Your just doctor gave you the prognosis for your companion animal and your time together is shorter than you’d hoped. This is difficult news and it’s hard to know what to ask when you hear it.
As a trained professional, I help people navigate their animal’s end-of-life journey through emotional, spiritual, and practical support to animals and their families during the dying process and after death.
This time after prognosis can often be confusing and filled with questions.
That’s where I can help you, using my traing, knowledge, experience, resources, hospice assistance, rituals and ceremonies, and whatever else is needed to help families navigate the end-of-life in a way that is peaceful, respectful, and meaningful.
As a Companion Animal, End-of-Life Doula/Coach I help you create a CARE PLAN for your animal’s continued care and well-being.
Your CARE PLAN can include a number of services.
WHAT I DO AS A COMPANION ANIMAL END-OF-LIFE DOULA
A companion animal end-of-life doula and spiritual life coach is a nonmedical support person who provides nonjudgmental, holistic support to those whose pets are nearing the end of life. Together we help your animal feel safe and calm.
I will assist you in making the road ahead an intimate, sacred, and rich experience for everyone involved, whether medical support is required or not.
I specialize in companion animal care, which complements palliative and hospice care provided by veterinarians.
I am not a medical specialist. I am a specialist in the aspects of death and death care that medical providers do not provide. Doulas support animals and their people with compassionate care in a number of ways, including informational and emotional support.
We can help you explore options for palliative or hospice care and create a Care Plan for you, help with the quality of life scale, and create a bucket list for you and your animal.
Together we can make:
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- End-of-Life Plan – The end-of-life plan is a discussion on the specifics of our animal’s end-of-life journey. This includes what we would like to see happen during this time and review the resources that are available, such as holistic modalities that can complement western medicine.
- Hospice Support – Hospice care setup is individual and designed for each animal, giving you a quality-of-life chart to use with your animal for decision-making and discussions with your team, assessing your goals, beliefs, concerns, and financial constraints, and even speaking with your doctor if you like.
- Euthanasia Support – A doula is a sounding board for clients to discuss euthanasia and if it’s necessary at that time, as well as reviewing your animal’s quality-of-life chart and talking with your vet if you like.
- Natural Death support—A doula can help us look at how a natural death looks, and if it’s an option for our animal or for the family.
- Ritual and Ceremony planning—A doula can create rituals and ceremonies for you and your family, bringing more spirituality into this time we have left together.
- Self-Care and comfort support—This is a time for self-care and the doula can help you choose the methods that will best support you at that time.
- Memorial Keepsakes – A doula can help us consider from a variety of options available and suggest resources for them.
- Help with creating a good transition for our companion!
My training and experience
As someone who has worked with shelter and rescue animals for many years, and has had many animals share my life, this work has been a natural progression for me.
I trained as a veterinary assistant and was the operations manager at an animal shelter for years. Under the directions of shelter veterinarians, I administered the day-to-day medical care of the animals at the shelter—something that is also part of my own life with my senior animals.
I am a certified Companion Animal End-of-Life Doula and a member of the International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care
I am a certified Spiritual Life Coach and have a BA from Saint Mary’s College of California.
Why did I choose this work?
I have suffered the deep grief of losing an animal companion. Over and over again. I’ve lost many of my animal family through the years and understand how much pain you are experiencing.
The questions and decisions after a terminal diagnosis are long and varied. Is hospice care an option for my animal? How much will it cost? How do I cope with the grief? How can I create sacred space around my dying friend?
Preparing for the loss of your best friend is extraordinarily painful and I want to help you and your animal through this important final journey. As a Companion Animal End-of-Life Doula both your animal and you are my clients. Let’s create a safe and sacred space for you both in this time of sadness.
You have many questions. Schedule a consultation with me. Death doula support services for companion animal dying, death, planning, and aftercare are created and customized following a 60-minute consultation session where together we determine what services best fit your needs. A customized CARE PLAN is then created for you and your companion animal based on which services you are seeking.
Consultation 60-minute online 1:1 session: $25 (via phone or Zoom).
I do not issue refunds, but if you need to reschedule at any time, you can apply payment for that session to any rescheduled future session. Once we decide to work together, we’ll create an agreement.
Testimonial
