Hospice Care

Providing compassionate end-of-life care for terminally ill shelter pets, giving them a chance to experience love and enjoy their remaining time in a welcoming home.

When we rescue a sick animal, we intend to nurse them back to health and then find them a great adopter. However, on rare occasions, our veterinarians discover that a pet in our care is incurably ill, and will become progressively worse despite doing all we can. In these cases, our focus shifts from trying to rehabilitate them to giving them the best possible life for the time they have left.

PAWS’ hospice foster parents perform extraordinary acts of kindness by taking in ailing cats and dogs and giving them love and comfort during the final leg of their journey.

Some animals are in hospice care for just a few days, while others enjoy a good quality of life for months. PAWS provides everything they need: our foster staff and veterinary team work together with the foster parent to regularly assess the pet’s changing needs, manage their pain, and thoughtfully decide when it is time to peacefully say goodbye. When that time comes, the animal is surrounded by people it trusts, and we all take comfort in knowing we gave them all we could for as long as we could.

The Inspiration

Ricky, the cat who first inspired PAWS’ Hospice Program. When we discovered that this playful and affectionate boy had heart failure, we put out the call in hopes of finding a kind person willing to take him in. Within an hour, we received multiple inquiries for Ricky from people who wanted to make his limited time as happy as possible. He found a loving home with another cat to keep him company. His foster mom, Vanessa, wrote: “He truly is a special little guy and will get the best care and all of the love he can handle while he is here.”

Meet Leo

Leo is just one of the special pets in our Hospice Program: he came to us with progressive kidney issues, poor vision, deafness, and showed signs of cognitive decline. In spite of it all, Leo has amazed us with his playful, affectionate spirit. His foster parent brings him in for periodic hospice check-ups with our vet team; at his most recent visit, he was happy and comfortable.

Meet Brooklyn

Brooklyn was one of the first dogs to enter our Hospice Program. Surrendered to PAWS with undiagnosed Cushing’s Disease and a variety of other ailments, his quality of life was restored by our medical team, a caring foster, and finally, an adopter who was ready to manage and monitor his conditions. Brooklyn was a playful senior who soaked up all the attention he could find. Thanks to the Hospice Program, he got to live his golden years in a loving home with a family who knew that every day was a gift.

Give the Gift of Comfort

Your support will help us provide veterinary care, medications, and everything else necessary to ensure comfort for pets in our hospice program, as well as offer skilled support to our foster parents who take them in.

Donate to the Comfort Care Fund

EXPLORE MORE LIFESAVING PROGRAMS

Complex Medical Cases

More and more, the shelter animals most in need of rescue have illnesses or injuries requiring specialized veterinary care. They find it at PAWS: we help them heal so they can go on to enjoy the carefree lives they deserve.

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Cat Rescue and Care

PAWS rescues homeless cats who are most in danger: those with treatable medical or behavioral issues, mothers with kittens, and orphans who are too young for adoption. We help them get well, then place them in loving homes.

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Dog Rescue and Care

Dogs of all sizes and varieties find safe haven at PAWS: especially seniors and those with special medical needs. We give them the veterinary care they need, and then use our proven matchmaking skills to find them just the right forever home.

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