Crossing over Rainbow Bridge
One of the most difficult aspects of having a dog or cat is supporting them when they are nearing the end of life. Often there are many questions about hospice care and how to know when to say goodbye or how to interpret the signs and symptoms your pet is showing you. We know how difficult it is to see a pet with failing health, because we have been there with our own beloved pets, and we firmly believe that the overall goal is to prevent suffering and provide a loving, compassionate and dignified transition over Rainbow Bridge.
At Greenfield Animal Hospital, our pledge is to provide your pet a deeply personal, private, pain free and loving end of life. We care intensely about our clients and patients’ well being and take this aspect of our job very seriously. We have a long history with an outstanding service provider for cremation and post mortem services. We will help you understand your options and arrange services for your pet including paw prints, private cremation services with return of ashes in a beautiful urn, and general cremation services with instruction on burial.
Finally, we know that the decision and process of letting a pet go is only the beginning. The relationships we have with our pets are some of the most pure and consequential of our lives and their loss leaves an enormous hole in our hearts. Feeling grief and needing to mourn is perfectly normal and is a deeply private experience. Understanding there is no right way to grieve and allowing you to go through the range of emotions that grief brings is critical to moving forward. Please see the link on grieving for more ideas of how to grapple with the loss of a pet and for links to helpful resources.
*For those clients seeking end of life services in the comfort of their own home, we work with three different veterinarians who dedicated their lives to providing home hospice and euthanasia services. These providers are Kindest Farewell (https://kindestfarewell.com), Lap of Love (Home | Lap of Love), and Final Journey (www.finaljourneyllc.com).
*If you find yourself in an emergency after hours and believe your pet is suffering, please know that kind, compassionate and private euthanasia services are provided at all of the local emergency and referral practices in our area.