

• Animal hospitals/clinics
• Animal sanctuaries, shelters, and/or rescue centers
• Animal holistic care centers or stores
• At-home consultations with families and their animals
  
• Develop social media support groups and offer support
  
• Add to your continuing education if you are already an animal professional
• And, many other opportunities 

You are only required to attend a minimum of four Discussion Group meetings during the time you are doing the Coursework. Although, you are more than welcome to attend every Discussion Group meeting while you are completing the modules. The Discussion Groups are held once per month for a couple of hours. They are scheduled roughly around the middle of the month. 

The online Helpline training is on-demand and lasts for three consecutive weeks, with the final segment of the internship devoted to staffing the HelpLine. You will be able to sign up for 8 shifts of 6 hours each, and you have 3 months in which to complete the Internship. If your work schedule prevents you from completing it within that time frame, please talk to Michelle to request accommodations.

The AHG "Certificate of Completion" is granted after the student passes the comprehensive examination that covers Modules 1-9. The Certificate allows the student to proceed to the Internship and Helpline, Module 10, at any given point in the future. Once the AHG Helpline Practicum and Examination have also been passed, the graduate earns the title of “Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner” (CAHP).

Taking Modules 1-9 and obtaining a AHG Certificate of Completion will give you the tools and knowledge to confidently and competently care for your own animals as well as guide family or friends in caring for their animals through chronic illness, aging and the end-of-life journey. 

Taking Module 10, the Internship and Helpline course, offers two additional benefits. First, you would become a AHG Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner (CAHP), but also--and very importantly--you would gain experience in manning the AHG Helpline which could be useful to you professionally as a client liaison or as an AHG volunteer Helpline responder in the future!

This program will definitely help you! Please visit our curriculum page to read about the various lectures offered. Many of these lectures will provide the guidance and the emotional support you seek.  Please follow this link: https://www.animalhospicegroup.com/site/curriculum

Yes, it will. Decision-making is a topic addressed in many of the lecture topics. Please visit the Curriculum page at https://www.animalhospicegroup.com/site/curriculum

Our program will definitely offer you the guidance you need to choose a hospice-supported natural death for your animal companion. It will also offer you the tools and knowledge to determine under what circumstances the euthanasia procedure may become appropriate. Hospice-supported natural death, euthanasia-assisted death, and quality of life are all topics throughout the Curriculum and the Internship but especially by Dr. Amir Shanan and Gail Pope in Modules 4, 5, and 6 (see Curriculum).

Yes, Michelle Nichols and Dr. Kathryn Marocchino will be lecturing on grief and how it affects individuals of all ages in Modules 7 and 8 of the Curriculum. Children learn responsibility and love while caring for their family pet. Similarly, aging, illness and death provide rich lessons about the cycle of life. As is the case with adult caregivers, children can learn techniques to remain involved with their animal friend’s care so they feel important and even inspired by this tender and memorable time. Depending upon your child’s temperament and your careful preparation, consider allowing them to be present at the time of death. If you would like other opinions about how to assist with coping and grief work based on your child’s developmental stage, you might consider a child therapist professionally interested in pet grief and loss.