Welcome to 2010


Holiday exhaustion is not just for us anymore. Our animal companions experience it too! The holiday parties and gift giving of the past year has come to an end, or has it? Giving happens all throughout the year. In what way will you be giving this year? With money tight all the way around there are other ways to give to show our love and support for one another and our animal companions.

Winter is also a good time of year to go out with the old and bring in the new it is not just a springtime event. This includes household items that you may find useless may be helpful to someone else. For those that knit or quilt, shelters are always looking for blankets or bedding that will help to keep an animal warm in the winter months.

In those New Years Resolutions have you included things you will be doing for your own animal or others that might be in need? Are there neighbors who might be experiencing difficulty with keeping up with their pets care, is there a way you may be able to help them? Can you find time this year to volunteer with a rescue or shelter. Have you thought about being a foster parent for animals. I can tell you it is the most rewarding thing one can do.

Part of my New Year's resolutions is to get more involved in the legislative aspect of protecting our animals. I look forward to helping to push bills through our local legislative offices that will better the lives of animals.

We are all connected to one another. To me the welfare of animals and humans are connected and each need to be addressed so that we may all have better lives!


 Animal Hospice a Good Idea?

Just like people, pets develop various chronic health conditions with age. Kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, senility and incontinence to name a few. There are many folks who look at the idea of animal hospice as a waste of time and energy. My question would be whose time and who's energy?

This is one of the toughest and selfless acts of love we can do either for our animal companions or for our families and friends. After all keeping our best friends comfortable in their time of need is a labor of love.

Our animal companions are so much more than just our pets, they are our companions in life. Giving them a good quality of life is important whether they are healthy or not. Hospice services for animals are becoming more popular as we learn how we can assist them in having a good quality end of life. Once again if we can benefit from all the medical advances made for people we certainly have the ability to help our companions live out their lives in good quality.

The one BIG difference in the hospice care between human and animal is that at the end when we know it is time and the animal is in pain and ready to go we let them go peacefully often times with our help. As people we we have to wait until the body and spirit separate from one another on their own.

I am all for a good quality for end of life, people or animals. We should be able to to make that choice for our animal companions also. By providing hospice services our animals can live out their remaining days knowing when they are ready we will be there for them.

Check my website in the next few weeks for a new booklet I am putting out about Hospice for our companions. It will be available to help you decide if hospice is the right option for you and your animal companion and all the things to expect during this time.

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