Palliative care for companion animals aims to maximise comfort and quality of life in animals with serious illness. A growing field with significant welfare implications.
Palliative care for companion animals represents the application of compassionate medicine principles to animals with life-limiting conditions. Rather than pursuing aggressive treatment that prolongs life at the cost of quality, palliative care maximises comfort and positive experience for whatever time remains. The welfare implications are profound: animals that would previously have been euthanised promptly on serious diagnosis can have weeks or months of good quality life with appropriate management. Effective palliative care requires multi-modal pain management, regular quality-of-life assessment, and honest communication with owners about the welfare threshold for euthanasia when palliative measures can no longer maintain adequate comfort.