Hospice Care

One of the hardest things for a pet owner to hear is that their beloved companion and family member has a terminal illness such as cancer, or problems such as chronic pain, diabetes, or kidney disease. Complications of old-age can raise additional quality of life issues.

The main goal of hospice/palliative care is to help maintain quality of life, and to minimize pain, suffering and distress. Additionally, it is to provide physical and emotional support for the pet and his or her family throughout terminal illness, the dying process, death, and care of their remains.

All Paws Compassionate Care hopes to help by integrating palliative services early in the management of chronic and/or life-limiting disease. At our initial consultation we will discuss an individual plan for your pet, and talk about expectations and goals for your pet’s care before, during, and after death.

Acupuncture

Dr. Kate was certified as a veterinary acupuncturist in 2009 after completing the Colorado Medical Acupuncture For Veterinarians program. This training is based on a medical, neuroanatomical approach to acupuncture. Specific points on the body are stimulated through the insertion of needles to produce a desired healing effect. I like to think of acupuncture as a treatment to encourage the body to heal itself.

Acupuncture can be used alone, or more often in conjunction with conventional medical treatment to alleviate pain, speed healing, and to slow progression of chronic conditions. It is very useful when conventional medicine is not working well by itself or if a patient is having undesirable side effects from medication.

In my experience, the most common conditions that respond well to acupuncture are orthopedic or neurologic conditions such as back pain, intervertebral disk disease, arthritis/degenerative joint disease, and pain originating in the nervous system (neuropathies or even seizures in some cases).

I generally recommend three acupuncture treatments 7-10 days apart initially, then as needed for the condition we are treating. Some spinal problems, such as acute intervertebral disk trauma, may require more frequent treatment. Individual animals respond to acupuncture differently, so I adjust the recommended schedule based on clinical response.

House Call Services

I also provide general house call veterinary services for pets that do not do well at traditional veterinary hospitals or for owners that have difficulty getting their pets into a veterinary clinic.