More Hospices Helping Patients Keep Their Pets

If you’re dying, you want your loved ones around you. For many people, that includes pets. Caring for animals can be difficult to impossible when you’re dealing with a terminal illness, so hospices are increasingly taking on pet-care responsibilities, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

“Hospice is supposed to take care of the patient and the family,” said Lisa Gray, volunteer department manager of Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, which serves seven counties including Lake, Orange and Osceola. “For a lot of them, their family is their pet.” …

Throughout the country, hospices are starting to recognize the therapeutic benefits of keeping the animal and owner together until the end, said Delana Taylor McNac, founder and manager of Pet Peace of Mind, a national organization that works with other hospices around the country. Nationwide, 50 hospices offer the program.

“It’s catching on now that hospice is beginning to see a cultural change on the importance of pets,” she said.

Here are a couple of posts about other services hospices are offering that you may want to ask about if you’re evaluating agencies:

•  Hospice Services Helping Patients Record Their Life Stories
• Hospices Begin Offering Animal Therapy–and Allowing Personal Pets to Visit

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Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer who specializes in health and aging issues. She covers finding and paying for senior care for OurParents. If you have any questions about this post or need help finding senior-care options for a loved one, call 1-866-483-4896 to speak with a care advisor in your area.