How Do I Know When It’s Time for Euthanasia?
If your pet is nearing the end of life or facing a terminal diagnosis and you’re struggling with what to do – this page is for you. We’re here to help.
On this page you can find quality-of-life assessment tools, information on end-of-life decision making, articles about common conditions our pets face at the end of life, and articles about common illnesses and how they typically progress/what to expect. You can also schedule a private 45-minute teleconsult with one of our compassionate and experienced veterinarians.
How to Know When it's Time - Our Guide
It is a question filled with agony and dread: how do we decide when to euthanize a beloved pet? It may be one of the most difficult decisions you will ever have to make in your like. This guide can hopefully help you think through these challenging decisions.
Quality of Life Scoring
We’ve developed a comprehensive quality of life survey to help you assess your pet’s quality of life. This test walks you through things your pet may be doing and experiencing and helps you understand what that might mean for their quality of life and what steps you might take to help your pet. This test can be taken once to get a snapshot of your pet’s condition, or serially to monitor trends.
Comprehensive Quality of Life Teleconsults
One of our doctors will sit with you and your pet over video chat to discuss how to know when it’s time to say goodbye and help determine if there are things you can be doing to keep your pet comfortable and happy a little longer. Consultations are 45 minutes and include a comprehensive review of your pet’s medical record, a complete medical history, and a thorough discussion of all the options to help guide you to the best decisions for you and your family.
This includes:
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Comprehensive medical record review
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Review of your pet’s history and the procession of their symptoms
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Thorough quality of life assessment including teaching YOU how to know what to look for
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Review of all the options and guidance to help you decide what is best for your family member
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In some cases, we may be able to prescribe medications over video consult
Price: $149
In-Person Quality-of-Life Consultations at Your Home
One of our doctors will come to your home and meet you and your pet. We will take a thorough medical history and perform a medical records review and physical examination of your pet. Together, we will decide if there are steps we can take to keep your pet comfortable and happy at home and help you decide when it is time to say goodbye. These consultations are 45 minutes long. Please note: We are unable to perform bloodwork or diagnostic testing and we do not carry medications so all medications are prescribed through our partner, Mixlab, which has same or next-day delivery to most areas of NYC.
Who This Is For:
- Clients who would prefer an in-person experience with the veterinarian
- Clients who may need short-term medications for palliative care
- Clients who think it may be time for euthanasia but want the vet to perform a full medical evaluation of the pet first
Who This Is NOT For:
- Pets needing bloodwork or diagnostic testing
- Pets that need long term follow up. For ongoing care, we highly recommend Gentle Journey Vet Care, which can provide bloodwork, acupuncture, and ongoing palliative care for pets with chronic illness.
Price: $549
If during the in-person consultation, euthanasia is elected to be performed that day, euthanasia is discounted to $249.
Your kind words
Your feedback allows us to provide the best care possible for your pet during this hard time. Thank you for your kind words about Paws at Peace.
An incredible organization that performs at home euthanasia with compassionate care. Paws at Peace was easy to work with in a very stressful and heartbreaking time. Every member of the staff was professional and extremely kind. Dr. Alexis Howard was wonderful. We are eternally grateful to have had our cat’s last moments be in our home, peaceful and calm, and with us by his side. Thank you for your help.
Dr. Shapard was a blessing. Compassionate, thoughtful, calm, made it easier to bear this horrible burden. Her aura definitely had an impact on our beloved who in his last moments of life actually licked her hands. He was an angelic creature and so is Dr Shapard. Can’t believe I found Paws at Peace in my frantic search. What a blessing.
Areas We Serve
Paws at Peace is proud to offer in-home pet euthanasia and hospice care for all of NYC, including: