How can animal communication help you with end of life care and decision making?

If you’ve ever had an elderly or seriously unwell animal you’ll know the heartache that goes with trying to make the best decisions for them. Is it time to call it a day, or is it too early? Are they fed up and have had enough? Is this decline a permanent one or are they going to pick up again? What do they want? Is the palliative care keeping them comfortable? It’s no surprise that sometimes people ask an animal communicator to help them to figure out what’s in their animal’s best interests.

First up is the (hopefully obvious) disclaimer: you will need to be working primarily with your vet. Animal communicators aren’t a substitute for veterinary medical opinion and advice. At all. We aren’t here to diagnose, or to offer treatment or prognosis. We aren’t fortune tellers, we can’t see into the future. If anything we say conflicts with your observations of your own animal - go with what the animal is showing you! If what we say contradicts your vet, listen to the vet, they’re the one with the veterinary medicine degree, not us!

Disclaimer over, here are some things that an animal communicator may be able to help you with when it comes to end of life care and decision making:

·        Checking in on how your animal is feeling, emotionally. Are they in quite good spirits despite how their body may be doing, or are they really fed up of it all?

·        Explaining what is happening to them. We can sometimes gain better co-operation and make things easier for the animal to tolerate if we can help them to understand why they are being put through the vet visits, medication, and so on.

·        Giving them an opportunity to tell you what they would like. This can include requests for comforting food or activities, and if euthanasia is needed what would make them most comfortable for that – things like would they prefer to have the vet come to your home or to go to the surgery, or how they would like to travel there if travelling is stressful for them. Cats, dogs and horses have all make requests to me for things that would make travelling in a vehicle easier for them.

·        Giving them an opportunity to voice anything that is concerning them. Pets can have some really surprising misconceptions about what is happening, or what will happen at the vet surgery, and if they do, we can offer comfort and reassurance.

·        Letting them know what is coming up in the future, and that they are loved. Whether it’s chemo treatment that will have nasty effects but is aimed at curing them or letting them know that the vet will be visiting tomorrow, demystifying the unknown can be settling. The chances are that your animal already knows well that they are loved, but it’s always reassuring to owners to know that they have made sure that their animal knows this.