Thanks to better husbandry, balanced diets, leash laws, veterinary health and preventative care, companion animals are living longer. This means that we’re also seeing more senior animals with chronic conditions that impact quality of life. But management of senior pets, and end of life care, can be experienced as highly stressful for companion animal owners and members of the veterinary team.
While curative treatment for these conditions is not always possible, palliative care is about managing symptoms and sequelae of disease to maintain quality of life.
Given the range of conditions that companion animals may suffer at the end of their lives, this webinar does not provide specific palliative care regimes. Rather, it outlines the goals of palliative care, potential barriers to providing appropriate palliative care, communication and managing owner expectations, and proactive monitoring of quality of life.
There is huge scope for veterinary teams to improve the welfare of animals while supporting owners.
Recording from 12.03.2109
Speaker:
Anne Fawcett
Dr Anne Fawcett BA (Hons), BSc (Vet)(Hons), BVSc (Hons), MVetStud, GradCertEdStud(Higher Ed) MANZVCS (Animal Welfare) DipCAWBM (AWSEL)
Anne is keenly interested in the application of animal welfare science and ethical theory at the coalface of veterinary practice, where real decisions must be made with an incomplete dataset in an imperfect world. She is also passionate about the wellbeing of those who look after animals, including veterinarians and nurses, and was one of the co-editors of the Vet Cook Book (2017:CVE). She is currently undertaking a PhD on ethically challenging situations experienced by veterinarians, animal health technicians and veterinary nurses.
