End of Life Care
Here at Columbia Valley Veterinary Clinic we provide compassionate and professional veterinary care for in-home and in clinic humane euthanasia & consultation services.
For in clinic procedures, our family room is designated to provide comfort for you and your pet. With special soundproofing and a side exiting door, allowing a more private visit.
We can accommodate both in clinic and at home visits for end of life care.
Euthanasia provides a painless, peaceful end for an animal who would otherwise continue to suffer. Our team has received special training to provide your pet with a humane and gentle death. During the procedure, your veterinarian or technician will first inject your pet with a sedative, allowing them to become relaxed, and fall peacefully into a deep sedation sleep. Once we have reached a deep level of sedation, often an IV (intravenous catheter) is placed to give venous access, as the final injection has to go into a vein. The final injection stops the heart, and is an overdose of an anesthetic so the pet experiences no awareness of the end of life.
How do you know if your pet is in pain? An appointment with your veterinarian can help provide you with information about your pet that you may not know or recognize. We utilize a few different quality of life questionnaires that can help you assess how your pet is doing.
Pet quality of life (QOL) scales use a numerical basis for how your pet is feeling. A QOL quiz helps you address different variables in your pet’s life to assess their overall comfort and happiness. Quality of life scales are typically used when a pet has a terminal illness or is at an end of life stage.
A bucket list for your beloved pet allows you to spend precious time focusing on making memories with your furry companion. Many pet owners start bucket lists once a senior pet reaches their final days, or after they’ve been diagnosed with a terminal condition, such as untreatable cancer.
Bucket list:
https://twoheartspetlosscenter.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bucket-List-Final-2019.pdf
We use Tamarack Crematorium, a local crematorium service, which offers a wide variety of after care options for your pet; including cremation with ashes back, different urn options, or communal cremation where the ashes are spread under the Purcell mountains on their beautiful farmers field.
We believe that your pet deserves to depart with dignity and that is why we use Euthabags. Euthabag supports the AVMA Companion Animal Aftercare Policy that underlines the importance of sensitive handling of pets after their passing, proper containment of the pet. Euthabag is easily customizable with paint, markers, acrylic paint and even pens.
Visit their website for more information: https://www.euthabag.com/
